Louisiana Nursing Home Owner to Pay $8.2M for Misusing Assets During Ida
Louisiana nursing home owner Bob Dean Jr. and several companies he operated have agreed to an $8.2 million consent judgment to resolve allegations that they misappropriated and misused the assets and income of four nursing homes in Louisiana before and after Hurricane Ida’s landfall in August 2021.
The Middle District of Louisiana announced the settlement this month.
The four nursing homes, all of which were owned and operated by Dean and his companies, and had loans insured by the Federal Housing Administration (FHA), are Maison De’Ville Nursing Home in Houma; Maison De’Ville Nursing Home in Harvey; Maison Orleans Healthcare in New Orleans; and West Jefferson Health Care Center in Harvey.
In 2023, the government filed a complaint against Dean and his corporate entities alleging that they misspent the nursing homes’ assets and income.
The United States alleged that in the five years leading up to Hurricane Ida, Dean funneled money that should have been used to prepare an evacuation site for nursing home residents to his personal bank accounts, leaving his nursing homes unprepared for a hurricane.
As a result, when Hurricane Ida made landfall in August 2021, the residents of Dean’s nursing homes had to ride out the storm in an overcrowded and ill-prepared industrial warehouse Dean owned through a corporate entity.
The United States alleged that at Dean’s evacuation center, his nursing homes’ residents languished in squalor and did not receive adequate care, leading to the Louisiana Department of Health evacuating the nursing home residents from Dean’s warehouse and revoking Dean’s nursing homes’ licenses.
The United States further alleged that, following the hurricane, Dean did not use the homes’ income and assets solely to operate or maintain the nursing homes, but instead to purchase personal goods and services, including antiques, firearms and cars.
The Civil Division’s Commercial Litigation Branch, Fraud Section, and the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Middle District of Louisiana handled the case, with substantial assistance from HUD and HUD’s Office of Inspector General.