A prominent Pakistani-American businessman and several associates have been accused of running a massive $38 million Medicaid fraud scheme through two Brooklyn adult day care centers, the New York Post reports.Parvez Siddiqui, 78, is a well-known community leader. He owns a pharmacy and is a member of Brooklyn Community Board 13. He was arrested on Monday along with seven alleged co-conspirators. The group used two social adult day care centers, APNA Adult Daycare and Ashiana Social Adult Daycare, to submit millions of dollars in fraudulent Medicaid claims between 2019 and December 2025.The operation enrolled elderly Medicaid recipients who rarely attended the facilities. In exchange for signing up, many participants received cash payments financed by fraudulent Medicaid reimbursements.The indictment also names Shazia Bibi, also known as Shazia Wattoo, Abdul Aziz, Shayar Ali and recruiters Zebun Ahmed, Josna Begum, Saira Khatoon and Atiya Shahnaz.Bribes were paid to recruiters to bring Medicaid recipients into the program. The defendants then billed New York’s Medicaid system for services that were never provided, generating approximately $38 million in false claims.To conceal the scheme, the group created fake attendance records and sign-in sheets that sometimes exceeded the facilities’ legal occupancy limits. They used billing staff based in Pakistan and transferred funds through shell companies using payments labeled “gifts”, “dividends”, “medicine” and even the South Asian sweet “laddus”.After federal agents executed a search warrant in December 2025, some defendants attempted to hinder the investigation by asking employees to turn over mobile phones and delete data.A source familiar with the investigation told the New York Post that recruiters searched for Medicaid recipients in low-income neighborhoods, bus stops, doctors’ offices and public housing developments.“Marketers are going around looking for Medicaid cards. They stop people on the street, at bus stops. They go to doctors’ offices. They go to NYCHA (public housing) where they know people are low-income. They ask, ‘Do you have a Medicaid card?'” the source told the NYP.The source claimed that seniors or their relatives received approximately $500 per month for allowing access to their Medicaid information.More surprisingly, prosecutors said some beneficiaries continued to file claims while living abroad.“The patients are in Pakistan, they are in Morocco. They are not even in this country,” the source claimed.The case has also attracted attention because of Siddiqui’s political connections. The businessman owns about 15 pharmacies in New Jersey and has donated thousands of dollars to Democratic political campaigns over the years. Through his involvement with the American Pakistani Public Affairs Committee, he participated in meetings and events with Democratic figures including New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani, Attorney General Letitia James, and former Mayor Eric Adams.No elected officials have been accused of wrongdoing, and none are mentioned in the indictment.The indictment does not accuse Siddiqui’s pharmacies or other affiliated businesses of engaging in fraud.The allegations come amid growing scrutiny of New York’s adult day care industry. Last year, federal prosecutors accused the operators of another Brooklyn-based scheme of stealing $68 million from Medicaid through similar tactics. Earlier this year, two Queens men were charged in a separate case involving an alleged $120 million fraud involving adult day care centers.New York spends more Medicaid money per patient than any other state, making the program a frequent target of large-scale fraud investigations.