Chicago nursing home executives charged with fraud

CHICAGO - The owner of a chain of nursing homes and the company’s vice president are accused of defrauding investors of millions of dollars in a Ponzi scheme.

Zvi Feiner, 50, of Chicago, is charged with ten counts of wire fraud while Erez Baver, 40, is facing one count of wire fraud, the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Northern District of Illinois said in a statement.

Feiner was the owner of FNR Healthcare LLC while Baver served as the company’s vice president and bookkeeper, prosecutors said. From 2012 to 2017, the duo raised funds from investors by selling membership interests in companies under the FNR umbrella to purchase and sell nursing homes and assisted living facilities.

The pair allegedly misled investors about the financial standing of the companies in order to raise funds, prosecutors said.

Additionally, investment returns were paid to investors through a Ponzi scheme, with early investors allegedly being paid with the money collected from later investors, prosecutors said. Feiner and Baver allegedly also used funds for personal benefit.

Feiner and Baver pleaded not guilty to all counts, the state’s attorney’s office said.