{"id":270723,"date":"2026-06-18T11:40:52","date_gmt":"2026-06-18T11:40:52","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/270723\/"},"modified":"2026-06-18T11:40:52","modified_gmt":"2026-06-18T11:40:52","slug":"alleged-38m-adult-daycare-scam-busted-in-brooklyn-snaring-pakistani-community-leaders-who-cozied-up-to-dems","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/270723\/","title":{"rendered":"Alleged $38M adult daycare scam busted in Brooklyn \u2014 snaring Pakistani community leaders who cozied up to Dems"},"content":{"rendered":"

A prominent Pakistani-American businessman who spent years cozying up to powerful Democrats stands accused of being part of a $38 million Medicaid scam.<\/a><\/p>\n

Civic leader and well-known Brooklyn Community Board 13 member Pervez Siddiqui, 78, was arrested Monday along with seven co-conspirators.<\/p>\n

They are alleged to have run a large-scale Medicaid kickback and false-billing scheme through two Social Adult Day Care (SADC) centers in Brooklyn: APNA Adult Daycare and Ashiana Social Adult Daycare.<\/p>\n

Civic leader and well-known Brooklyn Community Board 13 member Pervez Siddiqui. Pervez Siddiqui\/Facebook<\/p>\n

The scam ran from 2019 through December 2025, feds allege, with seniors being signed up for daycares they rarely or never attended, then getting a cut of the Medicaid payment.<\/p>\n

\u201cMarketers are going around looking for the Medicaid card. They stop people on the street, at bus stops. They go into doctor\u2019s offices. They go into NYCHA [government housing] where they know people are low income. They ask, \u2018do you have a Medicaid card?\u201d a source with knowledge of the investigation told The Post.<\/p>\n

Siddiqui, who owns around 15 pharmacies in New Jersey, is prolific in local political circles and a regular donor to Democrat campaigns, sometimes shelling out over $10,000 a pop to local candidates, records show. And through his ties to another group he scored an intimate sit down with New York City mayor-elect\u00a0Zohran Mamdani<\/a>\u00a0in December 2025, pictures obtained by The Post show.<\/p>\n

APNA\u2019s Shazia Bibi cozying up with then-NYC mayor Eric Adams at a Gracie Mansion dinner sponsored by Shazia Pharmacy, based in Coney Island. Shazia Wattoo\/Facebook<\/p>\n

Shazia Bibi (a.k.a. Shazia Wattoo), Abdul Aziz, Shair Ali, and their recruiter co-defendants Zebun Ahmed, Josna Begum, Saira Khatoon, and Atia Shahnaz were also involved, according to the unsealed indictment against them.<\/p>\n

The gang paid cash bribes directly to New York Medicaid recipients to enroll at APNA or Ashiana\u2014even though most never attended their facilities \u2014and paid the recruiters kickbacks to refer patients, while submitting $38 million in fraudulent claims to New York Medicaid for services which were never provided, according to the indictment.<\/p>\n

To conceal the fraud, they created fake sign-in sheets far exceeding APNA\u2019s certificate of occupancy on certain days, used Pakistan-based billing staff, and laundered proceeds through shell companies by writing checks disguised as \u201cgifts,\u201d \u201cdividends,\u201d or coded entries like \u201cmedicine,\u201d or \u201claddu,\u201d an Indian word for sweets, according to the indictment.<\/p>\n

NYC Mayor Zohran Mamdani has been a friend and supporter of APNA Community Services, a nonprofit operation separate to the day care which is not part of the federal indictment, but also has Siddiqui as its Board Chair. Facebook<\/p>\n

Coney Island\u2019s Apna Adult Day Care was a fraud site which was raided by feds in 2025. Google Maps<\/p>\n

Ashiana Adult Day Care in Coney Island was another fraud site mentioned in the federal indictment, with eight conspirators arrested on Monday. Google Maps<\/p>\n

After a December 2025 federal search warrant was executed, Bibi, Siddiqui, and Ali tried to cover their tracks by telling staff to get new phones and delete data, feds say.<\/p>\n

The source said the so-called marketers each manage a group of 30-50 patients.<\/p>\n

