{"id":997538,"date":"2026-08-13T05:35:53","date_gmt":"2026-08-13T05:35:53","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/997538\/"},"modified":"2026-08-13T05:35:53","modified_gmt":"2026-08-13T05:35:53","slug":"owner-of-suspiciously-vacant-adult-daycare-billed-medicaid-32m-while-donating-to-kathy-hochul-other-democrats","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/997538\/","title":{"rendered":"Owner of suspiciously vacant adult daycare billed Medicaid $32M while donating to Kathy Hochul, other Democrats"},"content":{"rendered":"

Kathy Hochul received $55,000 in campaign contributions from social adult daycare centers (SADCs) in fraud-plagued Flushing, Queens<\/a>, records show.<\/p>\n

Almost half of those donations can be linked to two men: local powerbroker Baoli Zhang, and Jiemin Shang \u2014 who own two of Flushing\u2019s biggest daycare businesses, both of which were empty of patients when visited by The Post last week.<\/p>\n

Zhang, 69, personally donated $10,000, as well as another $5,000 through his Bao Kang Adult Day Care, financial disclosures show. Zhang\u2019s various businesses have claimed at least $32 million from Medicaid since 2018, on behalf of tens of thousands of patients.<\/p>\n

World renowned musician Baoli Zhang poses with his erhu, in which he is described as a master performer. Zhang has played Lincoln Center, Carnegie Hall, and the Jiulliard School. He\u2019s also a Medicaid kingpin who owns at least three day cares in Queens and Manhattan. Baoli Zhang\/Facebook<\/p>\n

A spokesperson for Gov. Hochul told The Post, \u201cPolitical contributions have no influence on government decisions.\u201d Erik Pendzich\/Shutterstock<\/p>\n

Shang runs Livingwell Day Care, which donated $5,000 to Hochul in 2022, the same year it billed $5.8M to Medicaid. Another $5,000 came from Finest Adult Day Care, which Shang also runs.<\/p>\n

\u201cIn 2021, [social adult daycare centers] were dying due to COVID. Someone threw them a lifeline and must have said something like, \u2018Take care of me, I\u2019ll take care of you.\u2019 They\u2019re making more money than ever now,\u201d an industry source claimed to The Post.<\/p>\n

Federal figures back this up. Business has exploded at Livingwell, which billed $114,000 in 2018, a number that increased to $8.05 million in 2024. Bao Kang went from claiming $1.5M in 2018 to $7.22M by 2024. Monthly revenue for daycares across Flushing overall has nearly doubled compared to pre-pandemic numbers.<\/p>\n

Only nine of the city\u2019s\u00a0nearly 400\u00a0SADCs made contributions over $5,000 to Hochul\u2019s first\u00a0gubernatorial\u00a0campaign in 2022. Those same nine businesses accounted for billing Medicaid for an eyepopping $49 million in 2022, The Post\u2019s investigation found.<\/p>\n

Workers at Living Well Adult Day Care in Flushing, Queens, was empty and quickly asked The Post to leave when we visited on July 29. Matthew McDermott for NY Post<\/p>\n

The Post visited Livingwell the place completely empty, despite billing Medicaid $27 million from 2018-2024 for 26,500 unique patients. Matthew McDermott for NY Post<\/p>\n

Zhang is also founder of the Asian American Adult Daycare Association<\/a> (AAADA), a nonprofit\u00a0formed in 2023 as an industry advocacy group,\u00a0while Shang is secretary-general.<\/p>\n

Zhang, who grew up in Beijing, is a big name in the community as he is also a world-renowned musician, described as a \u201cmaster\u201d of the erhu<\/a>\u2014a two-stringed Chinese musical instrument played with a bow\u2014performing at Carnegie Hall, Lincoln Center and The Jiulliard School, according to Chinese media.<\/p>\n

Zhang was a child prodigy, entering a prestigious Beijing music conservatory at age nine. Before long, he was selling CDs and cassettes of his solo erhu performances to audiences across Asia and the US.<\/p>\n

Living Well Adult Day Care donated $5,000 to Hochul in 2022 while another day care with the same listed owner donated an additional $5,000 that year. Matthew McDermott for NY Post<\/p>\n

