In Case You Missed It: Channel 15 ABC Investigation

In Case You Missed It: Channel 15 ABC Investigation


courthousesteps
February 8, 2011 at 3:11 pm
Categories: Probate Abuse
URL: http://wp.me/p1e3qW-1k



In case you missed it, Channel 15 ABC news launched an investigation into elder care and the Sun Valley Group. In May, the following was released. Sun Valley Group, once again, is cited as the exploiter and abuser.

Guardianship in Arizona: Elder care or elder abuse?

By: Maria Tomasch

PHOENIX - Many people move to Arizona for the weather and recreation because it's considered a haven for retirees who want to live out their golden years. But something else is happening here - something haunting.

For Clair's mom, Gloria Horrigan, it was a nightmare.

Clair said her mother was taken to a nursing home against her will and not allowed visitors, not even family.

“It's sickening...It really truly is sickening,” said Clair.

It was a struggle for Robert Brown to bring his wife, Rosemary, home.

She was also taken and within a matter of weeks, the family wasn't allowed to see her either.

What happened in both cases started in a Maricopa County Courtroom - right in front of a judge.

Both Rosemary and Gloria had health issues that made it hard on their families.

Families can't force a loved one to get help, but a guardian can.

That's why their cases ended up in probate court, which hears issues on care for vulnerable adults.

The court approved a guardian in both cases. And both times, the guardian was Sun Valley Group of Tempe.

Their website states they offer "support for client's physical, social, emotional and mental health."

As part of their service, Sun Valley Group also took care of Gloria's personal finances.

But Clair said her mom did not get proper medical treatment and her bills weren't paid. Gloria's house went into foreclosure.

“I’m physically sick from seeing what they've done to my mother. My family, my children, everyone has been affected by this,” said Clair.

Rosemary had a similar story. She was depressed and refused medical care.

Her husband Robert needed help, so he said he agreed to let Sun Valley Group take Rosemary when they promised to make sure she got treatment.

But Robert said under the company's care, she never did, so now family friend and doctor, Marge Butler, is Rosemary's guardian.

“The bills were now coming at a ferried pace,” said Marge.

In total, Marge said the family spent over a $100,000. That was for just four months of Sun Valley Group's care.

It ended when the nursing home thought Rosemary was dying. They finally allowed the family to see her.

As for Gloria, Clair said the company seemed much more interested in her mom's money than her health.

Gloria's final bill was just under $500,000 and included charges for an employee to open her mail at $75 an hour.

“They are supposed to be her guardian and are supposed to be like her parents and look out for her best interests,” said Clair.

After repeatedly being turned down for an on camera interview, The ABC15 Investigators went to Sun Valley Group's office.

They asked us to leave.

We then caught up with the owner of Sun Valley, Peter Frenette, at a county courthouse.

He was leaving a probate hearing involving fees from a different case. Even after several questions, Frenette would not comment.

The ABC15 Investigators have found more issues plaguing Sun Valley Group.

Frenette's wife, Heather, is co-owner, but she is being investigated by the Arizona nursing board.

The Maricopa County Sheriff's Organized Crime Unit is also investigating Sun Valley Group.

By state law, both investigations are secret.

We also discovered three multi-million dollar lawsuits filed this year against the company for fraud and racketeering.

Grant Goodman is the attorney for three former Sun Valley Group clients.

“It's more of a criminal enterprise,” said Goodman, “They need to be prosecuted.”

He claimed to find a pattern with these cases.

“They effectively medicate them to such an extent that they really are non-functional,” said Goodman, “And they do that while they're liquidating their assets.”

The three lawsuits also blame probate court.

“The mob isn't this efficient, nor does the mob have the luxury of having a court rubberstamp these proceedings,” said Goodman.

Goodman is not the only one who thinks that way.

Last month, the Arizona Supreme Court issued an Administrative Order to investigate probate court. One of the issues is regulating fees.

Now, Rosemary is back with her family and doing well. She is getting the treatment that she needs.

“We just plan to enjoy life,” said Robert.

Sun Valley Group filed motions to dismiss with the three lawsuits shown in this investigation.

