THERE ought to be a special place in hell for greedy malefactors who live lavishly on the backs of society's downtrodden souls.
Rosalind Lavin, of Villanova, for instance, ran four personal- care homes for the physically and mentally disabled, the elderly and sick.
She helped support a life of luxury on her Main Line estate by using some of the residents' government checks - including veterans and disability benefits - to help pay her salary and expenses, according to U.S. Attorney Pat Meehan.
That would be your tax dollars and mine.
Yesterday, Lavin settled a civil case brought by federal prosecutors by agreeing to pay $700,000 to the government.
She did not admit wrongdoing.
Under the settlement, she's banned from ever running another personal-care home.
Three of the four facilities she and her now-deceased husband owned - two in Philadelphia and one in Media - lost their licenses and have already been shuttered.
The last one, Ivy Ridge Personal Care Center, in Roxborough, will be closed.
Which is a shame, in one way only.
Because I'd like to see Lavin forced to live in one of her facilities for a while, as part of the settlement agreement.
The facilities provided "grossly inadequate, dangerous housing and care," according to U.S. Attorney Meehan.
Residents had insufficient food, lived in "unsanitary, substandard" conditions, weren't given appropriate medications and had "inadequate and unclean clothing, linens and bedding," a federal investigation revealed.
So these folks were dirty and hungry and unmedicated, their needs unattended, while the Lavins thrived in her gated Villanova estate.
If that doesn't make your blood boil, you should worry.
Over the years, regulators who inspected the Lavin facilities found a woman lying in her own vomit, blocked exits, fire-code violations. A state regulator called one of the Lavin care homes the worst he's ever seen, according to the Inquirer.
The Lavins apparently weren't any better to their employees.
In 1998, they were ordered to pay $10,000 in civil penalties and $32,000 in back wages to 26 employes for alleged violations of the minimum-wage and overtime provisions of the Fair Labor Standards Act.
It's difficult to prove theft or fraud charges against individuals who provide unconscionably poor care to the residents of nursing homes and personal-care facilities.
