Collected $1 Million through Fake Billing, Kickback Schemes
The owner of a transportation company has been sentenced to one-and-a-half to four-and-a-half years in prison for stealing more than $1 million from New York’s Medicaid program by taking advantage of vulnerable New Yorkers through fake billing and kickback schemes.
James Bessell, Sr., the owner and operator of Jim Jim Rentals, Inc., was paid by Medicaid for coordinating the transportation of Medicaid recipients to and from their medical appointments. An investigation by the Office of the Attorney General’s (OAG) Medicaid Fraud Control Unit (MFCU) revealed that Bessell submitted fake claims to Medicaid that included recipients who were revealed to be deceased, incarcerated, or hospitalized.
Bessell accomplished this in part through a complex pyramid-style system of kickback payments to Medicaid recipients. He would pay certain recipients to not attend their scheduled medical appointments, including appointments for substance abuse treatment, but still bill Medicaid as if the trips had occurred.
Additionally, Bessell used a financial incentive structure to encourage the recipients he was already paying to recruit additional recipients to participate in the scheme. Based on these fake claims, Bessell fraudulently received over $1 million in payments from Medicaid.
On September 30, 2025, Bessell and his transportation company, Jim Jim Rentals, each pleaded guilty in Suffolk County Court to Grand Larceny in the First Degree, a Class B felony. On January 8, 2026, Bessell was sentenced to one-and-a-half to four-and-a-half years in state prison and paid $1.5 million in restitution to the New York Medicaid program. Jim Jim Rentals was sentenced to a Conditional Discharge.
As a result of their convictions, Bessell, 65, of Shirley, and Jim Jim Rentals will also be barred from being providers in all government-funded health programs, including Medicaid and Medicare.
“Exploiting the Medicaid program for personal profit jeopardizes the health care of vulnerable New Yorkers,” said Attorney General Letitia James. “Jim Bessell’s fraudulent schemes were illegal and diverted critical resources away from Medicaid. My office will continue to stop fraud in our health care system to ensure every New Yorker can get the quality care they deserve.”