Neither Gloria nor Rosemary has filed a lawsuit.

http://www.abc15.com/dpp/news/local_news/investigations/guardianship-in-arizona%3A-elder-care-or-elder-abuse%3F-
 
Editor's note:  In the near future ProbateSharks.com will be publishing a list of "Sun Valley Group" type care management companies operating with the consent of the Probate Court of Cook County.

The Hits Just Keep On Coming…OR…How to Legally Abuse, Extort, and Violate the Law While Making a Fortune!

The Hits Just Keep On Coming…OR…How to Legally Abuse, Extort, and Violate the Law While Making a Fortune!


courthousesteps
February 8, 2011 at 10:53 pm
Categories: Bill of Rights, Constitutional Law, Human Rights, Probate Abuse
URL: http://wp.me/p1e3qW-1p

The courtroom of Judge Rosa Mroz was standing room only Monday afternoon, February 7th. The benches for the public full of family and attorneys, rows of pew-like wooden seats packed for the main event. Sun Valley Group, the infamous fiduciary, was petitioning the court in an emergency action to allow them to name Entrust Fiduciary Services as the successor in guardianship to their 80 active cases. The motion was filed just a couple of days before, leaving families, attorneys, and the court, once again, jumping through hoops scrambling to make sense of one more Sun Valley disaster.

Sun Valley Group, AKA Peter and Heather Frenette, are no stranger to the court. They are the illustrious fiduciaries that made the story of Marie Long, well…a story. They oversaw the liquidation of the elderly ladies fortune, authorized the use of her funds for a limo to take the octogenarian with dementia, and a few of her closest friends, to a Suns game and then invoiced her for the costly evaluation of the effect of the game on her mood.

It could be said they put the “F” is fiduciary.

Now, they have decided to leave the successful and lucrative careers they so dutifully developed. What have they left as their legacy?

Gloria Horrigan….the photos of bedsores so large that they leave exposed bone are part of the horrific evidence of the abuse she suffered at the hands of the Frenettes. Her family refused admittance to where the once beautiful and lively lady was living. Mrs. Horrigan is $500,000 lighter because of it, her house foreclosed. Care that good isn’t cheap! It must be expensive, since taking the time to actually turn a patient and do basic nursing care to prevent the type of injuries she sustained were not provided for that fee.

Edward Abbott Ravenscroft…a few years of frustration and hundreds of thousands of dollars later the middle aged man has recovered his independence. But not before SVG made their way into his private estate and managed to enrich their lives along the way.

Rosemary Brown…depressed and uncooperative. Her elderly husband thought maybe professional help would do the trick! It was a trick all right…Mrs. Brown was neatly tucked away into one of SVG’s care centers, her family soon not allowed to see her. In four months they sucked up $100,000 and would have taken more but, when they thought Rosemary was dying they called the family. Well, the trick was on them because they got her out of there and she is alive to tell the story today!

Well those days are over! Yepiree…the doors of SVG will close on Feb. 28th.

BUT A NEW ENDEAVOR AWAITS!!!

With the fiduciary gig getting a bit too touchy, and rumors have it uninsurable, such dedicated care givers must find a vehicle to give it to the undeserving public. Enter in Desert Care Management! Same address, same owners…just a little variation on a theme. They’ve tweaked their intended victims…er… clients…from the website:

“Desert Care Management, LLC. provides a superior level of Care Management services in Arizona to persons with cognitive impairments, physical disabilities, developmental disabilities and mental illness.”

If you need references or evidence of their superior level of care, Gloria Horrigan’s photos should suffice
 
Editor's Note:  The creatures inhabiting the 18th floor of the Daley Center use the same tactics of restaffing their bedfellows as does AZ.

Major Fiduciary Firm Is Going Out of Business

Article: Major Fiduciary Firm Is Going Out of Business


courthousesteps
February 8, 2011 at 9:30 am
Categories: Uncategorized
URL: http://wp.me/p1e3qW-1f

Major Fiduciary Firm Is Going Out of Business

Please read the following excerpt discussing Sun Valley Group's illegal and improper actions.

SVG's activities must be continually monitored! Get the word out and forward this story to your family and friends!

The company has been a focus of an ongoing Republic investigation of Maricopa County Probate Court that found some fiduciaries and their lawyers charged fees that drained the life savings of clients. Judges charged with overseeing these cases rarely stepped in to limit or reduce fees, even when vulnerable adults ended up on state assistance programs.

