New York Director Pleads Guilty in $127,000,000 Medicare and Medicaid Fraud

Federal prosecutors have obtained a guilty plea from a New York adult day care director in a $127 million Medicare and Medicaid fraud case.

Daniel Lee, 57, of Flushing, pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit health care fraud and conspiracy to commit money laundering, says the U.S. Department of Justice.

Lee served as program director at Happy Life Inc. and Royal Adult Day Care Center in Flushing.

Over ten years, the centers paid cash kickbacks to Medicaid recipients and submitted claims for services that were never provided.

“Some claims were submitted for Social Adult Day Care (SADC) services when the Medicaid recipients could not possibly have received the services because they were hospitalized at the time.”

Lee and his co-conspirators also shelled out kickbacks and bribes to Medicare and Medicaid beneficiaries through a related pharmacy that also billed for medically unnecessary prescriptions.

Says Assistant Attorney General Colin M. McDonald of the Justice Department’s National Fraud Enforcement Division,

“For over a decade, Daniel Lee helped run a brazen kickback scheme that stole from Medicare and Medicaid through fraudulent claims for medically unnecessary prescription drugs and social adult day care services that were never provided. Yesterday’s guilty plea underscores the Department’s commitment to holding accountable those who exploit federal health care programs for personal gain.”

Lee faces up to 30 years in prison and is slated for sentencing on March 2nd, 2027.