A now-defunct non-emergency medical transportation company and its owner are facing charges related to “a complex money laundering and transportation fraud scheme,” according to the Massachusetts Attorney General’s Office on Wednesday.
Bakali Mukasa, 44, of Billerica, and his former company, JBM Health and Educational Services Inc., have been indicted by a grand jury on one count each of money laundering, larceny over $1,200, and filing false Medicaid claims, according to a press statement from the attorney general’s office.
According to the attorney general’s office, part of JBM Health’s services included providing rides to methadone clinics for MassHealth users, the state’s Medicaid provider. Investigators discovered that, between July 2019 and November 2020, Mukasa and JBM Health billed MassHealth for roughly 17,000 rides that never occurred.
Methadone treatment records revealed that the MassHealth members who allegedly took such rides were given “take home” methadone orders, which did not require them to visit their treatment center, according to the attorney general’s office. Investigators also discovered that JBM Health had billed MassHealth for approximately 100 fraudulent rides for members who had died.
The attorney general’s office reported that MassHealth paid Mukasa and JBM Health over $770,000 for the bogus rides.
Mukasa also laundered more than $1 million, including funds from MassHealth, through bank, real estate, and investment accounts in other people’s identities. He subsequently transferred the funds to accounts in Uganda, where he currently resides, according to the attorney general’s office.
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