LEXINGTON, KY -- One of the state's top nursing home inspectors was fired after investigators learned he was living in a Lexington house owned by a nursing home operator, reports the Lexington Herald-Leader in its Saturday edition.

Moses Young, an assistant director in the Cabinet for Health and Family Services' Office of Inspector General, was fired May 21 after an internal investigation into Young's relationship with an owner of a Covington nursing home, officials with the Cabinet for Health and Family Services confirmed Friday, reports the Herald-Leader.

Young lived in a Lexington home that was owned by Ralph Stacey Jr., who owns the Garrard Convalescent Home, according to documents released by the Cabinet for Health and Family Services.

Young told Inspector General Sadiqa Reynolds that he was not able to prove that he paid rent to Stacey because all of his rent payments were in cash, documents show. Young, when asked, refused to provide investigators copies of banking records that would show whether he had withdrawn the $1,300 a month in rent that he said he paid Stacey, the newspaper reports.

As an assistant director in the Office of Inspector General, Young had knowledge of all nursing home inspections and all pending investigations. According to a May 21 termination letter released by the Cabinet for Health and Family Services, Young placed more than 427 phone calls to Stacey between July 2004 and January 2006.

“You inappropriately contacted Ralph Stacey Jr. immediately before, during and after the Office of Inspector General's inspections of Garrard Convalescent Home,” the termination letter said.

Stacey did not immediately return calls asking for comment. Attempts by the Herald-Leader to find Young were unsuccessful, reports the Newspaper.

Vikki Franklin, a spokeswoman for the Cabinet for Health and Family Services, said Reynolds was not available for comment Friday.

Franklin said the investigation of Young's living arrangements began after the Office of the Inspector General officials received an anonymous tip in March. However, according to the termination letter, it appears that Young might have been under investigation since October.

According to the letter and a statement released by the cabinet, Young was fired because he failed to disclose his relationship with Stacey, used his position for financial gain and refused to fully cooperate with an administrative investigation, the newspaper reports.

Young was also admonished for using his state-issued cell phone for personal use. Young allegedly called Stacey's real estate agent more than 100 times in 2004 during the time that Stacey was in the process of purchasing the Lexington home where Young ultimately resided.

WHAS-TV in Louisville was the first to report on Young's termination, reports the Lexington Herald-Leader.

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