Nursing homes owner indicted for skimming $1.1 million from federally insured facilities

An indictment of allegedly skimming $1.1 million from federally insured facilities has been returned in US District Court in Chicago on Wednesday against an owner of several nursing homes in Illinois.

Mark Yampol, a 57-year-old St. Louis man, has been charged with one count of equity skimming. According to law officials, Yampol can face a sentence of up to five years in federal prison upon conviction. The court will set a date for arraignment in this case later.

According to the court documents, a portfolio of several nursing homes in Illinois was controlled by Yampol. These nursing homes were operating in North Brook and St. Charles. Yampol’s nursing homes were insured by the US Department of Housing and Urban Development. The Department provided mortgage loans made by private lending institutions to the nursing homes controlled by Yampol.

According to the indictment, Yampol allegedly diverted almost $1.1 million derived from the HUD-insured facilities to cover the operating expenses of the non-HUD-insured facility. Moreover, the Department defaulted the insured facilities for not making mortgage payments on time by March 1, 2015. John R. Lausch, the US attorney for the Northern District of Illinois, and Rae Olivier Davis, the inspector general of the US Department of Housing and Urban Development, announced the indictment.

Davis said, “We would like to acknowledge our partners at the US Attorney’s Office, who have worked tirelessly to bring this case forward.” Devlin Su and Kathryn Malizia, the assistant US attorneys, are representing the government in the case. The US Attorney’s Office is committed to ensuring the integrity of the programs launched by the HUD. Most of their programs are designed to assist vulnerable populations across the US. The public should know that an indictment is not evidence of guilt. It is the responsibility of the government to prove a defendant guilty beyond any reasonable doubt.