Zakia Khan, 55, was sentenced to 76 months in prison for her leadership role in a Medicaid fraud and kickback scheme run through two social adult day care centers in the Coney Island section of Brooklyn. The centers billed Medicaid about $64 million, and Medicaid paid about $56 million on those claims. The court also ordered more than $56 million in restitution and a $5 million forfeiture that includes two properties, cash and gold jewelry.
Sentence and plea in the Eastern District of New York
The sentence was announced on September 9, 2026, in a release from the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of New York. Khan had pleaded guilty in August 2025 to conspiracy to commit health care fraud and to conspiracy to defraud the United States and pay health care kickbacks. The release describes her as having a leadership role in the scheme, and that is the posture on the record: a guilty plea followed by a sentence of 76 months, imposed by United States District Judge Natasha C. Merle.
The 76 months is the term the court imposed, not a ceiling or a prosecutors’ request. It follows a plea rather than a jury verdict, so there was no trial finding; the conviction rests on Khan’s own admission to the two conspiracy counts.
How the day care billing worked
The release says the scheme ran from approximately October 2017 through July 2024. Khan owned Happy Family Social Adult Day Care Center Inc. and Family Social Adult Day Care Center Inc., both in the Coney Island section of Brooklyn. She also owned Responsible Care Staffing Inc., described as a home health care fiscal intermediary, and Tanwee Services Inc., which the release says was used to receive and disguise fraud proceeds.
The money figures carry two different meanings. Across the seven years, the two day care centers billed Medicaid approximately $64 million, which is the amount claimed. Medicaid paid approximately $56 million on the false and fraudulent claims, which is the amount that left the program. The restitution order of more than $56 million tracks the paid figure, not the billed one.
Two properties, cash and gold jewelry in the forfeiture
Alongside the prison term, Khan was ordered to forfeit $5 million in fraud proceeds. The release says that includes two properties, cash and gold jewelry seized during a search of her home. The forfeiture is a separate order from the restitution: restitution is owed to the victim, here Medicaid, while forfeiture takes the proceeds of the crime itself…