LITTLE ROCK, Ark. – Arkansas Attorney General Leslie Rutledge announced Monday that a warrant has been issued for the arrest of the owner of a string of nursing homes, accusing him Medicaid and tax fraud.

According to the attorney general’s office, Joseph Schwartz once oversaw the care of more than 7,000 elderly Americans through his company Skyline Healthcare, but from 2017 to 2019, the chain saw more than a dozen Skyline nursing homes shut their doors.

Attorney General Rutledge is stating that the company didn’t just fail to pay bills, but rather committed fraud by submitting false statements in cost reports and other documentation to the Arkansas Medicaid Program.

The attorney general’s office said in 2018, Skyline exaggerated its costs by $6,285,216, which resulted in Schwartz receiving an overpayment of $3,610,912 for the eight nursing home facilities in Arkansas.

Schwartz faces eight counts of Medicaid fraud. He is also facing two counts of tax fraud, being charged with failing to pay the state of Arkansas the $2,012,177 in income taxes that were withheld from his Arkansas employee’s paychecks from July 2017 to March 2018.

“These charges come after a 44-month-long investigation into Skyline’s wrongdoings, and I will not sit idly by while anyone defrauds the State and Federal government out of millions of dollars to line their own pockets,” Rutledge said. “It’s important for Arkansans to know if they suspect Medicaid Fraud, they should immediately contact my office.”

Schwartz, a Brooklyn, N.Y. resident, is also facing Medicaid and tax fraud charges in Massachusetts, New Jersey, Maryland, South Dakota Ohio, Nebraska and Kansas.