The nephew of a prominent judge who died penniless in a nursing home bashed Brooklyn DA Ken Thompson on Friday for breaking his campaign vow to investigate how the jurist’s estate was looted.
“I followed your campaign to unseat [ex-DA Charles] Hynes and was so pleased to hear during the debate at St. Francis College you say, ‘The District Attorney has an obligation to investigate how Judge Phillips died homeless and destitute at that nursing home,” the Rev. Sam Boykin said in a letter he faxed to Thompson on Friday.
“I was under the impression an investigation was in progress, however, it has recently been confirmed that nothing is being done.”
A lawyer entrusted with looking after the assets of Alzheimer’s-stricken Brooklyn Civil Court Judge John Phillips from 2003 to 2006 was suspended from practicing law for looting more than $327,000 from the estate, but Hynes referred the lawyer’s case to the Appellate Division’s Disciplinary Committee instead of bringing criminal charges.
And court-appointed guardians for the judge failed to file any income tax returns for Phillips for more than five years — running up a million-dollar bill to the IRS, court papers state.
At a debate last August, Thompson criticized Hynes — whose nickname is Joe — for not investigating how Phillips’ estate was handled after the judge — known as “the kung-fu judge” because of the black belt he’d earned — was declared incompetent in 2001.
“[Hynes] has an obligation to investigate criminal acts that occur in Brooklyn,” Thompson said, listing the guardians who did Phillips wrong.
“He died destitute, Joe. He died broke, Joe. He died in a nursing home and you did nothing to help him. Let’s keep it real, let’s be honest here.”
Boykin says he has called the DA’s office repeatedly since Thompson took power in January but has been shuffled from paralegal to assistant DA and back again — but the only response he gets is that his complaint has been taken.
“During the campaign DA Thompson stated he would seek justice,” said Boykin, adding that he also wants the DA to investigate the Prospect Park nursing home where his uncle died.
Boykin sued the home in 2012 for being unlicensed and for failing to properly care for his uncle. Other family members of residents have since sued the facility for similar issues.
Boykin says he wants Thompson to probe the nursing home so it can be shut down if necessary.
A spokeswoman for Thompson declined to comment.