A Queens man has pled guilty to defrauding Medicare and New York State Medicaid of nearly $127 million by billing for phony drug prescriptions and medically unjustified stays at social adult day care facilities.
According to an IRS news statement issued in February, Daniel Lee of Flushing worked as a program director at two social adult day care centers in the city. Between 2016 and 2026, he allegedly collaborated with a coconspirator named by the IRS as Inwoo Kim, who was charged with conspiracy to conduct health fraud in connection with the same scam, to pay kickbacks and bribes to Medicare and Medicaid enrollees.
The duo allegedly paid unlawful bribes in the form of cash or supermarket gift vouchers to get recipients to fill prescriptions at Kim’s pharmacy.
They would also use the bribes to persuade folks to enroll in adult day care centers despite having no legitimate medical needs.
According to the New York State Office for the Aging, social adult day care centers are typically for the elderly, cognitively or psychosocially impaired, or injured in order to provide them with daily social interaction while being supervised by caregivers who can assist them with necessary daily tasks such as toileting, mobility, transferring, or eating.
The Department of Justice reported in a separate press release on Tuesday, November 10, that Lee pled guilty to conspiracy to commit health care fraud and conspiracy to commit money laundering for a total of approximately $127 million over ten years. Kim’s current situation was not revealed.
The government also underscored the scope of the bribes, stating that when investigators searched these senior day care centers, they discovered more than $100,000 in cash and $900,000 in fraud earnings held in bank accounts.
The Department of Justice also provided information about the fraudulent claims that Lee and his co-conspirators made, such as submitting claims for social adult day care services that could not have been rendered because the alleged patients were hospitalized elsewhere at the time.
Following his guilty plea, the Department of Justice states that Lee will be sentenced on March 2, 2027, and faces a maximum penalty of 30 years in prison. There has been no public plea for Kim.
Leave a Reply