Looks like Kenneth Rozenberg, an American-Israeli businessman with a controlling stake in EL AI is in deep trouble with a lawsuit under his belt. New York State Attorney General Letitia James has this week filed a lawsuit against Kenneth Rozenberg He is the owner of four nursing homes. In the lawsuit, Rozenberg is accused of neglecting residents and misusing more than $83 million of government funds for buying stake in EL AI.
Specifically, the suit alleges that Centers Health Care owners used illegal and fraudulent schemes to misappropriate Medicare and Medicaid funds to enrich themselves and their associates, rather than taking care of residents. In 2020, $103 million of this money from Medicare and Medicaid was reportedly transferred to Rozenberg, to fund the purchase of EL AL.
According to the lawsuit: “Residents were left alone and on their own, often unaided and unsupervised, leading to dangerous falls and broken bones. Residents lived in squalor, surrounded by neglected food trays, vermin and the smell of human waste.”
A spokesperson for Centers Health Care has denied all these allegations: “Centers Health Care prides itself on its commitment to patient care. Centers denies the New York Attorney General’s allegations wholeheartedly and attempted to resolve this matter out of court. We will fight these spurious claims with the facts on our side.”
Another interesting element to the story was the actual takeover of EL AI. One of the conditions of taking over EL AL was a requirement to be an Israeli citizen. Kenneth Rozenberg wasn’t an Israeli citizen when he wanted to buy the airline, so he instead purchased the controlling stake in the name of his 27-year-old son, Eli Rozenberg, who was studying at a religious seminary in Jerusalem
Months later, Kenneth Rozenberg took on Israeli citizenship, and took over the airline.