Sun Valley cases examined by the newspaper included a widow who was charged more than $11,500 a month in costs; a millionaire who says Sun Valley fought to stay in control of his finances even after the company agreed to exit his case; and a woman who says that in less than 11 months, Sun Valley sold her mother's family home and ran up $108,000 in fees and legal costs that nearly wiped out her mother's life savings.

Bevy of accusations

Some relatives of wards under Sun Valley Group's care say the company performed needless tasks and created unnecessary legal delays to run up costs. They accused the company of selling off assets without regard to the wishes of their wards.

'It is a victory'

Clair DiPardo, who has been embroiled in a costly two-year legal battle with Sun Valley Group over her mother's care, said she views Sun Valley's demise as good news.

"It is a victory," she said.

DiPardo said the closing of Sun Valley is likely the direct result of publicity and lawsuits filed against the company in the past year, including ones filed on her mother's behalf.

"My suspicion is that now they are going to cash out and run," she said.

Relatives, probate-reform advocates and as many as 40 lawyers jammed a courtroom Monday while presiding Probate Judge Rosa Mroz set dates to determine the fate of Sun Valley clients and cases.

Frenette, who said little during the two-hour hearing, sat behind his lawyers.

He sought to have most of his cases turned over to Yuma fiduciary Lisa Price, who now says that she will be moving her operation to Phoenix.

Read the full article here.

http://www.azcentral.com/arizonarepublic/news/articles/2011/02/08/20110208arizona-fiduciary-firm-closing.html
 
Editor's Note:  There are many "Sun Valleys" within the perview of the Probate Court of Cook County. Long may their demise continue.  Lucius Verenus, Schoolmaster, ProbateSharks.com

Attorney’s law license suspended

Attorney’s law license suspended


By Beth Kramer ekramer@stmedianetwork.com Feb 7, 2011 02:43AM

 A Long Grove lawyer has been suspended from practicing law for one year, according to the Illinois Attorney Registration and Disciplinary Commission.

Donald Pochopien obtained confidential client information relating to a corporate acquisition. He then used that information to purchase and sell stock in that company, according to the ARDC complaint.

Pochopien was a partner in the Chicago law firm McAndrews, Held & Malloy from 1997 to 2006. The firm handles “intellectual property and complex technology matters,” according to its Web site.

Using the insider information, Pochopien bought 14,000 shares of a company in 2006. He then sold those shares for a $134,970 profit, according to the complaint.

Pochopien’s suspension expires in February 2012. He was licensed to practice law in 1988.

Editor's Note:  Perhaps the crooks who inhabit the Probate Court of Cook County should take heed at this attorney's punishment. Hopefully, the inside trading that sells helpless ward's homes at half market value in a few weeks, for their cronies to profit, may cease.  Lucius Verenus, Schoolmaster, ProbateSharks.com

Health care fraud: Not a faceless crime any longer

Health care fraud: Not a faceless crime any longer


ASSOCIATED PRESS
Last Modified: Feb 5, 2011 09:00PM

WASHINGTON — Health care fraud once was a faceless crime. Now it has a mug shot, even a smile.
Medicare and Medicaid scams cost taxpayers more than $60 billion a year, but bank holdups are more likely to get greater attention.

The government wants the public’s help in trying to catch more than 170 fugitives wanted for fraud, so it’s developed a new health care most-wanted list, with its own website — http://www.oig.hhs.gov . Most are dour; some sport smiles.

One name on the list is Leonard Nwafor, convicted in Los Angeles of billing Medicare more than $1 million for motorized wheelchairs that people didn’t need. One person who got a wheelchair was a blind man who later testified he couldn’t see to operate it.

Facing time in federal prison, Nwafor disappeared before his sentencing.

“We’re looking for new ways to press the issue of catching fugitives,” said Gerald Roy, deputy inspector general for investigations at the Health and Human Services Department. “If someone walks into a bank and steals $3,000 or $4,000, it would be all over the newspaper. These people manage to do it from a less high profile position, but they still have a tremendous impact.”

Even though motorized wheelchairs can cost up to $7,000 apiece, Nwafor’s scam was on the low end when compared with others who made the most-wanted list.