\u201cThey keep them together. There\u2019s a cultural element. A Russian marketer will pick up Russians, Pakistani for Pakistanis, Chinese for Chinese,\u201d the source said.<\/p>\n

Through his affiliation with a different group called the American Pakistani Public Affairs Committee (APPAC), Siddiqui got unprecedented access to some of the state\u2019s top Democrats, including hosting a fundraiser for New York Attorney General Letitia James in June 2022 at a restaurant in Coney Island.<\/p>\n

Then-mayor-elect Mamdani held an intimate meeting with members of the APPAC immediately after his victory, crediting his win in part to their support. Provided to NY Post<\/p>\n

Accused Medicaid fraud kingpin Siddiqui (circled) attended the meeting. Provided to NY Post<\/p>\n

Mamdani\u00a0has previously praised the APPAC<\/a>\u00a0for its strong support, crediting his victory in part to their get-out-the-vote efforts. At the December meeting where Siddiqui was present, Mamdani praised lawyer Ali Najmi \u2014 who has collaborated with APNA and Siddiqui on policy initiatives and panels \u2014calling him \u201chis brother.\u201d<\/p>\n

Najmi, who recently received an award from APNA Community Services, is not implicated in the scam.<\/p>\n

Medicaid reimbursements to insurance companies \u2014 called Managed Long Term Care providers or MLTCs \u2014cap at $6,000 a month, per patient, in most cases. Daycares often are one aspect of such Medicaid scams which may extend into\u00a0transportation companies<\/a>, pharmacies and\u00a0home healthcare services<\/a>\u00a0that use the same Medicaid numbers for payments and kickbacks.<\/p>\n

Siddiqui\u2019s (Right) APNA Community Services helped propel him into a well-known civic leader in Brooklyn\u2019s Pakistani community. APNA Community Services<\/p>\n

New York\u2019s Democrat Sens. Chuck Schumer and Kirsten Gillibrand were proponents of a $530,000 federal grant to APNA Community Services. APNA Facebook<\/p>\n

For handing over their Medicaid card, seniors at APNA or their family members were getting $500 a month in kickbacks for day care services that were never provided, according to the source.<\/p>\n

Shockingly, the indictment says the payments were made even when enrollees were not in the US. The sources claimed many had even gone to live in other countries while they or their family members collected Medicaid kickback money.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe patient is in Pakistan, they\u2019re in Morocco. They\u2019re not even in this country,\u201d the source claimed.<\/p>\n

Regarding Bibi, 45, the source claimed she is a \u201cthug,\u201d adding: \u201cShe doesn\u2019t even know how to write her name. But she\u2019s street smart.\u201d<\/p>\n

Mamdani welcomed APNA Community Services delegates to Gracie Mansion just last month for a picnic. Erum Hanif \/ Facebook<\/p>\n

Bibi was described by a source as a barely literate \u201cthug\u201d with \u201cstreet smarts.\u201d Shazia Wattoo\/Facebook<\/p>\n

In 2018, Bibi, also on Brooklyn Community Board 13, was a featured honoree at a dinner hosted by Brooklyn political org Bay Democrats, just months after Siddiqui personally donated $3,000 to the group, The Post discovered.<\/p>\n

In a 2022 public testimony before City Council, Bibi called herself a \u201ccommunity activist\u201d and\u00a0griped,<\/a>\u00a0\u201cwe as a Pakistani American Community and as a Muslim American feel alienated because we as a community could not get any resources.\u201d<\/p>\n

Three years later she was sitting next to then-Mayor Eric Adams at a women\u2019s iftar dinner hosted at Gracie Mansion, an event sponsored by Siddiqui-owned Shazia Pharmacy in Coney Island.<\/p>\n

The indictment makes no mention of pharmacies or other business affiliated with Siddiqui, who lives in New Jersey but owns extensive property in Brooklyn.<\/p>\n

In a 2022 public testimony before City Council, Bibi called herself a \u201ccommunity activist.\u201d Facebook<\/p>\n

Alleged scammer Bibi was a prominent member of Brooklyn Community Board 13. Facebook<\/p>\n

APNA declined to comment to The Post. Siddiqui and the other indictees were not able to be reached for comment.<\/p>\n

Federal law enforcement declined to comment, citing the ongoing investigation.<\/p>\n

