I.P. village attorney indicted for alleged fraud scheme

Arraigned last week after November arrest

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Island Park Village Attorney Anthony Cornachio, who was arrested for his alleged involvement in a $1.7 million Medicaid fraud scheme in November, was arraigned and indicted last week in Kings County Supreme Court, State Attorney General Eric Schneiderman announced.

Cornachio, 74, of Garden City, controls NRI Group and Canarsie AWARE, which offer Medicaid-enrolled drug treatment programs. In papers unsealed Jan. 12 in New York State Supreme Court in Kings County, prosecutors allege that his companies paid recovery house operators Yury Baumblit, 66, and Rimma Baumblit, 60, of Brooklyn, to force residents of their three-quarter homes to be treated at NRI Group and Canarsie AWARE, regardless of the residents’ need for treatment services.

Three-quarter homes are private entities that provide housing to formerly homeless individuals and those transitioning out of periods of incarceration, and are largely funded from residents’ monthly housing allowance provided by the New York City Human Resources Administration. The residents were threatened with being evicted from the Baumblits’ company, Back on Track Group, if they did not comply, according to court documents. The Baumblits were also arraigned and indicted on Jan. 12 before Acting Justice Daniel Chun.

“New York’s homeless and substance abuse programs are funded by taxpayers to provide a basic human right and assist those suffering from addiction,” Schneiderman said. “Treating vulnerable New Yorkers as pawns to maximize Medicaid reimbursement to generate unjust profits is shocking, and those who steal from Medicaid will be caught and prosecuted.”

During the course of the alleged scheme, which dates back to at least 2013, Cornachio allegedly paid the Back on Track Group more than $900,000 in illegal kickbacks, resulting in $1.7 million in false claims for reimbursement to Medicaid. These claims were fraudulent because they resulted from illegal kickbacks and were often medically unnecessary, prosecutors allege. Schneiderman froze the bank accounts and other property held by the three individuals in November, amounting to more than $5.2 million.

Cornachio, NRI and Canarsie AWARE, as well as the Baumblits and Back on Track Group Inc. were charged with first-degree grand larceny, second-degree money laundering and a violation of the Social Services Law, which prohibits an enrolled Medicaid provider from paying kickbacks, according to Schneiderman.

Cornachio faces ten additional counts of offering a false instrument for filing in the first degree. If convicted of all charges, the three each face up to 25 years in state prison.

But the longtime village attorney a trustee of Nassau Community College, who has served Island Park for decades, denied the allegations in November, telling the Herald he “made no money on this” and adding that he put $540,000 into his business as a way to give back to people in need of drug treatment.

According to Cornachio, each patient underwent an evaluation by a certified clinician and a nurse. Only heavily affected drug addicts were accepted into treatment, and many were turned away. Some had Medicaid, and some had private insurance, he said. They were charged the regular rate, not a higher one, he added.

Island Park Mayor Michael McGinty said last week that Cornachio is still serving as the village attorney, and called him a fixture in the community who has “given so much to so many without accolade.” He noted that the charges against Cornachio do not deal with the village in any way.

“This is America,” McGinty said. “A person is innocent until found guilty.”

Special Assistant Attorneys General Megan Friedland and Erin Kelsh are prosecuting the case.

The Baumblits were indicted earlier this year in another alleged kickback scheme with a different substance-abuse treatment program, according to Schneiderman. They remain in jail while awaiting trial on both matters.

Cornachio’s attorney, Joseph Quatela, did not immediately respond to the Herald’s request for comment.