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WHO KNEW NEGLECTING OLD FOLKS COULD BE SO PROFITABLE?

July 15, 2008

Thre former executives of several Iowa nursing homes are likely to be, er, institutionalized for evading $34 million in taxes, according to a story in today's Des Moines Register. They can only hope that they fare better in their new "care facility" than one of their former clients:

George Baker Jr. was 54 years old when he burned to death in his wheelchair on the patio of the CLC University nursing home in Des Moines in 2002.
State inspectors cited the home for a lack of supervision, noting that Baker had been left alone on the patio to smoke cigarettes, despite having a pressurized container of oxygen strapped to his chair. When the tank exploded, Baker was consumed by fire before he could be rescued.

The story tells of a pattern of patient neglect and state fines for the facilities mangaged by the three. What were the executives doing with the money that should have gone to patient care?

According to court records, the executives diverted other money that could have paid for improved care and supervision of 6,000 seniors living in the company's 70 nursing homes. Instead, the money was used to pay for luxury cars for the executives, antiques, monthly trips to England and Australia, and shopping trips to the Gap, Saks Fifth Avenue and Wal-Mart.

The Gap, Saks, and Wal-Mart? I love this comment in the Register's web site:

obviously these men had some issues. They took luxury trips and shopping trips at the Gap, Saks Fifth Avenue and "WALMART". It is clear that you can take white trash out of the trailer court but you can't take the trailer court out of the white trash.

Link: DOJ Press release on the case

Tags: tax crime.