Sisters Clara and Caridad Guilarte allegedly submitted $9 million to Medicare in false and fraudulent claims for pricey infusion drugs that were never provided to patients. They are accused of offering cash and other rewards for beneficiaries to visit their clinic in Dearborn, Mich., and sign forms that said they received services that they never got.

An alleged accomplice was arrested in the Dominican Republic recently, but the sisters remain at large.

Scammers “often utilize their ties to a particular community,” said Roy. “They take advantage of ethnic communities based on language barriers or lack of knowledge about how the Medicare system works. These folks are exploiting low-income communities.”

Fugitive Susan Bendigo is accused of billing California’s Medicaid program for $17 million in nursing care, much of which was performed by staffers who weren’t licensed. A registered nurse, Bendigo was the nursing director for a company that provided personnel for home health agencies. Allegedly, she was fully aware that she was required to send licensed nurses to care for patients.

Topping the list are Miami brothers Carlos, Luis and Jose Benitez. Owners of a string of medical clinics, they allegedly scammed Medicare out of $119 million by billing for costly HIV drugs that patients never received or did not need. Authorities say they bought hotels, helicopters and boats before fleeing to Cuba.

The FBI has the marquee most-wanted list, but the Environmental Protection Agency and other federal agencies also maintain their own.

Roy said he hopes this newest list will raise awareness about the importance of combatting health care fraud. Medicare and Medicaid, which provide care for about 100 million people in the U.S., are in serious financial trouble and can’t afford to be hemorrhaging tens of billions a year because of fraud.

Most people go to elaborate lengths to avoid having their scams detected. But there often is a telltale sign.

To document his transactions, wheelchair purveyor Nwafor assembled elaborate paper files, complete with bogus prescriptions and photos of beneficiaries in their wheelchairs. But investigators had a hunch they were on to something when they discovered that most of his customers lived nearly 200 miles away from his Los Angeles-area store.

Editor's Note:   Deputy Inspector General Roy,  please inspect the corrupt Probate Court of Cook County. The Probate Court of Cook County "Community" is ripe with all types of heathcare fraud.  Please contact http://www.probatesharks.com/ and our "Investigator Sharks" will circle and direct you to the perpetrators.  Lucius Verenus, Schoolmaster, ProbateSharks.com

STRUCK v. COOK COUNTY PUBLIC GUARDIAN

STRUCK v. COOK COUNTY PUBLIC GUARDIAN


James T. STRUCK, Plaintiff-Appellant, v. COOK COUNTY PUBLIC GUARDIAN, Defendant-Appellee.

No. 07-2420.

-- November 26, 2007

Before POSNER, WOOD, and SYKES, Circuit Judges.



James T. Struck, Chicago, IL, pro se.

The plaintiff appeals from the dismissal of his suit, which the district court held was outside its jurisdiction.   The complaint alleged that an Illinois state court had appointed a guardian for the plaintiff's mother because she was incompetent to manage her own affairs, and that the plaintiff had asked the court to revoke the guardianship because the guardian was abusing his mother, refusing to let him visit her, and denying him access to her records, mail, and assets.   Turned down by the state court, he brought this suit in federal district court against the Cook County Public Guardian, the public official who had designated the guardian of the plaintiff's mother.   The suit charges violations of both the plaintiff's and his mother's federal constitutional rights.

 The plaintiff is not his mother's guardian and therefore is not authorized to sue on her behalf;  and to the extent that he is seeking appellate review in a federal district court (or in this court) of the decision by the Illinois state court, his suit is barred by the Rooker-Feldman doctrine.   But his complaint, though none too clear (he does not have a lawyer), appears also to be claiming misconduct by the guardian that continued after the judgment in the plaintiff's unsuccessful state court suit.

 And the plaintiff does have a claim on his own behalf-that the guardian is preventing him from seeing his mother and by doing so is depriving him of liberty protected by the due process clause of the Fourteenth Amendment, liberty that he argues includes the right of an adult child to associate with his parent.   Whether the argument has merit has split the circuits, as explained in Robertson v. Hecksel, 420 F.3d 1254, 1258-60 (11th Cir.2005), but remains an open question in this circuit.  Jones v. Brennan, 465 F.3d 304, 308 (7th Cir.2006);  Russ v. Watts, 414 F.3d 783, 790 (7th Cir.2005).   We need not try to answer it in this case.   For the preliminary question is whether the suit is barred by the doctrine that excepts from federal jurisdiction certain probate and domestic-relations cases, such as will contests, custody battles, and suits for divorce;  and we think it is barred.

