Louisiana nursing home owner Bob Dean agrees to pay $8.2M after violating federal housing act

BATON ROUGE, La. (BRPROUD) — A Louisiana nursing home owner has settled and agreed to pay $8.2 million after being accused of misusing assets for the facilities. More than 840 people were reportedly evacuated to a Tangipahoa Parish warehouse to ride out Hurricane Ida, a Category 4, in 2021. Several people died in the aftermath of the storm because of a lack of adequate facilities and care.

According to the U.S. Department of Justice, Bob Dean Jr. has been ordered to pay $8.2 million in a settlement after being accused of violating the National Housing Act of 1934 by misusing assets of four Louisiana nursing homes.

The Federal Housing Administration (FHA), which provides mortgage insurance on loans that cover residential care facilities, covered the homes. They include the Maison De’Ville Nursing Homes in Houma and Harvey, Maison Orleans Healthcare in New Orleans and West Jefferson Health Care Center in Harvey.

During Category-4 Hurricane Ida in 2021, more than 840 residents were forced to “ride out the storm in an ill-prepared industrial warehouse Dean owned through a corporate entity.” According to the DOJ, the residents became weak and didn’t get proper care. Fifteen died. The state’s Department of Health investigated Dean and revoked his license.

In 2023, the government filed a complaint against Dean, accusing him of misspending the facilities’ assets and income. Dean was also accused of funneling the money that should have been used to prepare the residents for evacuation into his personal bank account.

“This settlement demonstrates the department’s continuing commitment to holding accountable those who put their own financial gain over the needs of our nation’s seniors,” said Principal Deputy Assistant Attorney General Brian M. Boynton, head of the Justice Department’s Civil Division. “We will continue to take action to protect the integrity of federal programs designed to ensure that nursing home residents, who are among our most vulnerable citizens, receive appropriate care.”

Dean avoided jail time earlier this year by pleading no contest to eight counts of cruelty to the infirmed, five counts of felony medical fraud and two counts of felony obstruction of justice. He was set to serve three years on probation.

In 2022, a class action suit against Dean was settled for $12.5 million.