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October 25, 2007

Soros-related firm raided by FBI (updated)

Thomas Lifson and Ed Lasky
WellCare Health Plans of Tampa, a firm which has made scads of money administering government health care, and huge profits for George Soros, who was once its largest shareholder, has been raided by the FBI and shuttered. The St. Petersburg Times reports:

The company, which went public in July 2004 at $17 a share, has had a meteoric rise, with its stock more than doubling in the past 12 months. On Wednesday, WellCare's shares dropped $6.77 or 5.5 percent, to $115.50 before trading was halted about 11 a.m. It ended the day down $7.10 at $115.17.
Soros no longer holds WellCare. But according to Media General News Service in January 2005:

The company's largest stockholder is Soros Private Equity Investors LP, an investment fund indirectly controlled by Soros, a fierce critic of Bush.

WellCare regularly points out that Soros Private Equity Investors consists of institutional investors, such as state pension funds and insurance companies.

But filings with the Security and Exchange Commission note Soros indirectly "may be deemed to have voting and dispositive power" over the fund's WellCare shares.

Soros Private Equity Investors bought WellCare in 2003, and its investment proved wildly profitable. The fund, which put little money down to buy the company, netted about $169.5 million in a recent stock sale.

It is unclear as of this writing how many, if any, WellCare shares are currently controlled by Soros entities.
According to the St. Petersburg Times:  

WellCare's business practices have come under increased criticism over the past several months. Last spring, the company said independent sales agents in Georgia enrolled dead people in Medicare plans. In May and June, WellCare representatives appeared along with other insurance executives at hearings in the Senate and House into aggressive Medicare marketing practices. WellCare and six other insurers subsequently agreed to a temporary halt in marketing one type of Medicare plan, while promising to initiate consumer safeguards. In August, however, Medicare cited WellCare once again for violating several provisions of its Medicare contract, including sales practices.

WellCare, which had earnings of $139.2-million in 2006, gets all of its nearly $4-billion in revenues from state or federal governments. Profits come from the difference between the amount received from the government and the amount spent on overhead and medical care for its members.
The same paper reported in 2004:
WellCare was started in 1985 by a group of Tampa doctors, who sold the company to investors led by financier George Soros in 2002. Soros will remain majority shareholder, with two representatives on WellCare's board, following the IPO.
This case bears close watching. Note the conflicting dates given for the Soros takeover. When did the business practices which attracted law enforcement attention begin?

George Soros postures as a friend of the downtrodden. Breaking the British Pound, and economies of Malaysia and other Southeast Asian countries made him a fortune.

Quite the philanthropist....

Hat tip: Ed Lasky

Updates from Clarice Feldman:

All WellCare SEC filings to date.

Ladies and gentlemen: the Chairman of the Board:
Neal Moszkowski*
Co-Chief Executive Officer of TowerBrook Capital Partners, LP

Neal Moszkowski previously served as a director of Integra from March 1999 through May 2005. Mr. Moszkowski re-joined the Board of Directors in August 2006. Mr. Moszkowski currently serves as the Co-Chief Executive Officer of TowerBrook Capital Partners, LP, a private equity investment company with more than $2.5 billion under management. Prior to joining TowerBrook, Mr. Moszkowski was Managing Director and Co-Head of Soros Private Equity, the private equity investment business of Soros Fund Management LLC, where he served since August 1998. From August 1993 to August 1998, Mr. Moszkowski worked for Goldman, Sachs & Co. and affiliates, where he served as Vice President and Executive Director in the Principal Investment Area. He is also the Chairman of the Board of Directors of Wellcare Health Plans, Inc., a health maintenance organization. He also serves on the Boards of Directors of Bluefly, Inc., an online apparel retailer, Spheris, Inc., a provider of medical transcription, and JetBlue Airways Corporation, a passenger airline. Mr. Moszkowski earned his B.A. from Amherst College and his M.B.A. from the Stanford Graduate School of Business. (emphases added)

and this:

In April, Soros spun off the $1.3-billion private equity group and the new firm was renamed TowerBrook Capital Partners. TowerBrook is headed by Neal Moszkowski, who previously led Soros Private Equity (emphases added)

Here is the Bd of Directors list. Note that Democrat ex-Senator Graham is on it.



Posted at 10:23 AM | Email | | Share Share
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