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Queens Men Charged in $120 Million Medicare-Medicaid Fraud Using Adult Day Cares and a Pharmacy

Prosecutors describe a decade-long kickback scheme that recruited seniors to fuel false claims.

Overview

  • A Brooklyn federal complaint unsealed Friday charges Inwoo Kim, 42, and Daniel Lee, 56, with conspiracy to commit health care fraud, a count carrying up to 10 years in prison.
  • Authorities allege cash payments and supermarket gift cards induced Medicare and Medicaid beneficiaries to fill prescriptions at Kim’s pharmacy and enroll at Royal Adult Day Care and Happy Life Inc.
  • Prosecutors cite texts and spreadsheets tracking payouts, claims for services never provided or not medically necessary, and billing that far exceeded capacity, including 1,041 people billed in one day at a site certified for 81.
  • Investigators executed multiple searches, seized about $100,000 in cash at Happy Life, and froze roughly $900,000 in accounts, with HHS-OIG, the FBI, IRS-CI, and New York’s comptroller participating.
  • Lee was arrested at JFK with about $40,000 in cash and later released on a $500,000 bond with home detention; Kim was released on a $250,000 bond as the multiagency investigation continues and both are presumed innocent.