APNA Adult Day Care has a sister organization, a nonprofit called APNA Community Services, also focused on elderly and immigrant support. The two share leadership teams with Siddiqui listed as the Board Chair and co-founder on their website.<\/p>\n

They operate out of the same facilities and it appears Siddiqui used his association with the nonprofit to cover his alleged illegal activities.<\/p>\n

In February, the federal government awarded a $530,000 grant to APNA Community Services, funding backed by New York\u2019s Democrat Sens. Chuck Schumer and Kirsten Gillibrand.<\/p>\n

Bibi was honored by local political org Bay Democrats at a dinner in 2022, after Siddiqui gave the group $3,000. Facebook<\/p>\n

While allegedly defrauding taxpayers for millions, Siddiqui hosted a fundraiser for New York AG Letitia James in 2022, using his affiliation with a group called American Pakistani Public Affairs Committee for access to top Democrats. APNA Facebook<\/p>\n

Two weeks ago, APNA Community Services boss Erum Halif \u2013 who co-founded the daycare but shifted over to the nonprofit \u2013 was invited to a picnic at Gracie Mansion with Mayor Mamdani, where she shared beaming videos on social media hanging with the Democratic Socialist leader.<\/p>\n

Halif told The Post she had not been involved with the SADC for several years and had no knowledge of its operations. She is not named in the indictment.<\/p>\n

In a bombshell report earlier this year The Post\u00a0visited over a dozen SADC<\/a>s in Manhattan, Brooklyn and Queens to find many were nearly empty at peak hours.<\/p>\n

Most clients appeared healthy and active without signs of \u201cchronic disability\u201d or mobility issues requiring \u201cnursing home level of care\u201d as needed to qualify for the taxpayer-funded service. Several facilities were caught serving to-go lunches in strict violation of Medicaid rules.<\/p>\n

A Medicaid fraud case revealed last June\u00a0exposed $68 million<\/a>\u00a0was being stolen from taxpayers in a scheme involving two SADCs in Brooklyn. Owner Zakia Khan\u2019s racket paid kickbacks and bribes to marketers for referring Medicaid recipients to her SADCs from 2017 onward.<\/p>\n

Mayor Mamdani (center) said lawyer and APNA associate Ali Najmi (left) was \u201chis brother,\u201d after praising a Pakistani civic group for helping secure his mayoral victory. attorney_najmi \/ Instagram<\/p>\n

The source told The Post that in order to keep getting kickbacks, many of Khan\u2019s former \u201cpatients\u201d moved over to APNA after that operation got busted \u2014 a migration that should have raised flags with fraud detection outfits at insurance companies, but didn\u2019t.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe patients called the insurance companies \u2014no questions asked \u2014 \u00a0\u2018I want to switch to APNA daycare,\u2019\u201d the source claimed.<\/p>\n

In February, two Queens men, Inwoo\u00a0Kim, 42, and Daniel Lee, 56, were charged with a near identical fraud, where they allegedly ripped off\u00a0$120 million from Medicaid<\/a>\u00a0in a decade-long scheme that involved two SDACs in Flushing, according to feds.<\/p>\n

New York spends the most Medicaid money per patient compared to any other state, and 77 percent more than the national average.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere is zero oversight. The fraud will never stop because they don\u2019t want it to stop. The MLTCs are funding the politicians because that\u2019s how they make money. They want more and more patients enrolled. They are the reason this fraud has spread so fast,\u201d the source alleged.<\/p>\n

\u201cHow are the politicians and the insurance companies going to control the fraud when they are part of the fraud?\u201d the source asked.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"A prominent Pakistani-American businessman who spent years cozying up to powerful Democrats stands accused of being part of…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":270724,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[36],"tags":[98,100,99,119,396,7050,57,9,24,63,28479,2956,58,82],"class_list":["post-270723","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-brooklyn","tag-brooklyn","tag-brooklyn-headlines","tag-brooklyn-news","tag-coney-island","tag-fraud","tag-medicaid","tag-metro","tag-new-york","tag-new-york-city","tag-nyc","tag-pakistan","tag-senior-citizens","tag-us-news","tag-zohran-mamdani"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/270723","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=270723"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/270723\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/270724"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=270723"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=270723"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=270723"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}