Americore Health and its affiliated hospitals were forced to file for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in late December after a lender hijacked the company's bank accounts, Americore Founder and CEO Grant White alleges in court documents filed last week.
Mr. White claims Delray Beach, Fla.-based Third Friday Total Return Fund and its principal officer, Michael Lewitt, took control of Americore's bank accounts on Dec. 27 and tried to oust him from his company. Americore and Third Friday formed a loan and security agreement in January 2018. Since then, Third Friday and Mr. Lewitt have had some control over Americore's use of cash, according to the Ellwood City Ledger.
Mr. White claims Third Friday transferred $130,000 out of Americore's bank account on Dec. 30. Without access to those funds, Americore couldn't pay employees or vendors and had to file for bankruptcy.
In a Dec. 31 email to Americore's lawyer, Mr. Lewitt said Americore's bankruptcy filing was an "imprudent move that is going to reflect extremely badly on you and your firm when we reverse it." In other emails included in court documents, Mr. Lewitt said he was taking action at the request of states' attorneys general who were investigating Mr. White, according to the report.
The bankruptcy case isn't the only legal matter Mr. White and Mr. Lewitt are both linked to. In July, a Tennessee businessman filed a lawsuit alleging Mr. White, Mr. Lewitt, and Jim Biden, a younger brother of former Vice President Joe Biden, each played a role in a scheme to steal his company's business model.