Skyline Healthcare’s Joseph Schwartz finally was sentenced for his crimes against the U.S., his employees and his residents. It seems, however, that the punishment does not fit the crime. Sentenced to three years in prison followed by three years of supervised release, plus a $100,000 fine, just does not seem to be enough for what he did. We have always wondered if he was the only one involved in the theft, or did he play the fall guy to keep friends and family out of prison. We may never know, but we have our opinions (don’t we always?).
Stealing $39 million of tax withholding funds from his nursing home employees was bad enough, but walking away from about 100 nursing facilities after he greedily took everything he could, was unconscionable and put all those residents in jeopardy. When he walked out, there was little food in the pantries, the supply of meds was nonexistent, and he (they) basically handed the keys over to the various state officials, who were dumbfounded. He should have received the 15-year sentence he originally faced, or more. Given his age, he might not have survived 15 years in prison.
Now, here is the $64,000 question (or the $39 million question): where did all those stolen funds go? Shouldn’t the government follow the money trail and see where it went? Maybe Elon can investigate it. What a shame that someone can still benefit from those stolen funds. What a black eye for the industry.
