NEW ORLEANS — The US Dept. of Justice filed a lawsuit against former nursing home owner Bob Dean, claiming he stole millions of dollars from his nursing homes -- some of which was meant to set up the infamous warehouse where residents were evacuated during Hurricane Ida.
The lawsuit alleges that Dean required four nursing homes to pay him "rent" for an industrial warehouse he acquired to use as a hurricane evacuation center. That "rent" totaled more than $1 million and was funneled into his personal bank accounts, according to the DOJ, rather than being used to prepare the warehouse to hold evacuees.
Four patients died inside that warehouse during Hurricane Ida and about a dozen more died in the following days and weeks.
More than 800 nursing home residents from Orleans, Jefferson, Lafourche, and Terrebonne parishes were packed into that warehouse for Hurricane Ida. WWL-TV broke the news that multiple of those residents had died as conditions went from bad to horrific.
The Louisiana Department of Health rescued the surviving residents days later and revoked Dean's nursing home licenses.
The Department of Justice's lawsuit says that Dean's misconduct didn't stop there though. According to the suit, Dean took another $4 million from the nursing homes' bank accounts after Hurricane Ida. The DOJ says he used that money to buy antiques, firearms, cars, and to fund "allowances" for his family.
“Dean’s alleged actions represent a gross disregard for human life and our most vulnerable community,” said Acting Special Agent in Charge Robert Lawler of HUD Office of Inspector General (HUD OIG). “HUD OIG will continue to work with its law enforcement partners to diligently pursue, investigate, and hold accountable bad actors who willfully misuse and mismanage Federal assets and place HUD beneficiaries in harm’s way.”
Dean, who lives in Georgia, still faces felony criminal charges in Louisiana, including cruelty to the infirm and Medicaid fraud.
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