For years, Pervez Siddiqui cultivated the image of a respected community leader. The 78-year-old Pakistani-American businessman sat on Brooklyn Community Board 13, donated generously to Democratic candidates, hosted political events, and built relationships with some of New York’s most influential elected officials. Now, federal prosecutors say he was helping run a massive Medicaid fraud operation that siphoned approximately $38 million from taxpayers over a six-year period.
The allegations, detailed in a newly unsealed federal indictment, paint a picture of an elaborate scheme centered on two Brooklyn social adult day care centers: APNA Adult Daycare and Ashiana Social Adult Daycare. According to prosecutors, the operation ran from 2019 through December 2025 and relied on a simple formula. Recruit Medicaid recipients, pay them cash kickbacks, enroll them in programs they rarely or never attended, and then bill Medicaid for services that were never provided.
Federal authorities arrested Siddiqui on Monday along with seven alleged co-conspirators. Those charged include Shazia Bibi, also known as Shazia Wattoo, Abdul Aziz, Shair Ali, and recruiters Zebun Ahmed, Josna Begum, Saira Khatoon, and Atia Shahnaz.
The indictment alleges that recruiters actively sought out Medicaid recipients throughout New York City’s low-income neighborhoods. According to a source familiar with the investigation, marketers approached potential participants at bus stops, doctor’s offices, public housing developments, and other locations where Medicaid recipients were likely to be found.
Once enrolled, seniors or their family members allegedly received monthly cash payments of roughly $500 in exchange for allowing their Medicaid information to be used. Prosecutors claim many of these individuals never attended the day care centers at all. In some cases, participants allegedly continued generating Medicaid claims while living overseas.
“The patient is in Pakistan, they’re in Morocco. They’re not even in this country,” a source familiar with the investigation told The New York Post.
Federal investigators claim the operation generated millions through fraudulent billing. To conceal the scheme, prosecutors say organizers created fake attendance records showing participation levels that exceeded building occupancy limits. The indictment also alleges that billing operations were handled by staff located in Pakistan and that proceeds were laundered through shell companies using disguised payment descriptions such as “gifts,” “dividends,” “medicine,” and even “laddu,” a traditional South Asian sweet.
The alleged cover-up efforts continued even after investigators closed in. Following the execution of a federal search warrant in December 2025, prosecutors say Siddiqui, Bibi, and Ali instructed employees to obtain new phones and delete existing data.
What makes the case especially notable is Siddiqui’s extensive political involvement. Public records show he frequently donated thousands of dollars to Democratic candidates and causes. Through his association with the American Pakistani Public Affairs Committee, or APPAC, he gained access to prominent New York political figures, including New York Attorney General Letitia James and New York City Mayor-elect Zohran Mamdani.
Photos obtained by The New York Post reportedly show Siddiqui attending a private meeting with Mamdani in December 2025. Mamdani has previously credited APPAC with helping support voter turnout efforts during his campaign. Neither Mamdani nor James has been accused of wrongdoing, and neither is mentioned in the indictment.
The investigation also touches on APNA Community Services, a nonprofit organization connected to the same leadership network as the day care centers. Siddiqui is listed on the nonprofit’s website as board chair and co-founder. Earlier this year, APNA Community Services received a federal grant worth approximately $530,000 supported by New York Senators Chuck Schumer and Kirsten Gillibrand. No allegations have been made against the nonprofit itself in connection with the fraud case.
The case is only the latest in a string of major Medicaid fraud investigations involving social adult day care centers across New York City. Federal prosecutors have recently brought charges in multiple cases involving tens of millions of dollars in allegedly fraudulent Medicaid claims. Similar schemes uncovered in Brooklyn and Queens have resulted in allegations involving more than $188 million in combined taxpayer losses.
New York already spends more Medicaid dollars per patient than any other state in the nation. Cases like this are likely to intensify scrutiny of oversight practices, insurance providers, and the broader system that allowed such operations to allegedly continue for years.
