Digital Bulletin

Former nursing home operator Antonio L. Giordano, who pleaded guilty in June to federal charges of diverting hundreds of thousands of dollars to a company run by his daughter, was indicted today by a statewide grand jury on charges of embezzlement, money laundering and Medicaid fraud.

Giordano,  62, of 229 Potter Rd., North Kingstown, and his longtime chief financial officer, John J. Montecalvo, 67, of 181 Cedar Hollow Rd, South Kingstown, each face 45 counts related to alleged crimes committed during the operation of the former Hillside Health Center in Providence, according to a statement released today by Attorney General Patrick C. Lynch.

Montecalvo is additionally named in 10 counts of patient neglect.

Hillside Health opened in 1999 and went into receivership in March 2004.

While Hillside was in operation, the indictment contends, Giordano and Montecalvo submitted false records for the "intentional purpose of obtaining greater compensation’’ from the federal government than they were legally entitled.

It had the worst inspection record of the 95 certified nursing homes in Rhode Island in 2003, and it made headlines after an 87-year-old woman suffered a severe bedsore in Hillside's care and died weeks after being moved from the facility.

Giordano and Montecalvo pleaded guilty in June to federal charges they skimmed $780,539 from the Hillside Health Center, the former Coventry Health Center and Mount St. Francis Health Center in Woonsocket.

C. Leonard O'Brien, an attorney for Montecalvo, said his client denies all the state charges and plans to fight the indictment. Peter DiBiase, who represented Giordano in federal court, said he had not yet seen the state indictment and could not comment.

-- With Associated Press reports