Last week we learned that the Greenbrier Hotel Corporation has been deducting money for health insurance from its employees’ paychecks for the past four months, according to union officials, but that money is not going to the health insurance company.

The Greenbrier Hotel Corporation owes approximately $2.4 million in past-due dues, and if these are not paid by the end of the month, employees will lose their health insurance coverage.

Governor Jim Justice, who owns the Greenbrier, denied there were any problems. At his weekly press conference on Thursday, he said, “Insurance payments have been made and have been made on a regular basis, as we have done in many ways in the past.”

On Monday, I checked with Ronald Richman, an attorney with Schulte Roth & Zabel LLP who represents the Amalgamated National Health Fund, the health insurer for Greenbrier employees. His response via email: The payments are “up to four months past due.”

Justice claims to have saved the Greenbrier from bankruptcy in 2009, but says he is no longer involved in day-to-day operations now that foreclosure is imminent. He reminds reporters that his children listed as directors of the Greenbrier Hotel Corporation.

He also said that his children run all his businesses and meet all their financial obligations, although he approved “You’re probably a little behind” on several payments.

He lists the properties as assets in the required financial reports, but assumes no responsibility for unpaid bills and fines – even though most of them are not in a blind trust.

Keep in mind that most people sell their businesses or place them in a blind trust when they take political office to avoid conflicts of interest or distractions from their official duties.

Justice said he would do so after winning his first term as governor, but He only succeeded in doing this in seven of his 111 companies.

Now that he is running for the U.S. Senate, he was asked again if he would be willing to put his companies into a blind trust if elected in November. His answer was “probably not.”

If that is the case, he must not close his eyes to what is happening.

If Justice’s children don’t start paying their bills, her employees will lose their health insurance and his children may face prison time.

Accordingly West Virginia State Lawif an employer deducts an authorized amount for insurance from an employee’s salary – as counsel for the Amalgamated National Health Fund alleges in this case – but fails to pay that amount to the specified authorized plan, the deduction is illegal.

But that’s not all – it is also a Federal crimeAccording to the U.S. Code, anyone who steals assets from a health insurance program is breaking the law and could face up to ten years in prison.

The payment of this money is only part of the Justice family’s financial problems. The Greenbrier was scheduled for auction because the loan on it was not repaid, but the auction was put on ice until at least October. Justice said they had the money but was tight-lipped about where it came from.

Justice keeps claiming that the banks’ demands that he repay the money they loaned his companies are politically motivated. I hold no office, but if I don’t pay my mortgage, I’m pretty sure the bank will come after me. Loans are meant to be repaid – that’s the deal you make when you sign the papers.

It’s important to remember that Justice’s financial problems are nothing new. Let’s take a look at some of the lawsuits filed against his companies before he was elected governor:

• October 2015 – Justice owed Kentucky $3.5 million in back taxes and began paying some of the thousands of dollars in back taxes he owed to West Virginia counties.
• November 2015 — Cornerstone RPO filed suit against The Greenbrier for

$422,837 from a 2011 contract.

• July 2014 – Justice’s coal mines have been charged with more than 250 environmental violations in five states and have unpaid approximately $2 million in fines.
• 2013 – The Associated Press reported that between late 2011 and June 2013, at least nine lawsuits were filed against Justice’s coal companies because the company owners claimed they were not paid for their work in Justice’s mines.
• 2011 – Delta Airlines sued The Greenbrier for breach of contract because the company failed to pay the airline $4 million.
• 2010 – Two landscaping contractors who worked for The Greenbrier sued the resort for $1.4 million in damages.

I think you understand what I mean.

The employees of The Greenbrier deserve better. All is not well in their neighborhood, but according to Justice, his is not.