Senate charges Steward CEO Ralph de la Torre with contempt

A civil contempt charge that could ultimately compel de la Torre to testify is still pending but requires a more detailed report before a Senate vote.

The step to criminal contempt charges comes one week after the Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor and Pensions approved Both articles of impeachment were referred to the full Senate after de la Torre failed to appear at a hearing on Steward’s bankruptcy on September 12.

Lawmakers have said they want to blame de la Torre for Steward’s collapse, arguing that the manager and his financial partners, private equity firm Cerberus Capital Management and real estate investment trust Medical Properties Trust, made huge profits while burdening the company with debt, leading to its insolvency.

According to an analysis by the Globe Spotlight team, as Steward was heading toward bankruptcy last summer, de la Torre used a private jet paid for by the company and spent 34 days in the tropics – plus a long weekend on the French Riviera.

A lawyer for de la Torre said last week that the stewardess chief could not testify without violating his Fifth Amendment rights. against self-incrimination and interfere with the company’s ongoing bankruptcy reorganization. But instead of appearing and invoking the Fifth Amendment in answering questions, as congressional witnesses often do, de la Torre was absent from the September 12 hearing.

His failure to appear angered senators, including HELP Chairman Bernie Sanders, an independent from Vermont, and Ed Markey, a Massachusetts Democrat who sits on the committee. Thursday’s vote marked the first time the Senate has passed a criminal contempt resolution since 1971.

“Dr. de la Torre is using his blood-soaked profits to hide behind corporate lawyers rather than respond to the U.S. Senate’s demand for action,” Markey said on the Senate floor, urging his colleagues to agree to the criminal contempt referral. “This is a rare step given the rare level of callousness, cruelty and cowardice that Dr. de la Torre has demonstrated.”

The Senate’s criminal referral follows the legal path laid out by a House committee investigating the January 6, 2021, attack on the Capitol. Trump advisers Steve Bannon and Peter Navarro were subpoenaed but refused to testify, citing executive secrecy. Both were charged and ultimately served months-long prison sentences.

In addition to possible contempt of Congress charges against de la Torre, a grand jury in Boston is investigating the compensation, expenses and travel costs of Steward executives during the company’s collapse, people familiar with the matter told the Globe. And a separate federal investigation into Steward is looking into possible corruption in its international business.

Steward filed for bankruptcy in May, burdened by unpaid bills to suppliers and large rent debts to Medical Properties Trust. On Sept. 4, a bankruptcy judge approved the sale of six Steward hospitals in Massachusetts to new owners. Two other facilities, Carney Hospital in Dorchester and Nashoba Valley Medical Center in Ayer, closed in late August, leaving large holes in the state’s health care system.

Aaron Pressman can be reached at [email protected]. Follow him @ampressmanJim Puzzanghera can be reached at [email protected]. Follow him @JimPuzzanghera.