A former owner of a nursing home in Arkansas has pled guilty to Medicaid fraud and tax evasion, according to court records.
According to records, the chief operator of Skyline Health Care (SCH) was 72-year-old Joseph Schwartz of New York. SHC had several nursing home facilities in Arkansas.
According to court documents, Schwartz was sentenced to one year in the Arkansas Department of Corrections, with four years suspended. Schwartz was also ordered to pay a $2,000 fine, court fees, and $1,801,620.53 in restitution.
Arkansas Attorney General Tim Griffin commented on the conviction, saying, “My office will continue to hold bad actors accountable and pursue those who exploit Arkansans.”
Griffin said Schwartz was charged with presenting false and deceptive information that affected the daily rate paid to the facilities, as well as neglecting to pay taxes withheld from his employees’ paychecks.
Griffin further stated that Schwartz refused to pay employees’ insurance premiums, neglected grocery bills, “forcing staff to buy food for residents,” and paid himself as an employee in various institutions. Furthermore, he reportedly deducted taxes from employees’ paychecks without filing the necessary paperwork with the Arkansas Department of Finance and Administration.
Griffin stated that as a result of these acts, the Arkansas Department of Human Services placed two nursing homes into receivership.
“Schwartz didn’t just take advantage of our vulnerable population; he also preyed on Arkansans who worked in his facilities,” Griffin recalled. “He betrayed the trust placed in him as an employer and the owner of those nursing homes.”
