Welcome to The Home Equity Theft Reporter, a blog dedicated to informing the consumer public and the legal profession about Home Equity Theft issues. This blog will consist of information describing the various forms of Home Equity Theft and links to news reports & other informational sources from throughout the country about the victims of Home Equity Theft and what government authorities and others are doing about it.
Sunday, May 01, 2016
Brooklyn Landlord Who Operated Flophouses For Recovering Addicts Gets Bagged For Allegedly Bilking Medicaid By Pocketing Over $2 Million In Kickbacks From Providers Of Support Groups That He Forced His Tenants To Attend
In Brooklyn, New York, The New York Times reports:
An operator of flophouses catering to addicts, who was the subject of an investigation last year by The New York Times, was arrested [...] on money laundering and Medicaid fraud charges.
Investigators from the New York State attorney general’s office took the landlord, Yury Baumblit, and his wife, Rimma, who helped him run his business, into custody [...] at their Brooklyn home, a block from Brighton Beach. The couple were arraigned [...] in Kings County Criminal Court on felony charges of second-degree grand larceny, second-degree money laundering and violations of a law prohibiting Medicaid kickbacks.
The charges center on allegations that Mr. Baumblit forced tenants of his flophouses to attend support groups at multiple substance-abuse treatment providers. In return for getting those tenants as clients, the providers paid companies run by the Baumblits more than $2 million in Medicaid kickbacks, Megan Friedland, an assistant attorney general, told the courtroom. If convicted, the Baumblits face up to 15 years in prison. The providers were not named at the hearing.
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Officials have long known about Mr. Baumblit’s homes. In December 2010, MFY Legal Services, a nonprofit that has represented three-quarter-house tenants, filed a class-action lawsuit against the Baumblits and their companies over an alleged kickback scheme. The public radio station WNYC wrote about the lawsuit and the Baumblits’ network of homes about the same time. ProPublica, a nonprofit investigative news organization, also wrote about the Baumblits several years later, looking into their connection to the New York Service Network.
Canarsie Aware, NRI and the New York Service Network, all regulated by the state Office of Alcoholism and Substance Abuse Services, remain open. Narco Freedom, which was accused last year by federal and state prosecutors of bilking Medicaid, has since been shut down.
“It’s been so long that tenants have been complaining,” said Matthew Main, a lawyer with MFY. “Everyone knew this was happening. But Yury just kept opening new houses and opening new houses. The big thing that comes to mind is the tenants saw this as Mr. Baumblit being able to operate with impunity. This action by the attorney general’s office sends the message that their lives matter. The lives of poor people matter.”
CBC News: Betrayal of Trust (A CBC investigation reveals how lawyers across Canada have misappropriated and mishandled clients money, to the tune of tens of millions of dollars, or sometimes even charging vulnerable people top dollar for shoddy services)
Land Contract/Contract For Deed/Rent-To-Own Rackets
The New York Times: The Housing Trap (In the wake of the housing crisis, low-income families have turned to seller financing to buy homes but these deals can be a money trap)
Beware The Fine Print: Consumers Forced To Sign Away Their Rights To Use Court System
The NY Times: Arbitration Everywhere, Stacking the Deck of Justice(Part 1 in series examining how clauses buried in tens of millions of contracts have deprived Americans of one of their most fundamental constitutional rights: their day in court)
Foreclosure Mills' Abysmal Record In Complying With New NYS Foreclosure Requirements
Justice Deceived: How Large Foreclosure Firms Subvert State Regulations Protecting Homeowners
MFY Legal Services Report On Questionable Practices By Process Servers In Debt Collection Cases
Justice Disserved: A Preliminary Analysis of the Exceptionally
Low Appearance Rate by Defendants in Lawsuits Filed in the Civil Court of the City of New York
Mortgage Mess Redux: Robo-Signers Return (A Reuters investigation finds that many banks are still employing the controversial foreclosure practices that sparked a major outcry last year)
CNN Video: As Foreclosures Mount, Florida Court Turns To 'Rocket Docket'
The Wall Street Journal: A Florida Court's 'Rocket Docket' Blasts Through Foreclosure Cases (2 Questions, 15 Seconds, 45 Days to Get Out; 'What's to Talk About?' Says a Judge)
"Produce The Note" Strategy When Dealing With Missing Promissory Notes In Foreclosure Actions
ABC Video: Fighting Against Foreclosure (Some homeowners have found a new tactic to keep the banks at bay)
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