Already Facing Medicaid Fraud Charges, Brooklyn Landlord Who Operated So-Called Transitional/Sober Homes Gets Pinched Again For Illegally Booting Vulnerable Residents Without Court Order

In Brooklyn, New York, the New York Daily News reports:

• The owner of a three-quarter housing company — already accused of running a Medicaid fraud scheme — was arrested [again] for illegally kicking out tenants.
  
  Back on Track, Inc. owner Yury Baumblit, 65, and his employee Edwin Elie, 42, illegally evicted at least 10 tenants who rented space in their so-called “transitional” or “sober” flophouses, prosecutors said.
  
  "These defendants are charged with taking advantage of vulnerable New Yorkers who were in need of assistance. They provided them with the opposite — allegedly evicting these tenants unlawfully," Brooklyn District Attorney Ken Thompson said.
  
  Most tenants in Baumblit’s houses, located in East New York and Crown Heights, received a shelter allowance from the New York City Human Resources Administration. Others paid the landlord in cash. The illegal evictions, which happened without a court order, took place between April 2014 and this March, prosecutors said.
  
  Elie acted under Baumblit’s supervision and enforced his orders by allegedly evicting at least six tenants.
  
  At a Glenmore Ave. location, tenants were allegedly locked out, had their property removed or had their stove destroyed to prevent them from cooking, prosecutors said.
  
  If convicted, Baumblit and Elie face up to four years in prison for the top charge of scheme to defraud.
  
  In April, the state attorney general’s office charged Baumblit and his wife, Remma, for running an alleged Medicaid kickback scheme — directing all the tenants to attend a substance abuse program, even when they did not have a substance abuse problem.
  
  If the Baumblits are convicted in the attorney general’s case, they face up to 15 years in prison.

Source: Brooklyn flophouse owner, 65, arrested for illegally evicting tenants.

For the Kings County District Attorney press release, see Owner of Three-Quarter Houses and his Employee Indicted for Fraud and Illegal Eviction for Removing Tenants from Homes (Charged with Evicting at least 10 Tenants in Systemic Scheme to Defraud; Allegedly Put Belongings on the Street, Broke Stoves and Locked Doors).