New Jersey Put on Notice: HSI Says It Is Investigating Healthcare Fraud There Too

Federal authorities say New Jersey operators defrauding the government for healthcare services could be next

NEWARK, NJ — A bill for care that never happened. A transportation charge for a ride never provided. Public money collected for services that existed only on paper.

Those are the practices Homeland Security Investigations is warning about as its New Jersey office publicly emphasizes its work against fraud involving taxpayer-funded programs. Now, HSI’s New Jersey office is warning fraudsters in the Garden State that they’re investigating here too.

On Tuesday, federal and state law enforcement—led by Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) and the FBI—conducted a sweeping crackdown, raiding over 100 social adult day care centers across New York City as part of a major Medicaid fraud and money-laundering investigation

More than 100 social adult day care and senior care providers across boroughs including Brooklyn (Borough Park, Sunset Park), Queens (Flushing), and Staten Island.

HSI warned that the operation is not over and New Jersey agents were actively involved in helping their New York City agents in both states.

HSI New York and the FBI worked alongside the New York State Department of Health, the Office of the Medicaid Inspector General, the AG’s Medicaid Fraud Control Unit, HHS-OIG, and local partners.

In an official statement posted Wednesday, HSI New Jersey said its agents are working with federal and other law enforcement partners to combat transnational fraud, specifically including health care fraud. That warning comes after a major operation nationwide that lead to multiple arrests.

“We are committed to ensuring the integrity of public programs that are funded by the American taxpayer,” the agency said.

The statement brought a New Jersey voice to a warning issued by HSI New York a day earlier: charging public programs for services never delivered is deliberate fraud.

“NOT a paperwork mistake”

HSI New Jersey shared its message alongside an Oct. 20 statement from HSI New York addressing fraudulent billing for care, transportation and other services.

“Billing public programs for care, transportation or other services that were never provided is fraud, NOT a paperwork mistake,” the New York office wrote.

That warning centers on whether the service behind a claim actually happened. A provider collecting public money for nonexistent care is taking payment without delivering what the program was established to provide.

HSI New York said investigators are working to uncover schemes that “exploit neighborhoods & steal taxpayers’ hard-earned money.”

New Jersey office emphasizes health care investigations

For New Jersey, the statement explicitly identifies health care fraud as part of HSI’s continuing investigative work.

“HSI New Jersey, together with our federal and other law enforcement partners, are combating transnational fraud, including health care fraud, every day,” the office said.

The New Jersey and New York statements address the same underlying concern from different directions. New Jersey emphasized protecting public-program funding. New York identified a specific practice investigators pursue—billing for services never provided.