Life Care’s ‘existence’ is in trouble as owner’s son seeks custody, alleging gross abuse by gun-packing stepmother

The son of billionaire Life Care Centers owner Forrest Preston has filed for guardianship of his 91-year-old disabled father, who he says was physically and financially abused by his stepmother, to the point where the giant nursing home chain despises ” existence itself.” ” in danger.

In addition to allegedly funneling millions of dollars in real estate and cash to herself, her sister and brother, Preston’s second wife may also control the nation’s largest private nursing home chain, Aubrey B. Preston said in a filing filed Tuesday by the Tennessee County Clerk’s Office.

As a result of the filing, a Bradley County judge ordered the elder Preston to undergo several medical examinations. He will also be questioned by a court-appointed attorney acting as his guardian, out of reach of his wife and her family members. They will also be interviewed separately along with other key witnesses in Aubrey Preston’s 28-page complaint.

A hearing on the findings is scheduled for November 12.

Forrest Preston founded Life Care Centers in Cleveland, TN in 1970 and remains chairman and sole owner. Forbes estimated his fortune at $1.2 billion last year. Life Care includes more than 200 skilled nursing facilities and assisted living communities in 28 states and has more than 30,000 employees.

“Secret” wedding

The legal complaint filed Wednesday alleges that he has been suffering from various stages of dementia since the mid-2010s and is currently unable to care for himself or his affairs. In 2022, he filed papers to avoid testifying in California because of his failing health, saying it could put him at risk of “heart attack, stroke or even death.”

In 2018, about 18 months after the death of his first wife, and unbeknownst to family members, the 85-year-old “for reasons unknown” married Kim Phuong Nguyen, a 49-year-old Vietnamese immigrant who was his former guardian. wives According to research by Aubrey Preston’s legal team cited in the complaint, she and members of her family had a history of theft “spanning several decades” in several states.

In the period immediately before and during the pandemic, she increasingly isolated her new husband from his four children and company officials. She screens his calls and participates in board meetings and business decisions despite having no training or experience in long-term care or any other important business matters, the complaint said.

At one point, while displaying a 9 mm pistol tucked in her waistband, she told family members she would use it to protect herself and Forrest, the court filing said. Her tactics reportedly included accusing employees of extramarital affairs, accepting bribes and other official crimes. In one instance, she said, she threatened to kill a “high-level Life Care executive” who challenged her on something; The employee was one of many fired under her orders, the complaint said.

“Kim and her siblings … regularly inserted themselves into Life Care’s board meetings, and Kim regularly terrorized and threatened Life Care employees in a show of power and control,” attorney Gary R. Patrick wrote in opening remarks to the filing. pursuant to the Tennessee Adult Protection Act.

Bad business

This chaotic behavior has led LCCA, a lender with more than $300 million in outstanding loans, to say no further assistance will be provided until it can approve an acceptable succession plan for the company. Life Care currently needs more than $100 million to cover deferred maintenance, facility improvements and depreciated equipment, it said in an Oct. 29 filing. It added that since the start of the pandemic, companies have had to sell or close businesses to raise cash and cut costs.

LCCA executives “frequently” cannot speak to Forrest Preston, sometimes for more than a month, even when important decisions or his signature are required on important documents, his son’s complaint says.

Aubrey Preston calls herself a reluctant participant in the legal process. He is the founder and chairman Leiper Fork Foundationwhere he is described as an entrepreneur, philanthropist and conservationist.

It owns a pair of facilities in Colorado operated by Life Care Centers; a decade ago, he worked for the company as head of acquisitions. As a result, although he no longer works there, he knows the company and the business relatively well.

He said he was forced to seek conservatorship after company executives and board members “began to inform him of the ever-increasing threat of the possibility of systemic failure.”

“Tens of millions of dollars or real estate and cash is still not enough for Kim and her family,” attorney Patrick wrote. “They have a much grander scheme that includes Forrest’s most valuable assets: Life Care Centers of America … and their affiliates.”

A difficult decade

Life Care suffered a wave of bad publicity when the first known large-scale outbreak of COVID-19 in the U.S. occurred in February 2020 at its facility in Kirkland, Washington. This was later confirmed in a subsequent wrongful death case that received far less publicity. The company also paid $145 million A federal settlement of over-invoicing is one factor pointing to Preston’s net worth falling from a peak of $2 billion in 2015, according to leading financial analysts.

But all this is nothing compared to the threat that now arises from within, says Aubrey Preston. Perhaps he was most alarmed when his father once admitted that he intended to appoint his new wife as CEO of Life Care.

“…because he believed she ‘deserved the position’ despite the fact that Kim had no business experience, no industry experience, no relevant education, and had never held a formal role at Life Care,” the statement read. complaints Such a statement “is proof of both his mental inferiority and Kim’s undue influence on Forrest.”

Multiple attempts McKnight’s Long-Term Care News Forrest and Kim Preston could not be reached Thursday. One of the last times his photo was seen in public appears to have been two years ago when he visited object with his wife on his side

He appeared confused when contacted by phone by a local media representative on Tuesday.

“Everything hit today. When you have blood against blood, it’s stupid,” Preston said Chattanooga Times Free Press reporter. “It sounds like the end of the world, but it’s not.”

When contacted Thursday, representatives of Life Care said the company was not aware of the legal case involving its owner, founder and CEO/Chairman.

“Despite any legal proceedings, Life Care’s leadership and partners, both in Cleveland and across the country, remain committed to their mission of providing quality care to the residents of the communities they serve,” Life Care President Todd Fletcher said in a statement. sent by e-mail McKnight’s.