A federal grand jury in Central Islip, New York, returned an indictment on July 1, 2026, charging Saad Aziz and Zabed Chowdhury with five counts arising from an alleged multi-million dollar Medicaid fraud scheme targeting ambulette transportation services [1]. The charges include conspiracy to commit health care fraud, substantive health care fraud, conspiracy to defraud the United States and pay health care kickbacks, paying health care kickbacks, and money laundering conspiracy [1].
Ambulettes are non-emergency medical transportation vehicles used to transport Medicaid beneficiaries to and from covered medical appointments. Federal law criminalizes the submission of false claims to Medicaid under 18 U.S.C. § 1347 and prohibits the payment of kickbacks in connection with federally funded health care programs under the Anti-Kickback Statute, 42 U.S.C. § 1320a-7b. According to the indictment, Aziz and Chowdhury billed Medicaid for ambulette trips that were either never performed or were procured through illegal kickback payments to patient recruiters [1]. The scheme generated proceeds that the government alleges were then laundered through financial transactions designed to conceal their origin [1].
The case was filed in the Eastern District of New York and announced by U.S. Attorney Joseph Nocella Jr. [1]. The investigation was conducted jointly by the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Eastern District of New York and the Department of Health and Human Services Office of Inspector General [1]. The prosecution reflects the DOJ's National Fraud Division's continued focus on Medicaid fraud in the New York metropolitan area, a region that federal enforcement officials have identified as a recurring site of ambulette billing abuse [1].
Aziz and Chowdhury face significant statutory exposure. Health care fraud and conspiracy counts each carry maximum sentences of 10 years' imprisonment, while money laundering conspiracy carries a maximum of 20 years. The charges are allegations; no conviction has been entered. As the case moves into the discovery and pretrial motion phase in the Eastern District, the government's ability to document the volume of fraudulent claims and trace laundered proceeds will be central to its trial posture.