By Bob Cox, Mountain Valley News staff
For the past several months bankruptcies and foreclosures have been more the norm than the exception and many have stopped paying attention.
But the more than 60 creditors who are owed money by Sam and Cheryl Jahani are concerned and will not know much until they attend a meeting that will be scheduled by the bankruptcy court. The cities of Delta and Grand Junction are both listed as creditors.
The Jahanis filed for Chapter 7 bankruptcy on May 20, 2010. The statement of financial affairs was filed with the court on June 3.
In October 2009 the Drug Enforcement Administration, together with some local law enforcement representatives, executed search warrants on Jahani’s urgent care offices in Montrose, Delta and Grand Junction. No charges have been filed regarding those searches, but Tonya Creel, who was an office manager for the Montrose facility filed a lawsuit last year claiming that Jahani wrongfully dismissed her after she alleged that he was “upcoding” some of his billings that went to Medicare. Those same allegations were made against Jahani in 2003 while he was practicing medicine in Texas. That case was settled out of court and required and audit of all the Medicare records relating to Jahani’s practice. Creel maintains that some of those records had been altered prior to disclosure under the agreement.
Properties belonging to the Jahanis are under foreclosure in both Montrose and Delta counties. The sprawling home in Montrose County is valued at well over $2 million, while property owned by the couple near Hotchkiss, including a son’s residence and a vineyard are valued at just over $1.5 million. The bankruptcy filing resulted in a stay on the foreclosure processes. The 14,000 square foot Montrose County residence was originally scheduled to be sold on July 7.
The financial report, in addition to the Montrose and Delta county properties, lists an office building in Grand Junction, valued at $400,000
The creditors are scheduled to meet July 9, 2010 at the Larimer County Courthouse in Fort Collins. The Jahanis list their current residence in Windsor, which is in Larimer County. Jahani is reportedly working for a Texas based urgent care provider.
