BRADENTON — A Bradenton attorney representing a longtime local lawyer and his wife blasted charges brought by the Florida Attorney General’s Office, which accused his clients of operating unlicensed assisted living facilities.
The attorney general’s Medicaid Fraud Control Unit last week filed charges against attorney Peter Lombardo and his wife, Maria, accusing the couple of three counts each of operating unlicensed assisted living facilities in the area.
Peter Lombardo, 50, has pleaded not guilty to the charges, and his 46-year-old wife will also in the coming days, according to Peter Lombardo’s attorney, Greg Hagopian.
Hagopian did not address specific accusations by the Attorney General’s Office, but said Tuesday he is “absolutely convinced” his clients will be cleared of all charges. “You have an overzealous investigator trying to make a name, making up charges where there are none,” Hagopian said. “These charges are not true; fictitious accounts that are not based in reality.”
The state began investigating the Lombardos after emergency personnel responded to their home at 1303 91st Court NW. on Sept. 5, 2009, and reported finding “five elderly females residing in the home under substandard conditions,” according to an attorney general’s report.
Firefighters then filed a report with the Florida Agency for Health Care Administration, which oversees assisted living facilities, saying that such a facility may be in operation in the Lombardo home. Investigators with AHCA brought in agents with the attorney general’s office to take over the investigation, which would go on for eight months.
Investigators with both agencies made numerous visits to the Lombardos’ home, a condominium the couple owns at 501 Gulf Drive, Bradenton Beach, and a third home, at 511 75th St. NW., Bradenton.
During those visits, investigators found several elderly people living in the homes, and during interviews some residents reported that the Lombardos provided them medication and cared for them.
Several nurses also told investigators they worked in the homes caring for the people living there, according to the attorney general’s report.
The couple broke Florida law, which states that without a license it is illegal to provide housing, meals and services for more than 24 hours to adults who are not relatives of the owner or administrator, according to Medicaid Fraud Agent Minerva Arocho’s report.
Hagopian said his clients both have impeccable reputations in the community, and the attorney general’s office is “dragging them through the mud” based on false accusations.
Peter Lombardo is a former prosecutor who served as division chief for the Manatee State Attorney’s Office for years before becoming a defense attorney.
Maria Lombardo has been employed as a social worker in nursing home facilities for 18 years in Florida.
The couple also have another assisted living facility in Bradenton that recently had its license renewed by AHCA officials.
“They told her she ran such a good facility that they would like her to get more beds,” Hagopian said.
Officials with the attorney general’s office declined to discuss the facts of the case.
“Our office does not take investigations of this nature lightly, especially when vulnerable Floridians could be at risk. At this point, the matter is a pending criminal case, and I’m afraid we cannot comment further,” the agency’s spokeswoman, Sandi Copes, wrote in an e-mail.
