Joseph Schwartz (Inset) was operated from an office above the retail space on Marlboro Road, Woodridge, New Jersey (Google Street View Image)
More about Joseph Schwartz and Skyline Healthcare:
► Former nurse operator faces a long-term legal battle
► Former nurse home operator hit with a judgement of $8.4 million
► Former nurse home operator has been ordered to pay $7.7 million
►Million-dollar medical expenses Skyline Health Goals
The former Arkansas Nursing Home operator on Wednesday pleaded guilty to one count of Medicaid fraud and one count related to tax evasion, receiving a one-year sentence with the Arkansas Department of Corrections.
New York's Joseph Schwartz, 72, will also have to pay $1.8 million in reparations, according to a news release from Arkansas Attorney General Tim Griffin. Schwartz was suspended for 48 months.
Schwartz was the owner of a former insurance agent who began operating the nursing home in 2005. His company operated over 100 facilities in 11 states and operated on a pizza parlour in Woodridge, New Jersey.
He was a majority and president of Skyline Healthcare LLC, which operated multiple nursing homes in Arkansas.
Schwartz was accused of filing false statements in cost reports and other documents with the state's Medicaid program. Skyline Health is said to have overpaid $6.3 million, exaggerated its costs and was overpaid $3.6 million. Schwartz was also accused of failing to pay more than $2 million from the salary of Arkansas employees to the state from July 2017 to July 2018.
“He also failed to pay employees' premiums and ignored grocery bills. He forced staff to buy food for residents and paid himself as an employee at multiple facilities,” Griffin said.
In 2018, two of Schwartz's Arkansas Nursing Homes were taken into the receiving vessels by the Arkansas Department of Human Services.
“Schwartz not only exploited our vulnerable population, but preyed on Arkansan, who worked at his facility. He submitted false information to manipulate Medicaid payments and failed to take over employee tax withholding, so he betrayed the trust he placed on him as the owner of an employer and nurse,” Griffin said.
Schwartz's prosecutors also included the offices of prosecutor's attorneys for the Arkansas 6th Judicial District, Will Jones, the Internal Revenue Service, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services and the Arkansas Department of Finance Management. Other agencies that cooperated in the case were the Medicaid fraud management force in South Dakota and the US Lawyer's Office in the New Jersey area.
“This prosecution was the definition of a joint effort,” Griffin said.
