Bollywood actor owns nursing home in East Bay as part of criminal investigation into COVID-19’s death

HAYWARD, California (KGO) – Team I ABC7 has learned that a Bollywood actor owns the East Bay nursing home which is currently under criminal investigation after at least 13 patients have died in an epidemic of coronavirus. More families with relatives of Gateway Care and Rehabilitation are contacting us.

Adrina Rodriguez was shocked to see the understaffing at Gateway Care and Rehab as the coronavirus burst into Hayward’s facility.

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She told I-Team: “I was able to reach staff who let me know that there was only one member of the nursing staff for the day and that may be the reason someone did not answer the phone. My heart stopped. “

Her 74-year-old father John is there after having a stroke, and Adrina says she could not get answers on how her father is protected from infection, from staff or the owner, Antony Thekkek.

“How do you sleep knowing that your establishment is so poorly managed?” asked Rodriguez. “How are you not trying to understand that?”

A search of the state database shows that Antony Thekkek and his wife, Prema, are the equal owners of the business. He is a kind of Bollywood star, playing in many films, singer and author. His latest available on Amazon, “The Lady Biker”.

The I-Team called several office and cell phone numbers, their home in Alamo as seen on Google Maps, emailed them and contacted the couple on Facebook, but received no response.

Since the epidemic in his nursing home, Antony has shared an Easter message on Youtube and told the Kochi Times how he endures the shelter in place. He said it was a good time to be creative.

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He made these appearances, with legal problems on his way.

“There are a lot of people who have contacted us who are looking for help,” said civil rights lawyer Adante Pointer. “And everyone at T does not want another family to go through what they have been through.”

Pointer is preparing a lawsuit on behalf of several Gateway residents and their families. “The staff were encouraged, they were forced to come to work even though Gateway knew that the staff was positive for the virus. You had a situation here that was just a box of blowing snow ready to explode.”

Pointer also said he would inform Alameda county prosecutors of their criminal investigation into the deaths at Gateway.

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Nursing advocates tell us that civil and criminal lawsuits are needed at this point, but this shows a failure of public health officials to carry out proper surveillance.

Lawyer Mike Dark of the California Association of Nursing Home Reform said, “This is what we need to do when regulators are not involved. If there is a court case, civil or criminal, it means that something terrible has already happened, when we should be working harder to make sure it doesn’t happen in the first place. “

A search of state databases shows that Thekkeks own several nursing homes, but were refused to buy more five years ago. State inspectors cited problems in their facilities: lack of effective administration, poor infection control and mistreatment of patients.

We have also learned that other county prosecutors are considering criminal investigations into the Bay Area nursing homes. They had a conference call this afternoon.

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