Executive Charged With Skimming $1.1 Million From Federally Insured Nursing Homes

CHICAGO — The owner of several Illinois nursing homes has been indicted by a federal grand jury for allegedly skimming money from federally insured facilities that had defaulted on mortgage loans to pay expenses of a non-federally insured facility.

MARK YAMPOL, 57, of St. Louis, Mo., is charged with one count of equity skimming, according to an indictment returned Wednesday in U.S. District Court in Chicago.  The charge is punishable by up to five years in federal prison.  A date for arraignment has not yet been set.

According to the indictment, Yampol controlled a portfolio of nursing homes in Illinois, including homes in the Chicago suburbs of Northbrook and St. Charles.  The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development insured the mortgage loans made by private lending institutions to all but one of Yampol’s nursing homes.  By March 1, 2015, the HUD-insured facilities had not made timely mortgage payments and were in default of their loans.  From May 2015 to August 2015, Yampol diverted approximately $1.1 million in funds derived from the HUD-insured facilities, which remained in default on their loans, to pay the mortgage and operating expenses of the non-HUD-insured facility, the indictment states.

The indictment was announced by John R. Lausch, Jr., United States Attorney for the Northern District of Illinois; and Rae Oliver Davis, Inspector General of the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development.  The government is represented by Assistant U.S. Attorneys Devlin Su and Kathryn Malizia.

 “We would like to acknowledge our partners at the U. S. Attorney’s Office, who have worked tirelessly to bring this case forward,” said Inspector General Davis.  “The alleged diversion of funds is not only significant in its own right but played a significant role in one of the largest insured claims involving HUD’s Section 232 mortgage insurance program for elderly and disabled residents.  This office remains steadfastly committed to ensuring the integrity of HUD programs and particularly those designed to assist vulnerable populations.”

The public is reminded that an indictment is not evidence of guilt.  The defendant is presumed innocent and entitled to a fair trial at which the government has the burden of proving guilt beyond a reasonable doubt.