Attorney General Sues Owner of Group Home

The state is suing the owner and operator of the group home in Anderson where ten people were killed in a fire last month. The Attorney General says Joplin River of Life Ministries has been secretly run by a man forbidden from being involved in such enterprises. That’s a reference to Robert DuPont, Junior, who was convicted in 2003 of Medicare fraud. State law bars convicted felons from running long-term care facilities. Federal law bans convicted felons from being involved in the Medicaid program. The lawsuit demands repayment of almost $700,000 paid to the company in Medicaid payments and another $2.1 million in damages and an unspecified civil penalty on each allegation of Medicaid fraud.