# Ulster County MAK Limo Owner Gets 3 to 9 Years for Medicaid Group Ride Fraud

Canonical URL: https://nemtguide.com/news/ulster-county-mak-limo-sentenced/ · Updated 2026-10-02

On September 25, 2026, the [New York State Comptroller and the Ulster County District Attorney announced](https://www.osc.ny.gov/press/releases/2026/09/dinapoli-and-ulster-co-da-nneji-owner-ulster-co-medical-transportation-company-sentenced-prison) that the owner of MAK Limo, an Ulster County medical transportation company, was sentenced that day to three to nine years in state prison. He must also pay full restitution for stealing more than $1.1 million from Medicaid. He pleaded guilty to grand larceny in the first degree in Ulster County Court on March 25, 2026. The crimes ran from November 2020 to August 2024.

## What MAK Limo billed

Investigators from both offices found that the owner "systematically billed the Medicaid program individually for rides that were actually group rides and for rides that never occurred." In plain terms, he:

- **Billed shared rides as separate trips.** Riders who traveled together in one vehicle were each claimed as their own ride.
- **Billed rides that never happened.**
- **Paid riders kickbacks** to use MAK Limo and help the fraud along.

When he was charged in June 2025, the Comptroller's office put the total at $1,103,358. At his plea in March, he faced up to 15 years in prison.

## The second company in the case

The owner's father, who owns Atlas Limo, was arrested with him in June 2025. He is charged with grand larceny in the second degree and accused of stealing $111,548 between August 2024 and January 2025. That charge is an accusation, and he is presumed innocent unless proven guilty in court.

Both companies were enrolled in New York Medicaid and together received more than $5.8 million in Medicaid payments from the state. That figure is everything the two were paid, not the amount stolen.

## The second group ride case in a week

Three days later, on September 28, 2026, the Comptroller announced that two brothers from Clifton Park who own Medicaid ride companies pleaded guilty to grand larceny in Albany County Court. Their case also involved billing unauthorized group rides as individual rides. Read the details in [New York ride company owners plead guilty in Medicaid group ride billing fraud](https://nemtguide.com/news/new-york-group-ride-billing-guilty-pleas/).

Both announcements repeat the same rule: group rides are not allowed without prior authorization, and an approved provider bills mileage only once for the group. In Ulster County, [Medical Answering Services (MAS)](https://nemtguide.com/brokers/medical-answering-services/), the state's Medicaid ride broker, authorizes and assigns Medicaid rides. Billing each rider as a separate trip, or paying riders to pick your company, can end in a criminal case and prison time.

## What to do now

1. **Bill shared miles once.** New York's Medicaid Transportation Policy Manual, effective August 25, 2023, tells ambulette, taxi, and van companies paid by the loaded mile to claim only the actual miles from the first pickup to the last Medicaid rider's drop-off. In the manual's example, the first rider picked up carries those miles, and each other rider gets the base fee only. Companies paid a flat fee with no mileage are outside this rule. [NEMT multiloading](https://nemtguide.com/guides/nemt-multiloading/) shows how other states handle shared rides.
2. **Match every claim to its authorization.** All non-emergency Medicaid trips in New York need prior authorization, and a claim is paid only when it matches the authorization. Carry riders together only when the trip is approved that way.
3. **Never reward riders for choosing you.** New York lists offering a rider any premium or inducement for using your company as an unacceptable practice under 18 NYCRR 515.2. See [anti-kickback rules for NEMT](https://nemtguide.com/guides/anti-kickback-rules-for-nemt/).
4. **Keep proof for each leg.** For every leg, the manual requires the rider's name and Medicaid ID, the date, the pickup and drop-off places and times, the plate number, the driver's license number, the driver's full printed name and signature, and the driver's statement that the trip took place. Keep those records for six years after the date of payment.
5. **Pay back what you find.** If a review turns up shared rides billed wrong, New York requires you to report, return, and explain the overpayment within 60 days of finding it, through the self-disclosure program of the Office of the Medicaid Inspector General (OMIG). See [the 60-day overpayment rule](https://nemtguide.com/guides/medicaid-overpayment-60-day-rule/).

## Who to contact

- **Comptroller's fraud hotline:** 888-672-4555
- **OMIG fraud hotline:** 877-873-7283

## Sources

- [New York State Comptroller: Owner of Ulster Co. medical transportation company sentenced to prison for stealing $1.1 million in Medicaid fraud scheme (September 25, 2026)](https://www.osc.ny.gov/press/releases/2026/09/dinapoli-and-ulster-co-da-nneji-owner-ulster-co-medical-transportation-company-sentenced-prison)
- [New York State Comptroller: Owner of Ulster Co. medical transportation company pleads guilty to stealing $1.1 million (March 25, 2026)](https://www.osc.ny.gov/press/releases/2026/03/dinapoli-and-ulster-co-da-nneji-owner-ulster-co-medical-transportation-company-pleads-guilty-stealing)
- [New York State Comptroller: Father and son arrested for stealing $1.2 million in Medicaid transportation fraud scheme (June 2, 2025)](https://www.osc.ny.gov/press/releases/2025/06/dinapoli-and-ulster-county-da-nneji-father-and-son-arrested-stealing-12-million-medicaid)
- [New York State Comptroller: Brothers plead guilty to defrauding Medicaid out of $1.6 million (September 28, 2026)](https://www.osc.ny.gov/press/releases/2026/09/dinapoli-brothers-plead-guilty-defrauding-medicaid-out-16-million)
- [eMedNY: New York State Medicaid Transportation Policy Manual (effective August 25, 2023; prior authorization, record keeping, rides grouped by the provider)](https://www.emedny.org/ProviderManuals/Transportation/PDFS/Transportation_Manual_Policy_Section.pdf)
- [NYSDOH: Medicaid Transportation program overview (MAS Upstate region includes Ulster County, revised February 2026)](https://www.health.ny.gov/health_care/medicaid/members/medtrans_overview.htm)
- [New York Codes, Rules and Regulations: 18 NYCRR 515.2, Unacceptable practices under the medical assistance program](https://regs.health.ny.gov/content/section-5152-unacceptable-practices-under-medical-assistance-program)
- [NYS Office of the Medicaid Inspector General: Self-disclosure guidance (report, return, and explain overpayments within 60 days)](https://omig.ny.gov/self-disclosure-guidance)
- [NYS Office of the Medicaid Inspector General: File an allegation (fraud hotline 877-873-7283)](https://omig.ny.gov/medicaid-fraud/file-allegation)