INDIANAPOLIS (WTHR) - The U.S. Attorney's Office is recommending a 12-year sentence for a former CEO of American Senior Communities.
The office wants James Burkhart to serve the maximum for a combination of charges. The charges include money laundering, wire fraud and mail fraud.
The recommendation stems from an investigation that led to raids in 2015.
In October 2016, investigators said Burkhart and former COO Daniel Benson collected $16 million over six years, allegedly through kickbacks from vendors who serviced nursing homes and facilities managed by ASC. Burkhart, his younger brother Joshua, friend Steven Ganote and Benson reportedly worked to overcharge vendors, then split the money between themselves and, sometimes, with the vendors.
"These four men received over $16 million which they used to finance a gratuitous life of luxury, including vacation homes at Lake Wawasee and at Marco Island in Flordia. Golf junkets, gambling in Las Vegas, private planes, diamonds, Rolex watches and even gold bars," U.S. Attorney Josh Minkler said in 2016.
