BD-origin woman jailed
A Bangladeshi-origin woman has been sentenced to six and a half years in a US prison for defrauding government healthcare funds intended to protect and support elderly people, in a case that prosecutors said exploited some of society’s most vulnerable citizens.
Zakia Khan was sentenced to 76 months in prison by US District Judge Natasha C. Merle in Brooklyn, New York, after pleading guilty to a large-scale fraud scheme involving elderly-care services.
According to court records, Khan operated two elderly-care centres, Happy Family and Family Social, in the Coney Island area of Brooklyn.
She also established two companies, Responsible Care Staffing and Tanvi Services, which prosecutors said were used to facilitate the fraud and conceal proceeds from the scheme.
The fraud operated between 2017 and 2024. Khan and her associates allegedly offered elderly people cash in exchange for signing false attendance records, including records claiming they had received care services when they had not.
The scheme then used the falsified records and other fraudulent documents to submit claims to the government and Medicare for services that were never provided.
The two companies submitted about $64 million in fraudulent claims, of which the government paid approximately $56 million, according to court records.
Prosecutors said Khan used proceeds from the fraud to acquire luxury properties and accumulate cash and gold jewellery.
Following the investigation, Khan pleaded guilty last year. In addition to the 76-month prison sentence, she was ordered to repay the $56 million obtained through the scheme.
Authorities also seized assets worth at least $5 million, including two houses, cash and gold jewellery, as part of efforts to recover proceeds linked to the fraud.
US authorities said the case was uncovered as part of an anti-corruption initiative aimed at tackling the misuse of public funds and abuse of vulnerable people.
They stressed that exploiting elderly and vulnerable citizens for financial gain would not be tolerated and warned that those who misuse government programmes to steal public money would be held accountable.
The case also highlights the wider human cost of fraud involving elderly-care programmes, where false records and fabricated claims can undermine the rights and dignity of people who depend on public support and care services.
