Steward Health Care filed a lawsuit alleging that former CEO Ralph de la Torre and three executives defrauded the company out of $262 million. The Texas bankruptcy filing, dated July 15, claims the executives overpaid $200 million for five Florida hospitals. Despite financial distress, they took a $111 million dividend in 2021, de la Torre receiving $81.5 million. The lawsuit accuses de la Torre of using company funds for luxury purchases, including a superyacht and extensive private jet travel. At its peak, the hospital chain operated twelve hospitals in Massachusetts, declaring bankruptcy in 2024 due to debt and staff shortages.
Plaintiffs bring this action against former insiders of Steward who, through their greed and bad faith misconduct, operated Steward with the aim of enriching themselves at the expense of the company, its creditors and the patients and communities that Steward served.
Steward alleges that the execs invested about $1.1 billion into five struggling Florida hospitals due to de la Torre's personal desire to build a hospital empire, but overpaid by about $200 million for the properties.
Collection
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