However, in recent years, he has concentrated on growing his SADC businesses.<\/p>\n

His involvement is opaque. While he listed himself as the owner and manager of Bao Kang on campaign finance disclosure records, both local and federal Medicaid data list other individuals as the owners.<\/p>\n

Zhang also owns Confucius Social Daycare Center in Manhattan\u2019s Chinatown, which billed Medicaid $15.7 million between 2018 and 2024; Silver Arch Management and AA Plus Management Inc. The latter is a \u201cpoint of service\u201d Medicaid provider that has billed taxpayers $2.65 million, according to federal data.<\/p>\n

A meeting of the Asian American Adult Daycare Association, where top lawmakers were invited to mingle at Zhang\u2019s Empire Adult Day Care. usahrsh.com<\/p>\n

Bao Kang donated $5,000 to Kathy Hochul in 2022, with owner Baoli Zhang donating an additional $10,000 to the Democrat governor\u2019s campaign that year. Matthew McDermott for NY Post<\/p>\n

The SADCs in this story have not been accused of wrongdoing, nor have Zhang or Shang \u2014 who did not respond to The Post\u2019s numerous attempts at outreach for comment.<\/p>\n

According to a 2022 Chinese language news report on the topic of\u00a0recent fraud busts<\/a>\u00a0in Flushing, Zhang warned\u00a0at an event\u00a0against greed and \u201cexcessive consumption\u201d within the community.<\/p>\n

He said, in statements translated from Chinese: \u201cThe New York State government is very generous to its residents. Whether it\u2019s home care, daycare, or medical assistance, it is one of the states with the best welfare in the United States.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe elderly should cherish their current benefits and living environment; excessive consumption will only deprive their descendants of resources.\u201d<\/p>\n

Democrat Gov. Kathy Hochul took $55,000 from adult day care centers in Flushing, Queens in 2022. The nine centers have billed nearly $250 million from Medicaid over a six year period. Erik Pendzich\/Shutterstock<\/p>\n

US Rep. Grace Meng, who took $7,800 from Zhang, told The Post, \u201cWe welcome good faith investigations in the same way we reject MAGA campaigns targeting Asian American senior citizens.\u201d Gregory P. Mango<\/p>\n

The same Baxter Street building in\u00a0Manhattan\u2019sChinatown which Zhang lists as his business address is home to another SADC which donated to Hochul\u2019s campaign, Cathay Adult Daycare, which sent the governor $5,000 in 2022 \u2014 the same year it billed Medicaid for $8.4 million.<\/p>\n

Zhang is not listed as the owner of Cathay Adult Daycare and it\u2019s unclear if he is connected to it.<\/p>\n

The Post\u2019s previous reporting and federal raids have shown SADCs have\u00a0become epicenters<\/a>\u00a0for Medicaid fraud, claiming money for seniors they are not treating and in some cases giving them kickbacks of the federal money they receive.<\/p>\n

New York Post reporter Chadwick Moore attempts to speak with workers inside of Bao Kang Adult Day Care Center on July 29, 2026, in Flushing, Queens. A one-mile radius of the neighborhood boasts 77 Social Adult Daycares which bill Medicaid over $100 million a year, making Flushing the possible medical fraud capital of New York. Matthew McDermott for NY Post<\/p>\n

State Senator John Liu, who represents Flushing, told The Post, \u201c\u201dMr. Zhang is a long-time and respected leader in the community and I am proud to have had his support for decades.\u201d James Messerschmidt<\/p>\n

This has happened in a number of communities, including among Coney Island\u2019s Pakistani diaspora as well as Chinatown in Manhattan and Flushing, where 77 centers are packed into the district.<\/p>\n

The New York State Department of Health told CBS News it has referred 387 SADCs for investigation since 2021, a third of which were then sent to the of the Attorney General for legal action.<\/p>\n

The 2022 event where Zhang spoke was also attended by US congresswoman Grace Meng (D) of Flushing and state senator John Liu (D), Chairperson of New York City Education Committee.<\/p>\n

