A Brooklyn adult day care owner was sentenced to more than six years in federal prison for a $64 million Medicaid fraud built on illegal kickbacks and fake claims.
Story Highlights
- A federal judge sentenced Zakia Khan to 76 months for leading a $64 million Medicaid fraud.
- Khan pleaded guilty in 2025 to health care fraud conspiracy and kickback conspiracy.
- Prosecutors say Medicaid paid about $56 million on false bills from 2017 to 2024.
- The court ordered more than $56 million in restitution and $5 million in forfeiture.
What The Court Decided And Why It Matters
On September 10, 2026, a federal judge in Brooklyn sentenced Zakia Khan to 76 months in prison for leading a long-running Medicaid fraud. The Justice Department said Khan used two social adult day cares and a home care intermediary to submit false claims and pay illegal kickbacks to drive billings. The court also imposed more than $56 million in restitution and ordered $5 million in forfeiture tied to seized properties, cash, and gold jewelry. This case shows how weak controls can drain public health funds.
Between about October 2017 and July 2024, prosecutors say the businesses billed Medicaid about $64 million for services that were not provided or not allowed by law. Medicaid paid about $56 million on those claims, according to the government’s account. Khan pleaded guilty in August 2025 to conspiracy to commit health care fraud and to conspiracy to defraud the United States and pay health care kickbacks. The sentence caps a multi-year federal case against a broader group of defendants.
How The Scheme Worked, According To Prosecutors
Justice Department filings describe a kickback machine built around volume. Marketers recruited Medicaid recipients and referred them to Khan’s day care centers. Khan and her team then paid the recipients and the recruiters while billing Medicaid for adult day care and related home care services, even when services were not provided or were induced by payments, which the law forbids. The model rewarded headcount and attendance claims. That made it hard for outsiders to spot what was real and what was not.
Investigators tied the day care centers and a home care intermediary together as a funnel for claims and cash. The government said agents recovered properties, cash, and gold jewelry as proceeds of the crime, which the court later ordered forfeited. The case began as part of a larger Brooklyn prosecution that charged eight people in 2024 with a similar playbook of referral payments and false claims at adult day cares and a home care entity. Those filings place Khan’s role within a wider network that shared tactics and targets.
Where This Fits In The Bigger Picture
This case fits a pattern that has hit New York’s social adult day care sector for years. Federal and state watchdogs have flagged weak oversight, fast growth, and large questionable payments in these programs. A statewide audit reported hundreds of millions in suspect payments tied to adult day care oversight gaps, reflecting a system that can pay on volume with limited checks. National health care fraud sweeps have also highlighted adult day care and home care as hot spots for kickbacks and false claims.
Both conservatives and liberals see why this stings. Taxpayers fund Medicaid to help seniors and people with disabilities, not to feed scams. Conservatives look at the $56 million paid out and see waste and broken controls. Liberals see services diverted from vulnerable people who need real care. Both sides see a system where insiders learn to game the rules while honest providers and families fight through red tape and rising costs.
What Comes Next For Oversight And Recovery
Restitution orders aim to make the public whole, but collecting tens of millions is hard after money moves through assets and intermediaries. Prosecutors say the court will claw back about $5 million through forfeiture tied to seized assets, a fraction of the total loss. State and federal agencies can now dig deeper into claim histories, enrollment rolls, and attendance records for linked centers. That work matters if the goal is to stop repeat schemes before they scale.
🚨 MASSIVE WIN.
The Trump administration just moved from ARRESTS to RESULTS.
A Brooklyn adult daycare owner just got 76 MONTHS in prison for running a $64 MILLION Medicaid fraud + illegal kickback scheme.
Zakiya Khan now owes $56 MILLION in restitution. pic.twitter.com/qX42CvXfct— Julian Paul Assange (@QJulianPaul) September 13, 2026
Lawmakers and regulators face a clear test. Build guardrails that verify real attendance and medically needed care before payment, or keep paying first and chasing fraud later. Simple steps can help: tighter enrollment checks, real-time data flags on unusual billing spikes, and strict bans on any payments to patients for attendance. When public money pays on volume with weak audits, networks like this find a way in. When rules are tight and enforced, the grift dries up.
Sources:
homehealthcarenews.com, justice.gov, nypost.com
