NYC pharmacy owner charged in $31M Medicaid kickback and HIV drug scheme
A crooked Queens pharmacist reportedly ran a $31 million Medicaid buyback scheme — pocketing millions off black-market HIV drugs to fund a lavish lifestyle, prosecutors said Thursday.Miguel Baron, 62, operated the massive, multi-year fraud scheme out of his two Jackson Heights storefronts, Guardiola Pharmacy and Baron Specialty Pharmacy, and blew the illegally earned cash on luxury properties and cars and World Cup tickets, according to the New York Attorney General’s Office.From January 2023 to April 2026, Baron paid cash kickbacks to Medicaid patients who filled their HIV medication prescriptions at his stores in exchange for black market drugs and bought others’ prescriptions for pennies on the dollar before re-billing Medicaid full price, the AG alleged.
Baron was arrested at LaGuardia Airport, where he was trying to flee the country, and charged with grand larceny, health care fraud, money laundering and prohibited practices by a medical assistance provider.“Taking advantage of vulnerable New Yorkers to steal tens of millions of dollars from Medicaid is despicable,” Attorney General Letitia James said in a statement. “Pharmacy owners who exploit patients with medication buyback schemes are putting New Yorkers’ health at serious risk,” James warned.With his $31 million in winnings, Baron, alongside his partner pharmacist Hamid Hosseinipour, purchased luxury homes in Miami, pre-construction waterfront condominiums, and high-end real estate developments in Queens.Patients brought their HIV prescriptions to the shops, where drivers or store staff handed them $150 to $200 cash kickbacks in envelopes.The pharmacies then bought back the patients’ unopened medication for about $400.Workers then used lighter fluid to strip the labels off the bottles before repeatedly re-dispensing the recycled pills and fraudulently billing Medicaid full price every time, according to authorities.Some HIV medications, like Biktarvy, can cost pharmacies up to $150 pe...