Ousted Hershey Trust president tells court of serious financial irregularities

The just-dismissed top executive of the multibillion-dollar Hershey charity for poor children describes in a court filing widespread financial irregularities at the philanthropy, including the use of charitable assets for free rounds of golf, spa treatments, limousine rides, and excessive compensation for board members.

The executive also said the trust company that manages the charity's funds violated federal securities regulations.

Robert Reese, the former president of the Hershey Trust Co., which is basically the bank that manages the charity's funds on behalf of the Milton Hershey School, filed the document in Dauphin County Orphans' Court on Tuesday - effectively the last day that he had legal standing to seek redress for alleged breaches of fiduciary duty with the charity's assets.

Reese was voted off the charity's main board Wednesday, according to sources. Once off the board, he could not have petitioned the court.

The Inquirer, in the last 11 months, has reported a series of financial decisions by the boards that direct the Hershey empire that would seem to run counter to the directives of Milton S. Hershey, the chocolatier whose fortune is to be used to educate impoverished children at the school.

Reese's 19-page filing describes an atmosphere of excesses on behalf of the board of Hershey Trust, which is led by LeRoy S. Zimmerman, 76, a former two-term attorney general, and a friend and political ally of Gov. Corbett.

Board members earned six-figure annual compensation for working an average of five hours per week. They enjoyed free stays at the lavishly redesigned Hotel Hershey and free rounds of golf at the nearby Wren Dale Golf Club they bought with money meant to support and grow the Hershey School.

Corbett, in the final months of his tenure as attorney general and as he campaigned for governor, said he had begun an investigation of the charity amid the reports by The Inquirer. The philanthropy is regulated by the Office of the Attorney General.

A spokesman for that office, Nils Frederiksen, said Thursday that Reese's petition was "under review as part of our ongoing investigation" into the Hershey charity.

Michael J. Hussey, associate professor and expert on trusts at Widener Law School, said that the petition contained "serious allegations" and that it was highly unusual for a charity insider "to come forward with this level of detail."