The exception is usually described as two exceptions, one for probate and one for domestic relations.   But the two exceptions are materially identical.   The fact that they are two rather than one reflects nothing more profound than the legal profession's delight in multiplying entities.

In Jones v. Brennan, supra, 465 F.3d at 306-07, we pointed out that the exception originally was thought compelled by the phrase “judicial Power of the United States,” in Article III of the Constitution.   The federal judiciary was modeled on the three British royal courts at Westminster, and in Britain in the eighteenth century most domestic-relations and probate matters were consigned to other courts.   But the modern understanding is that the exception, except insofar as it bars the federal courts from entertaining nonadversary proceedings, such as the uncontested appointment of a guardian or the uncontested probate of a will, which are not cases or controversies within the meaning of Article III, is based on a pragmatic interpretation of the statutes that give the federal courts jurisdiction over cases at law and in equity (the current term, covering both, is “civil actions,” e.g., 28 U.S.C. §§ 1331, 1332).   Such terms need not be interpreted to embrace all domestic-relations and probate matters, even if they are real cases.   Typical adversary proceedings involving domestic relations or probate, such as child-custody proceedings and proceedings to resolve disputes over the administration of a decedent's estate (or as in this case and in Jones the estate of a living person who is incompetent to manage his affairs), are, like the nonadversary probate and domestic-relations proceedings, still in rem in character.   That is, they are fights over a property or a person in the court's control.   And a court other than the one that controls the res-the subject of the custody battle or the property in the decedent's estate-should not be permitted to elbow its way into such a fight.   As the Supreme Court explained in Marshall v. Marshall, 547 U.S. 293, 311-12, 126 S.Ct. 1735, 164 L.Ed.2d 480 (2006) (citations omitted), “when one court is exercising in rem jurisdiction over a res, a second court will not assume in rem jurisdiction over the same res.   Thus, the probate exception reserves to state probate courts the probate or annulment of a will and the administration of a decedent's estate;  it also precludes federal courts from endeavoring to dispose of property that is in the custody of a state probate court.   But it does not bar federal courts from adjudicating matters outside those confines and otherwise within federal jurisdiction.”

State courts, moreover, are assumed to have developed a proficiency in core probate and domestic-relations matters and to have evolved procedures tailored to them, and some even employ specialized staff not found in federal courts.   The comparative advantage of state courts in regard to such matters is at its zenith when the court is performing ongoing managerial functions for which Article III courts (as distinct from the Article I bankruptcy courts, specialists in in rem proceedings analogous to administering wills and supervising the custody of children and other legal incompetents) are poorly equipped.   So the “exception” is akin to a doctrine of abstention.

The purpose of a legal doctrine frequently limits its scope, and this is true of the probate/domestic-relations exception.   The plaintiff in Jones v. Brennan had charged a conspiracy between a guardian and others to violate her rights in the course of their administration of her father's estate.   We ruled that such a suit could be litigated in federal court.   The father had died and the probate of his estate had been completed, so that the plaintiff was not seeking to inject the federal court into the administration of the estate and wrest a res from the control of another court, just as, in Marshall v. Marshall, a suit charging the plaintiff's stepson with tortious interference with her expectation of a bequest from her deceased husband, the plaintiff was seeking a judgment against the stepson personally, not against the estate.

This case is different.   The res-the plaintiff's mother-is in the control of the guardian appointed by the state court, and decisions concerning the plaintiff's right of access to his mother and to her assets, her records, and her mail are at the heart of the guardian's responsibilities and are supervised by the court that appointed him.   Unlike the plaintiff in Jones, our plaintiff is seeking to remove into the federal court the res over which a state court is exercising control.   That is the sort of maneuver that the probate/domestic-relations exception is intended to prevent. The dismissal of the plaintiff's federal suit is therefore: Affirmed.

Editor's note: Unfortunately, as the saying goes, it is not easy to fight city hall. While the federal court in this case stated that the state court (Cook County Probate Court) should be proficient in these matters, our ProbateSharks investigative team has found a level of proficiency that the federal court may not be aware of.

