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New details in a New York Medicaid scandal make clear that the graft and fraud were anything but isolated — prosecutors say roughly $68 million was siphoned from taxpayer-funded health programs through a sprawling scheme centered in Brooklyn. Crime correspondent Jason Mattera called the operation “staggering,” and federal authorities say the rip-off involved two social adult day care centers and a home-health intermediary that billed for services never provided. This wasn’t small-time hustle; it was a years-long, industrial-scale theft from programs meant to protect the most vulnerable.
Investigators say the fraud worked the way corrupt insiders always hope it will: pay cash kickbacks to Medicaid beneficiaries, generate fake attendance and service records, and then file bogus claims that the government dutifully paid. The scheme reportedly ran from about October 2017 through July 2024, using multiple shell entities to launder proceeds while lining the pockets of operators and middlemen. Federal agents have seized bank accounts, real estate, jewelry, and luxury vehicles as they trace the ill-gotten gains.
Several players have already admitted their roles in court, and the names of the guilty tell the real story: recruiters Manal Wasef and Elaine Antao pleaded guilty on January 15, 2026, admitting they took part in steering patients in exchange for cash bribes, while owner Zakia Khan earlier admitted being the ringleader and faces a federal sentencing date. The pleas and filings show forfeitures and seizures, but they also underscore how easily federal programs can be turned into cash machines when oversight is lax. Americans deserve to know who took their money and when the rest of the ring will face justice.
Make no mistake: this is the product of permissive oversight in a so-called “blue” city that brags about compassion while tolerating corruption. Programs like CDPAP and similar homecare arrangements have been repeatedly flagged for weak controls and exploitable loopholes, and reform efforts in Albany and City Hall have been slow and politically entangled. When unions, bureaucrats, and entrenched interests block accountability, taxpayer dollars become prey — and the victims are the needy people these programs were created to help.
Law enforcement deserves credit for finally pulling back the curtain and seizing cash and luxury goods, but seizure is only the start — prosecutors say Khan agreed to forfeit $5 million and others agreed to forfeit roughly $1 million collectively, amounts that are a sliver of the total stolen. Recovery and punishment must be matched by structural changes: criminal penalties that actually deter, stringent audits, and elimination of fiscal intermediaries that serve as money-laundering conduits. Otherwise, the same thieves will just find a new loophole to exploit while politicians posture.
Hardworking Americans tired of seeing their taxes drained by scams should demand better from their leaders — immediate, verifiable reform of Medicaid homecare programs, full transparency about who benefited, and prosecutions that end careers, not just generate headlines. Voters must hold accountable the officials who allowed these programs to become piggy banks, and insist that precious public funds be guarded, not squandered. The lesson is plain: when government grows complacent and politicized, fraud flourishes, and it’s everyday patriots who pay the price.
