Investigators Search NYC Adult Day Care Centers in Medicaid Fraud Probe of More Than 100 Providers, Hochul Says

Federal and state investigators searched social adult day care centers in Queens, Brooklyn, Manhattan and Staten Island on Tuesday in what Gov. Kathy Hochul called a months-long investigation of more than 100 providers suspected of fraud or other illegal activity in New York's Medicaid program.

The state Department of Health, the Office of the Medicaid Inspector General and the attorney general's Medicaid Fraud Control Unit have been working with the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Office of Inspector General, the FBI and more than a dozen other federal, state and local partners, the governor's office said.

"We're targeting providers — we believe — who engaged in illegal activity, ranging from money laundering to kickbacks to improper billing, and other fraudulent activities," Hochul said Tuesday.

Agents carried boxes out of a day care center in Flushing, Queens, where a notice on the door said the business had suspended operations and entry was prohibited. Searches were also seen at sites in Brooklyn.

The FBI said in a statement that an audit found New York's Medicaid program paid about $2.4 billion for social adult day care services from January 2019 through October 2024. The bureau said it had joined an interagency working group after finding significant signs of waste, abuse and fraud in the sector, and that investigators are working to determine whether part of that money was stolen.

On Staten Island, the first charges came a day later. Richmond County District Attorney Michael E. McMahon announced Wednesday that Yangsim Oum and Juyoung Choe, the owner and program director of Staten Island Adult Day Care Center in Mariners Harbor, had been arrested and indicted on more than 400 counts, including health care fraud and falsifying business records. The mother and daughter are accused of billing Medicaid and managed long-term care plans more than $530,000 over about four months this year for seniors the center never served.

McMahon said the pair also billed about $13,000 for at least 32 seniors who were dead or out of the country on the dates of service. The top count, second-degree health care fraud, carries up to 15 years in prison. McMahon said the arrests were the only ones made on Staten Island on Tuesday and that his office is investigating other centers in the borough. He said his office would work with the Health Department to place seniors who used the center for legitimate care in other programs. The charges are accusations, and the defendants are presumed innocent.

Social adult day care is a non-medical Medicaid benefit that provides daytime supervision, meals, social activities and personal care in a community setting. More than 400 programs serve about 45,000 Medicaid members statewide at an estimated cost of more than $500 million a year, the governor's office said. The providers are not enrolled Medicaid providers themselves; the state's 35 managed long-term care plans run and police the benefit.

The state has tightened the program several times since it became a Medicaid benefit in 2013. In 2025 the Health Department reviewed 418 programs for compliance. From 2021 through 2025 the Office of the Medicaid Inspector General investigated 387 subjects tied to social adult day care and referred about 100 cases to the attorney general for possible prosecution. In July the department froze approvals of new providers, a moratorium that runs until January 2027 and may be extended.

Earlier this year, two people in Brooklyn pleaded guilty in a $68 million social adult day care scheme, and investigators announced charges in a separate alleged $120 million Medicare and Medicaid fraud tied to day care and pharmacy services in Queens, the governor's office said.

Hochul directed the Health Department and the inspector general to require health plans to review day care claims before paying them and to pursue payment suspensions. She also told the department to consider every option, including phasing out the benefit and moving participants into other services for older adults. Its recommendations are due by Dec. 31.

"New York has zero tolerance for fraud, and when bad actors take advantage of these critical programs, older New Yorkers in need lose out," Hochul said.

Attorney General Letitia James said her Medicaid Fraud Control Unit secured 59 indictments, 13 convictions and more than $98 million in recoveries in fiscal year 2026. Health Commissioner Dr. James McDonald said the department would recommend whether further reforms can work or whether participants would be better served by other services.