Our shark investigators have found that the Corrupt Cook County Probate Court is indeed proficient in the following: the quick-sales of properties (6 weeks on average--in good and bad real estate markets); placing of wards' estates into OBRA Special Needs Pooled Trusts (resulting in public aid placement, even for the rich); maintaining cases that are out of Cook County's jurisdiction (wards live in another county, yet funds are held hostage by OPG); spending down of disabled wards' estates with guardian and legal fees; and yes, as in the case above, restricting family members from inquiring about their loved one, and restricting family from visiting their loved one when concerns over the spending of the estate are raised to the court.

Yes, the level of proficiency in the Cook County Probate Court system is amazing indeed. Even the FBI would be amazed at the proficiency of the fraud that occurs on the 18th floor of the Daley Center.

Gloria's response to a motion intended to scare the pants off of her

Gloria's response to a motion intended to scare the pants off of her 

Gloria prepared the following. I am certain that the plenary guardian though that by mentioning criminal contempt he would have Gloria begging for mercy! Instead, she hit him right in the nose - I can hardly wait to see the next chapter. I know she regularly copies the ARDC - they will be delighted by the intimidation manefested by the Motion to hold Gloria in Criminal Contempt of Court for acts that the Circuit Court did not seem worthy of punishing.


The arrogance of such a obvious attempt at intimidation should not go un-noticed by Probate Sharks or any of the web-sites that report on misconduct in the Courts. This is a poster board example.

It was reported to me that we may have located the clout at Bank X that has caused her mortgage payments to be refused, and the various break ins at her home. Bank X Security will be provided the information in the morning. Bank X security has no sense of humor! When sufficient evidence is garnered the United STates of America is going to be offering free room and board.
 
Ken Ditkowsky

http://www.ditkowskylawoffice.com/

'Our elderly are mistreated, too'

World Elder Abuse Awareness Day
'Our elderly are mistreated, too'

Under the banner of the first World Elder Abuse Awareness Day, being marked worldwide on Thursday, local organizations working with the elderly hope to raise awareness to the problem of mistreatment and neglect among the older generation. According to Dr. Israel Doron of Haifa University's department of gerontology and school of social work, elderly abuse is a relatively new social phenomenon both in Israel and around the world with very little awareness in the general community. "Worldwide it was only in the late 1980s and early 1990s that people became aware of violence against the elderly," Doron told The Jerusalem Post in an interview on Wednesday. "In Israel elder abuse only became known several years ago." "It is embedded in the unique social dependence of people in old age," continued Doron, who is also active in the Association of Law in the Service of the Elderly, a non-profit organization aimed at promoting the rights of the elderly via advocacy and legal activities. "Because old people are dependent on others such as their children or caregivers they are at greater risk from neglect." And Doron believes that Israel is no different from other places around the world. "In a study on the subject published a year and a half ago we really surprised ourselves. We used to think of Israeli society as being one that respects and cares for the elderly," said Doron. "However, what we found was that we are very similar to other countries." The survey conducted by Eshel, the association for the planning and development of services for the aged in Israel, the National Insurance Institution (NII) and the University of Haifa's faculty of social welfare and health studies found that of the 1,045 elderly people questioned, at least 18.4 percent felt they had been the victim of physical, sexual or verbal abuse or they had suffered an infringement on their personal freedom or been taken advantage of financially in the year proceeding the study. "In the last two years there has been some attempts to address the issues," said Doron, adding that one of the main goals of Elder Abuse Awareness Day is to provide information to doctors, nurses, social workers, caregivers and family members about this problem. "Older people are ashamed to say anything about it so we need to provide professionals with the knowledge and tools to identify the problems," said Doron. "There is a law, similar to the law regarding abuse of children, that legally requires a professional to report cases of abuse in the elderly. Many people do not know about this law." Zena Boxer, a nurse at a Jerusalem hospital said that she was aware of the law. She also said that she had seen numerous cases of elder abuse, especially in people from old age and nursing homes. "In most cases it is neglect caused because the caregivers are lazy," said Boxer. "We have to pick up the pieces afterwards, sometimes we can help but sometimes its too late." Sara Alon, director of programs for elder abuse at Eshel, which is run jointly by the Israeli government and the American Jewish Joint Distribution Committee, said that activities are being held throughout June to highlight the problem among those who work with the elderly and a conference on the subject is set for June 27 under the auspices of the Ministry of Social Welfare and in the presence of the new minister of senior citizens affairs. She added that Eshel in collaboration with the Ministry of Social Welfare and the NII runs a special program aimed at preventing abuse in 17 municipalities countrywide as well as an empowerment group for the elderly to provide them with information their rights. She also said that a hotline, run by volunteers from the ERAN association, had been set up for senior citizens exposed to abuse. Among events planned worldwide, the International Network for the Prevention of Elder Abuse has called for people around the world to "Wear Something Purple" on Thursday and for them to "show the world you care about ending elder abuse and neglect." In New York, the United Nations will be holding a one-day symposium on the subject.

