All in the family: Ten relatives of top executives were on payroll at PFH, the nonprofit troubled by

All in the family: Ten relatives of top executives were on payroll at PFH, the nonprofit troubled by corruption scandals


Preferred Family Healthcare, the Medicaid-enriched nonprofit with a vast network of service providers in Arkansas that gobbles up tens of millions of dollars in state funding annually, has been in the news frequently this year because of its connection to multiple federal corruption cases.

The nonprofit itself has not been charged with criminal wrongdoing, but according to federal court filings, key executives and lawmakers were engaged in kickback schemes to funnel more public money and favorable policies for PFH (and a previous incarnation, Alternative Opportunities, that eventually merged with PFH). During this period, as we've noted previously on the blog, the nonprofit's top executives were rewarded handsomely. In 2015, five key members of the nonprofit's "Resource Team" — used to refer to its highest level of executive leadership — were paid between $400,000 and $1,000,000.

That's not all. According to the most recently available tax filings, in 2015 10 family members of the Resource Team were on the payroll, drawing salaries from PFH — including relatives of all four of the executives who were put on leave in the wake of the scandals. Three of these family members were making more than $100,000.

Rusty Cranford, a former lobbyist and PFH executive, pleaded guilty earlier this month to bribery, kickback, and embezzlement schemes involving PFH/AO. Multiple other former legislators and lobbyists have likewise pleaded guilty to schemes involving the nonprofit, or in the case of former state Sen. Jon Woods, found guilty at trial.

Read more: https://www.arktimes.com/ArkansasBlog/archives/2018/06/22/all-in-the-family-ten-relatives-of-top-executives-were-on-payroll-at-pfh-the-nonprofit-troubled-by-corruption-scandals