Liu told The Post in a statement: \u201cMr. Zhang is a longtime respected leader in the community, and I am proud to have had his support for decades.<\/p>\n

Zhang\u2019s Empire Adult Day Care billed Medicaid $16.4M from 2018-2024 and hosts top Democrat electids for Chinese cultural events. Two other names are listed on official Medicaid documents as the owners but Zhang was identified in Chinese-language news reports and campaign donation forms as the owner. Google Maps<\/p>\n

Cathay Adult Day Care in Manhattan\u2019s Chinatown donated $5,000 to Hochul\u2019s campaign. It is housed in the same building as other businesses owned by Zhang, a Post investigation found. Google Maps<\/p>\n

\u201cI have made visits to several adult daycare centers in past years, each time seeing large numbers of senior citizens engaged in services and activities. If fraud and impropriety are suspected at any facilities, full investigations and prosecutions should be undertaken.\u201d<\/p>\n

Zhang has donated $7,800 to Meng and $4,950 to Liu, according to campaign disclosures.<\/p>\n

The source said local politicians find the centers handy to pick up votes. \u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cA lot of the local politicians are using these guys,\u201d a source who has spent decades around the daycare industry in Flushing told The Post.<\/p>\n

In 2016, Zhang purchased an abandoned summer camp in Sussex County, NJ for 850,000. Three years later he hosted a winter wonderful and holiday lights festival on the 96-acre site. Vernon Lights Festival\/Facebook<\/p>\n

Zhang is also the owner of Confucius Social Adult Day Care in Manhattan\u2019s Chinatown. \u201cThe New York State government is very generous to its residents. Whether it\u2019s home care, day care, or medical assistance, it is one of the states with the best welfare in the United States. The elderly should cherish their current benefits and living environment; excessive consumption will only deprive their descendants of resources,\u201d Zhang once said. Google Maps<\/p>\n

\u201cIf you get 100 people in there and you make them vote, it\u2019s very powerful for a primary. Every politician goes to these daycares for help.\u201d<\/p>\n

The Empire SADC which hosted the event where the politicians spoke is another which Zhang\u00a0claimed to own on campaign finance forms, and was credited as his operation in local reports, however city and federal data lists two other owners.<\/p>\n

The other daycares to contribute to Hochul\u2019s campaign in 2022 were: American Adult Daycare Center, Big Apple Adult Daycare, Blue Sky Adult Daycare, Greater New York Social and Health Adult Daycare \u2014 all in Flushing \u2014 and Brooklyn\u2019s Jy Adult Social Daycare, which each cut $5,000 checks.<\/p>\n

Big Apple Adult Day Care and American Adult Day Care, which share the same owners, each donated $5,000 to Hochul\u2019s campaign in 2022. Google Maps<\/p>\n

A spokesperson for Gov. Hochul said: \u201cGovernor Hochul has taken significant action to root out waste, fraud and abuse, resulting in billions of dollars in savings for taxpayers, reforms to New York\u2019s Medicaid program, and the criminal prosecution of fraudsters.Any facility caught breaking the law will be held accountable.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

The\u00a0spokesperson\u00a0also noted: \u201cPolitical contributions have no influence on government decisions.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Kathy Hochul received $55,000 in campaign contributions from social adult daycare centers (SADCs) in fraud-plagued Flushing, Queens, records…\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":997539,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_share_on_mastodon":"0"},"categories":[5122],"tags":[5229,11119,65511,820,5371,3170,5248,405,403,5226,5225,5228,5227,4413,39006,67,586,132,5230,68,1154,2969],"class_list":["post-997538","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-new-york","tag-america","tag-campaign-finance","tag-flushing","tag-fraud","tag-kathy-hochul","tag-medicaid","tag-metro","tag-new-york","tag-new-york-city","tag-newyork","tag-newyorkcity","tag-ny","tag-nyc","tag-queens","tag-senior-citizens","tag-united-states","tag-united-states-of-america","tag-unitedstates","tag-unitedstatesofamerica","tag-us","tag-us-news","tag-usa"],"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@us\/117086583946572108","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/997538","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=997538"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/997538\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/997539"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=997538"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=997538"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=997538"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}