Yangsim Oum and Juyoung Choe
Introduction
Yangsim Oum, 79, and her daughter Juyoung Choe, 49 — the respective owner and program director of SI Day Care Center, Inc., a social adult daycare on Forest Avenue in Staten Island — were arrested on October 20, 2026 and charged in a 457-count indictment with defrauding Medicaid out of more than $530,000. Prosecutors allege they billed for hundreds of seniors they never actually served, including some who were dead or out of the country at the time. Both women deny the allegations through their attorneys, were released on their own recognizance, and have not been tried; each faces up to 15 years in prison if convicted on the top count.
Background Information
SI Day Care Center operated as a “social adult daycare,” a program that keeps seniors with physical or cognitive decline fed, safe and occupied during the day and bills Medicaid based on daily attendance. The arrests came in “Operation Golden Grift,” a Staten Island District Attorney’s Office investigation executed Tuesday alongside a coordinated citywide sweep by state, local and federal authorities that targeted about 100 senior-care providers across New York City. The sector was already under intense scrutiny: between 2021 and 2025, the state Office of the Medicaid Inspector General investigated 387 potential fraud cases at social adult daycares and referred more than 100 to the attorney general, according to Gov. Kathy Hochul’s office.
The Controversy or Incident That Led to Their Cancellation
Charged, not convicted. Oum and Choe were arrested October 20, 2026 and indicted on 457 counts including health care fraud and falsifying business records. The allegations are unproven, both women deny them through their attorneys, and both were released on their own recognizance pending prosecution.
According to the indictment announced by Staten Island DA Michael McMahon, the pair allegedly pocketed more than $530,000 in bogus billings in just four months, from April 17 to August 25, 2026. That sum allegedly included about $13,000 billed for services supposedly provided to at least 32 seniors who turned out to be dead or overseas when the visits supposedly happened. The 457-count indictment charges healthcare fraud in the second degree as the top count — carrying up to 15 years on conviction — along with hundreds of counts of falsifying business records in the first degree. McMahon, announcing the case at a press conference Wednesday, called the mother-daughter pair “one of Staten Island’s most lucrative con artists,” accused them of “using and abusing our borough’s seniors as pawns in a vast criminal enterprise,” and warned there were “countless” other operators running similar alleged schemes: “This is just the tip of the iceberg.”
Public Reaction and Consequences
The arrest played out against a show of force across the city: agents from Homeland Security Investigations were photographed carrying sealed boxes marked “evidence” out of Brooklyn daycare centers, and CMS administrator Dr. Mehmet Oz toured two facilities in Queens as part of the sweep. Hochul framed the operation as a “massive effort to combat fraud and abuse.” A business owner next to the Forest Avenue center told CBS New York the allegations were surprising: “I thought they were running a very good business here.” Both women answered through attorneys: Yan Katsnelson said, “Ms. Oum denies these allegations and any wrongdoing. My office is investigating the allegations and retaining accountants. Ms. Oum looks forward to having her name cleared,” while Mark Fonte said his client “adamantly denies these charges and refuses to be lumped together with the day care scandals currently in the news” and that his firm hired forensic accountants “to verify every dollar involved.” McMahon stressed that seniors legitimately served by raided centers would not be displaced and were being connected with responsible providers.
Current Status
Oum and Choe were released on their own recognizance after their Tuesday arrests, and no trial date has been reported; no conviction exists on any count, and the allegations remain unadjudicated. McMahon said the pair were the only people arrested on Staten Island that day, with investigations at other centers still underway. The day after the announcement, CMS sent New York’s Medicaid director a letter demanding a corrective action plan within 30 days; Oz called the social adult daycare program “a plague on the state.” President Trump separately announced $30,000 bounties for tips leading to similar fraud indictments.
Impact on Their Career/Life
The indictment ended the family-run center’s operation on Forest Avenue, with prosecutors moving to connect its legitimately served seniors with other providers so no one loses care. Oum and Choe became the public face of a statewide crackdown that State Health Commissioner Dr. James McDonald said has produced more than 100 referrals to the attorney general, and their case landed one month after a Coney Island daycare owner was sentenced to more than six years in federal prison for a $64 million Medicaid fraud conspiracy. If convicted on the top count, each faces up to 15 years in prison.
Sources
- The New York Post, “NYC adult daycare owners busted in $530K Medicaid fraud in ‘Operation Golden Grift’: DA,” October 21, 2026 — source
- Gothamist, “NYC adult daycare operators charged with committing over $500K in Medicaid fraud,” October 21, 2026 — source
- CBS New York, “2 Staten Island adult day care operators charged in Medicaid fraud,” October 21, 2026 — source
- @nypost on X, “NYC adult daycare owners busted in $530K Medicaid fraud in ‘Operation Golden Grift’: DA,” October 21, 2026 — source