Tompkins County man arrested for alleged $1 million Medicaid fraud

TOMPKINS COUNTY, N.Y. ( WETM ) — A Tompkins County man is facing multiple charges after allegedly using his company to steal more than $1 million from Medicaid.

According to the New York State Attorney General’s Office, David Moore allegedly used his company ASAP 2 to steal from Medicaid through fake billing and an illegal kickback scheme. New York State paid ASAP 2 more than $1 million that the company wasn’t entitled to because of false claims Moore filed between January 2019 and August 2023.

Medicaid recipients who don’t have access to transportation can use approved transportation providers to go to covered medical services and back home. Medicaid reimburses medical transportation providers for the rides they give Medicaid recipients.

“Patients across the state depend on medical transportation providers to access the care they need,” said Attorney General Letitia James. “David Moore exploited his role to steal from New York’s Medicaid program, putting vulnerable New Yorkers at risk and undermining honest businesses that provide essential transportation services.”

Authorities say that Moore paid Medicaid recipients to use his transportation company and then overcharged Medicaid for the rides. He was said to have used Venmo and Cash App to make off-the-book payments to recipients, some of whom were suffering from substance use disorder, to get them to take rides with his service. Moore allegedly did this to overcharge Medicaid for the rides he provided.

Moore also submitted claims for trips that didn’t happen and inflated the mileage of trips that did happen, according to the attorney general’s office. Authorities say that one example of Moore allegedly doing this was him billing trips with multiple passengers as if each passenger were in a separate vehicle to increase the fees for a single trip.

Moore was arrested on June 21 and charged with first-degree grand larceny, two counts of second-degree health care fraud, and three counts of medical assistance provider prohibited practices. The grand larceny charge has a maximum sentence of 25 years in state prison.

The Attorney General’s Medicaid Fraud Control Unit (MFCU) Rochester Regional staff is investigating this criminal case.

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