Wilkerson son charged in real estate scam
The son of disgraced former state Sen. Dianne Wilkerson — himself a former candidate for City Council — has been charged with stealing thousands of dollars from Boston residents while pretending to be a real estate broker and using the money for airline tickets and a Caribbean vacation, according to the Attorney General’s Office.
Cornell Mills, 42, was charged in Suffolk Superior Court yesterday with eight counts of larceny over $250, seven counts of embezzlement, seven counts of acting as a broker without a license and one count of being a common and notorious thief. Mills pleaded not guilty. Neither Mills or Wilkerson returned Herald requests for comment.
Prosecutors say Mills stole amounts ranging from $1,000 to $10,000 from eight different victims between 2011 and 2015. Mills reportedly posed as a real estate broker, despite not having a license, and told potential home buyers he would hold their money in escrow pending their purchase of property, according to court documents.
But Mills reportedly had no escrow account and instead used it for himself, including the Caribbean trip. When victims began to ask for updates on their purchases, Mills made excuses for delays and then ignored their calls, court documents state. Mills also is alleged to have promised to help people sell their homes at low amounts to avoid foreclosure but did not do so, with one person ultimately losing her home in foreclosure.
Mills ran for the District 7 City Council seat in 2011 and previously held a job as a civilian investigator for the district attorney’s office despite being arrested on numerous charges beforehand, including assault and battery and possession of marijuana. All charges were dismissed. The DA hire took place while his mother, Wilkerson, was a state senator. She was arrested in 2008 on federal corruption charges and sentenced to 3 years in prison.