The Orange County Transportation Company’s owners have pleaded guilty to a Medicaid fraud scheme

NEW YORK – Today, Letitia James, the attorney general of New York, said that the owners of DYD Universe, Inc. (DYD), a transportation company in New York that takes Medicaid clients, have pleaded guilty to their parts in a scheme that stole more than $2.1 million from Medicaid and gave illegal kickbacks to Medicaid users.

Damir Yuldashev, 64, his son Daler Yuldashev, 38, and Daler’s mother, Nigina Iskandarova, 60, all from Monroe, New York, admitted that they stole more than $2.1 million from Medicaid from April 2018 to March 2023 by filing false claims for services they knew they didn’t provide and toll charges they knew they didn’t make.

The owners also admitted that they paid Medicaid recipients illegal kickbacks in return for their secret Medicaid IDs, which they needed to carry out the scheme. It was agreed that Damir Yuldashev would spend two to six years in jail and that he and Daler Yuldashev would have to pay back over $2.1 million to Medicaid.

Nigina Iskandarova and Daler Yuldashev will be put on probation, and none of the three defendants will ever be able to work as health care workers in any government-funded program again.

Attorney General James said, “It is unacceptable to steal taxpayer money that is meant to pay for health care for low-income New Yorkers.” “These people took advantage of Medicaid recipients to commit fraud instead of giving these weak patients the transportation services they needed to get to their appointments.” I will not stand for plans like these that hurt our health care system, and my office will keep going after people who steal from Medicaid.

People on Medicaid who don’t have their own transportation can use approved transportation providers to get to and from medical services that are reimbursed. These service companies get paid by Medicaid for the rides they give. Daler and Damir Yuldashev lied on their Medicaid claims for years, from April 2018 to March 2023.

They said they took fake trips and added fake tolls to them to make the prices seem higher. There were times when DYD’s claims added toll fees of $15 to $50 to trips that didn’t have any tolls at all. Because of their plan, DYD charged Medicaid more than $2.1 million more than they should have.

In order to carry out their plan, the defendants paid Medicaid recipients to sign up with DYD and either give fake addresses or drive themselves to their meetings. This let DYD either overstate or completely fake claims for transportation to Medicaid.

These payments were against the law, and they hurt the businesses of other Hudson Valley transit companies. Some people were paid thousands of dollars to ride, which meant that DYD could make tens of thousands of dollars from each person.

In front of Judge Richard Guertin in Orange County Court, all three of the suspects said they were guilty. The charge against Damir Yuldashev was Grand Larceny in the First Degree, which is a class B crime.

It was agreed that Daler Yuldashev did commit a class D crime called Grand Larceny in the Third Degree. Nigina Iskandarova admitted to breaking New York’s anti-kickback law, which is called Social Services Law section 366-d. This is a class E crime. DYD also admitted that he stole something in the first degree.

Damir Yuldashev could go to state jail for two to six years. Daler Yuldashev and Nigina Iskandarova, who were both less involved in the plan, will both be put on probation. Daler Yuldashev will also have to do at least 1,200 hours of community service.

As part of their term, Damir and Daler Yuldashev have to repay Medicaid $2,127,624 for the wrongs they did. Damir and Daler Yuldashev will have to spend more time in state prison if they don’t pay the money back as ordered by the court when they were sentenced.

Because they were found guilty, each suspect can never again work as a provider for any government-funded health program, such as Medicaid or Medicare.

Please accept our thanks to the New York State Department of Health and the Office of the Medicaid Inspector General for their help with this probe.

Detectives Peter Olsen and Frank Bluszcz looked into this case with help from Supervising Detective Jeffrey Pitts. The financial analysis was done by Christopher Giacoia, John Annunziata, Lora Pomponio, and Melissa Stoebling, who are all Principal Auditor-Investigators. Kelvin Caraballo, a Legal Support Analyst, helped as a clerk.

Assistant Attorneys General Eva Urrutia and Robert Trudell, as well as MFCU Pearl River Regional Office Regional Director Todd Pettigrew, worked on the case. Chief of Criminal Investigations for MFCU Thomas O’Hanlon and Deputy Chief of the Civil Enforcement Division for MFCU Konrad Payne also helped.

Alee Scott is in charge of the Civil Enforcement Division at MFCU. A director named Amy Held and an assistant deputy attorney general named Paul J. Mahoney run the MFCU. Jennifer Levy, who is the first deputy attorney general, is in charge of the Division of Criminal Justice and is led by Chief Deputy Attorney General José Maldonado.

When people report Medicaid provider fraud, MFCU protects the public by going after Medicaid provider fraud and making sure that nursing home residents are not abused or neglected.

If someone thinks they know about Medicaid provider fraud or a case of abuse or neglect of a nursing home resident, they can call the MFCU hotline at (800) 771-7755 or make a confidential complaint online. If you need help right away, please call 911.

For the government fiscal year (FY) 2025, New York MFCU will get a total of $70,502,916. 75% of that amount, or $52,877,188, comes from a grant from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. New York State pays for the last 25%, which adds up to $17,625,728 for FY 2025.

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