Justice Served: Long Island Bizman Jailed for Shocking $19M Medicaid Scam
A Mount Sinai business owner, Adnan “Eddie” Arshad, has been sentenced to 8 years and 1 month in prison for a $19 million Medicaid fraud scheme. He was also ordered to pay significant restitution and forfeit assets, including luxury homes and cars, acquired through the illicit funds. The scheme involved false claims from his transportation companies for addiction treatment patient travel.
Adnan “Eddie” Arshad, a 47-year-old business owner from Mount Sinai, has been sentenced to 8 years and 1 month in prison for orchestrating a sophisticated scheme that defrauded Medicaid of more than $19 million. U.S. District Judge Joan M. Azrack also mandated that Arshad pay $19.7 million in restitution and forfeit an equivalent amount, encompassing numerous homes and luxury vehicles he acquired with the misappropriated funds.
U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of New York, Joseph Nocella Jr., highlighted Arshad's lavish lifestyle, stating that while taxpayers bore the cost, Arshad financed it with multimillion-dollar homes and high-end automobiles. Nocella issued a stern warning that individuals who defraud public healthcare programs for personal gain would face severe consequences, using Arshad's sentencing as a clear example.
Arshad had pleaded guilty a year prior to charges of conspiracy to commit healthcare fraud and conspiracy to commit money laundering, offenses that could have carried a maximum sentence of 20 years in prison. He, along with his co-conspirators, operated two transportation companies: MTK Taxi LLC in Montauk and All-Star Taxi LLC in Ronkonkoma. These companies submitted false claims for transporting patients to and from addiction treatment centers.
The fraudulent activities, which spanned from December 2020 until Arshad's arrest in June 2024, involved several deceptive practices. The claims included fabricated pickup addresses and falsely routed patients to at least three treatment centers in New York City instead of actual Long Island facilities, specifically to inflate the amounts sought from Medicaid. Furthermore, Arshad and his co-conspirators paid kickbacks to patients who ordered transportation for methadone treatments at the addiction centers. In many instances, no transportation services were actually provided. Court filings also revealed that some patients listed on the fraudulent claims were deceased, hospitalized, or incarcerated, further underscoring the egregious nature of the scheme.
Federal prosecutors indicated that five of Arshad’s seven co-conspirators have already pleaded guilty and are currently awaiting their respective sentencings. Six of these co-conspirators reside on Long Island.