THE former boss of a care home company which was under investigation by Essex Police for allegedly mistreating patients left with a £17.2m payout last year.

Runwood Homes, based in Hadleigh, currently has three homes in special measures and a further 12 homes rated as requires improvement by the Care Quality Commission (CQC).

This includes Elizabeth House, in Benfleet Road, Hadleigh, where the deaths of two residents were being investigated by police after concerns were raised about neglect.

Despite this, Logan Logeswaran, who stepped down as managing director of Runwood Homes in 2018, was handed £15.8m in a long-term incentive scheme on top of his usual salary and benefits.

Runwood handed payouts worth £2.8m to other directors and £5.3m of dividends to owner and chief executive Gordon Sanders, accounts filed at Companies House show.

Police concluded the investigation into Elizabeth House after officers determined none of the allegations made met the criminal threshold.

The home was placed into special measures last September but has since been reinspected by the CQC and rated as requiring improvement.

CQC inspectors say they continue to monitor the home closely and will attend in line with their inspection programme but may attend sooner if further concerns are raised.

The company also runs Silvanna Court, in Wickford, which is rated as good and Rosedale Court, in Rayleigh, which is currently unrated by the CQC.

It also runs Crowstone House in Westcliff which is currently rated as outstanding.

Runwood has been repeatedly criticised for failings at its homes and a police investigation is still ongoing into another of its homes, Dunmurry Manor near Belfast, after a scathing report by Northern Ireland’s commissioner for older people.

The watchdog accused Runwood of failing to put in place a “robust process to protect female residents from sexual and physical abuse” and found evidence of “multiple instances of inhuman and degrading treatment”.

Mr Sanders, whose background is in property development, bought Runwood for £60,000 in 1988 and is thought to be worth around £150m.

Runwood Homes was repeatedly contacted for comment by the Echo but did not respond by the time the Echo went to print.