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Boston Globe: One year after Steward bankruptcy, Warren, Markey demand criminal probe

Senators are pushing the Justice Department to investigate Steward CEO Ralph de la Torre for contempt of Congress

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May 6th, 2025

One year after Steward Health Care filed for bankruptcy protection, Massachusetts lawmakers are renewing calls for the Justice Department to take action against the company’s chief executive, Dr. Ralph de la Torre.

Despite the closure of two hospitals in Massachusetts, hundreds of millions of taxpayer dollars being spent to sustain Steward’s other flailing hospitals, and millions of dollars still owed and being clawed back from Massachusetts businesses, de la Torre has yet to be held accountable, wrote Senators Elizabeth Warren and Ed Markey in a letter to US Attorney General Pam Bondi on Tuesday.

In particular, they wrote, the health care executive refused to testify before the Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions in September despite a congressional subpoena. And despite a unanimous vote to hold de la Torre in contempt of Congress, the Department of Justice has yet to act.

“Prosecution of Dr. de la Torre is now in the hands of DOJ, which has the power to hold him accountable for his failure to appear before Congress,” the letter read. “As evidenced by the unanimous contempt finding, the Senate believes this matter is serious, meriting a criminal investigation by the Department. We urge DOJ to give appropriate weight and consideration to the bipartisan and unanimous nature of this referral.”

The criminal contempt charge, the first by the committee in more than 50 years, was referred to the US attorney for the District of Columbia, who would decide whether to prosecute de la Torre. If found guilty, de la Torre could spend up to 12 months in prison. Shortly after he was charged, De la Torre sued members of the Senate HELP Committee, claiming that the lawmakers unlawfully violated his constitutional rights. The case remains ongoing.

A spokesperson for the US attorney was not immediately available for comment.

In the letter, Warren and Markey said the contempt filing is an important measure of accountability given the destruction of the health care company under de la Torre’s leadership, which saddled the hospitals with massive amounts of debt, while making large payouts to Steward’s executives and private equity owners.

At the same time, patient care suffered. The Boston Globe found at least 15 patients who died after failing to receive professionally accepted standards of care due to equipment issues or staffing shortages.

“Ralph de la Torre needs to know that he’s not off the hook for looting Steward Health Care and leaving patients, workers, and communities out to dry,” Warren said in a statement. “I will not forget what private equity did to Steward Health Care and I will not give up the fight.”

In addition to the contempt referral, the Department of Justice has also been investigating Steward in a probe of fraud and corruption both in the United States and overseas.

Warren and Markey also sent a letter to the Securities and Exchange Commission, requesting that the agency open an investigation into Medical Properties Trust, the firm that paid Steward more than $1 billion to buy its real estate in 2016.

MPT then leased the property back to Steward, but rather than operating at arm’s length, a Boston Globe investigation found that the two companies often worked in concert, funneling money to each other to perpetuate an appearance of financial stability.

Experts and analysts who spoke to the Globe said that the companies’ dealings, including MPT hiding Steward’s ailing financial health from investors, may have violated federal securities laws.

“This arrangement has all the hallmarks of a Ponzi scheme, raising serious questions about whether MPT — a publicly traded company — misled its investors and violated securities laws,” the letter reads. “By hiding Steward’s financial health from investors for over half a decade, MPT may have deceived investors and broken securities laws. We are therefore asking the SEC to open an investigation into MPT to determine if this was the case.”

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