Arizona Man Used Iowa Nursing Homes to Launder $3 Million

According to state and federal court filings, an Arizona real estate developer used two nursing homes in Keokuk, Iowa to launder $3 million in Medicaid payments. While the developer was collecting this money, residents complained about neglect, including being left to lay in their own urine.

At one of the facilities, residents sometimes waited 30 or 40 minutes for their call lights to be answered by a staff member. Last fall, after a contractor was sued for allegedly installing a call-light system that was defective, an official from the facility said residents were put in great danger because of faulty call lights.

The developer has now been banned from managing or setting foot in either nursing home. The developer also owes $2 million to the people of Iowa, yet he lives in a home in Paradise Valley, Arizona that is worth $1.3 million. Paradise Valley is one of the wealthiest suburbs of Phoenix.

The Iowa attorney general sued the developer three years ago for $17.4 million. The attorney general alleged the developer’s two nursing homes were stealing money from taxpayers through fake Medicaid claims.

The attorney general claims the developer has been committing Medicaid fraud since January 2010. The state alleges the developer promised the director of nursing at one facility that he would give her $204 per month to make payments on her new camper trailer if the facility passed inspection.

The facility passed inspection and the developer made the payments. However, he then filed a Medicaid report, claiming the money was spent on supportive care for residents. This triggered an increase in Medicaid payments to the facility. Just one month before this, the administrator of the nursing home said she was frustrated with cash shortfalls at the facility.

The developer is also being prosecuted in federal court – the Department of Justice accused him of bank fraud for obtaining federally backed loans for one health care facility and spending the money elsewhere.

He told an Iowa judge he could not pay a $2,000 court-ordered penalty because he lacked steady income or employment. He also said he was renting his house in Arizona using money loaned to him by his family. However, the developed was able to pay $1 million toward a $3 million settlement with the attorney general. Last year, a bank in Iowa said a $2.6 million debt with them had been paid.

Contact a Nursing Home Abuse Lawyer

If your elderly loved one suffered abuse or neglect at a nursing facility, you may be entitled to compensation. Contact a trusted attorney to discuss your legal options and learn how he or she can help you pursue justice.

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