The owner of two Queens pharmacies was arrested on charges he bilked Medicaid in a $31 million drug-buyback scheme involving HIV prescriptions, the New York attorney general\u2019s office said on Wednesday.<\/p>\n
Miguel Baron allegedly prescribed HIV meds to patients insured through Medicaid out of Guardiola Pharmacy and Baron Specialty Pharmacy in Jackson Heights, the AG\u2019s office said in a statement.<\/p>\n
Baron then either convinced customers to sell their pills back to him, so he could prescribe them again, or filled their prescriptions with cheaper meds he got on the black market, the attorney general\u2019s office said.<\/p>\n
The scheme allegedly netted Baron $31 million in stolen funds from Medicaid and the state\u2019s AIDS Drug Assistance Program.<\/p>\n
\u201cPharmacy owners who exploit patients with medication buyback schemes are putting New Yorkers\u2019 health at serious risk,\u201d Attorney General Letitia James said in a statement.<\/p>\n
James added, \u201cMy office will continue to protect patients, shut down Medicaid fraud schemes, and hold criminals accountable to ensure that our tax dollars are not lining scammers\u2019 pockets.\u201d<\/p>\n
Baron could not be reached for comment and did not have an attorney listed in court documents.<\/p>\n
Baron laundered the funds he got from his Medicaid scheme through shell companies that he and his associates used to fund construction projects, purchase condos in Miami and buy luxury cars and World Cup tickets, according to the attorney general\u2019s office.<\/p>\n
Baron faces 24 charges, including grand larceny, healthcare fraud and money laundering, according to an indictment<\/a> that was filed in a New York State Supreme Court in Queens in September and unsealed Wednesday.<\/p>\n Also on Wednesday, the state attorney general brought a civil asset forfeiture case against Baron to seize the property he allegedly purchased with stolen Medicaid funds. The attorney general\u2019s office seeks more than $95 million in damages.<\/p>\n Prosecutors have cracked down on several similar operations in the past. In 2024, a Brooklyn man was sentenced to nine years in prison for selling black market<\/a> HIV drugs to pharmacies for years.<\/p>\n