Receiver of troubled Boston nursing home defends hire of disgraced ex-senator Dianne Wilkerson

A court-appointed receiver of a financially-strapped Boston nursing home defended his hire of disgraced ex-senator Dianne Wilkerson after charges of nepotism and self-dealing were lodged against her in Superior Court last month In a post-hearing order Suffolk Superior Court Judge Christopher Belezos who is overseeing hearings regarding the receivership of Roxbury s Edgar P Benjamin Healthcare Center raised major concerns about the considerable pay Wilkerson testified that she was making at a facility on the brink of bankruptcy On April the court heard testimony from several onlookers regarding charges of nepotism and self-dealing by a member of the receivership s group Belezos wrote in the April order The subject of such charges Ms Wilkerson offered under pains of penalties of perjury testimony that she is an employee of the EPBHC receiving full benefits being paid at a rate of per hour working an average of hours per week If such testimony is accurate it raises critical concerns as to the rate of remuneration being paid to Ms Wilkerson by an institution in receivership with a projected loss in the area of million the judge added Wilkerson an ex-state senator whose political career ended after she was busted by the feds for taking a bribe is executive assistant to Joseph Feaster the court-appointed receiver of the troubled nursing home She was present for a hearing held Thursday in Superior Court but didn t take part in the day s proceedings and deferred comment to Feaster Speaking with reporters after a roughly half-hour hearing Feaster defended his decision to hire Wilkerson and her compensation in the wake of last month s mismanagement charges He described Wilkerson as talented and commented she was thoroughly vetted before being added to the facility s receivership organization Donald Trump has a past and he s president of the United States Feaster disclosed when demanded about Wilkerson s checkered past She served her time She doesn t have a CORI She has nothing which would preclude her from working and so that has to be the determinant So that was looked at because I certainly am not going to have any situation which would be problematic for the organization or for me he reported She s employable and she s talented Wilkerson resigned from the state Senate in and spent more than two years in jail after agreeing to plead guilty to charges tied to a federal corruption bust She was infamously shown stuffing in cash bribes into her bra in a photo that was circulated by the feds Feaster noted Wilkerson didn t perjure herself on the stand last month when she testified about her compensation He announced there was a misinterpretation about his assistant s testimony when she revealed she works hours a week when in fact she gets paid on a bi-weekly basis for a total of hours I think that she was saying I work more hours than what I get paid for and what we demanded to confirm is that she only gets paid for bi-weekly hours Feaster mentioned Wilkerson informed the Herald last month that it s true that she makes an hour and works hours a week but no one inquired me a third question How countless hours do I certainly get paid for And the answer to that question is That s all she revealed at the time Feaster also stated he saw Wilkerson s hourly rate as reasonable given that he makes an hour as the facility s receiver Benjamin Healthcare which has roughly patients was placed into receivership last April to avoid the facility s closure and allow it to begin a financial turnaround Wilkerson was hired as Feaster s executive assistant upon his appointment as receiver at that time This week s hearing centered around the facility s finances whether receivership should be continued and what the court-appointed organization s contingency plan was if a buyer doesn t materialize from the bid process In a May court filing from Feaster the receiver informed the court at the April hearing that the largest part viable path forward for the facility to continue operating would be through soliciting proposals for third party owner operator Related Articles GOP candidate for Massachusetts governor Mike Kennealy backs gun law repeal Gov Healey plans to freeze state hiring in response to widespread economic uncertainty Scheduling underway for meeting with Canadian premiers in Boston Republican candidate for governor Brian Shortsleeve raises over K in first hours campaign says Mass gun violence prevention advocates form campaign to oppose gun law repeal effort Belezos the judge pressed for a breakdown of the facility s financial information from the receivership club and set a deadline for May A lawyer for Attorney General Andrea Campbell s office which represents state agencies like the Department of Strength revealed the state wants to keep the Roxbury facility open rather than move forward with a closure and transfer of patients To try to recover funds Feaster is pursuing a civil lawsuit that has been filed against the facility s former administrator Tony Francis who ran the Benjamin before he was appointed as receiver Commonwealth Beacon released The lawsuit alleges that Francis siphoned more than million in funds from the facility per a prior court filing from Feaster The matter returns to court on June