http://www.jpost.com/Israel/Article.aspx?id=24896

Editor's note:   The judges and court minions of the Probate Court of Cook County are expert practitioners in the fine art of  Elder Abuse.

U.S. Attorney Sues New York City for Medicaid Fraud

http://phinational.org/archives/u-s-attorney-sues-new-york-city-for-medicaid-fraud/


U.S. Attorney Sues New York City for Medicaid Fraud

Posted on 27 January 2011. Tags: home care, Medicaid, New York, nursing homes, personal care services

The U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of New York filed a lawsuit (pdf) against New York City on January 11, claiming that the city’s Medicaid program had improperly authorized 24-hour, community-based personal care services for frail elders and people with disabilities when these consumers would be better served in a nursing home.

The suit alleges that the city disregarded the rules requiring that doctors, nurses, and social workers make recommendations regarding enrolling consumers in home care.

It also contends that the city had reauthorized 24-hour personal care services without conducting the required assessments and that in some cases the consumers were receiving too much care.

Suit Implies Financial Gain

The U.S. Attorney’s office claims that New York City had overbilled Medicaid by “at least tens of millions of dollars” and implies that the city did so for financial gain. Beginning in 2006, only the state and federal government shared the cost of Medicaid Personal Care Services (pdf), but the city has been responsible for a share of nursing home care costs, according to The New York Times.

“We don’t think that the suit is well-founded,” New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg told the New York Daily News. “We never received one cent from the process. But it will certainly require a lot of expense on the city’s part for our lawyers to go through lots of documentation.”

“We’re proud that our elderly residents, wherever possible, are not forced into nursing homes,” Bloomberg added.

Chilling Effect on Home Care

On January 12, dozens of disability rights advocates, consumer advocacy organizations, legal representatives, and consumers sent a letter (pdf) to Preet Bharara, the U.S. Attorney who brought the suit against the city, asking that it be withdrawn immediately.

The letter states that New York City has done an excellent job of complying with the Supreme Court’s Olmstead decision, which requires states to provide care in community settings rather than institutions when possible.

The advocates also take issue with the complaint that the consumers cited in the suit would have received “more intensive,” “more appropriate,” or “safer” care in a nursing home compared with home care, calling such claims a “myth.”

They write that “we are concerned that the lawsuit is already having a chilling effect and will discourage the authorization of adequate Medicaid home care for people who desperately need it to live in their homes.”

Applauded, Not Punished

“New York City’s personal care program is a success story — it should be applauded, not punished, for enabling so many people with disabilities, old and young, to remain in the community rather than enter nursing homes,” Valerie Bogart, director of the Evelyn Frank Legal Resources Program at Selfhelp Community Services, told PHI. Bogart helped organize the advocates’ response to the suit.

The advocates also question the allegation that the city gains financially by authorizing more personal care services than needed, because “the City’s share of Medicaid costs is the same for all long-term care services, whether at home or in nursing homes.”

“The physician who brought the so-called whistleblower case may personally believe that these individuals belong in nursing homes, but his views should not be endorsed by the federal government — they completely fly in the face of the Americans with Disabilities Act and Olmstead,” Bogart said.

“The federal prosecutors should be going after real Medicaid fraud, not punishing New York City for providing 24-hour home care for people who desperately need it,” she continued.

Independence Care System, a PHI affiliate that operates a nonprofit, Medicaid-managed long-term care plan in New York City, signed onto the letter.

– by Deane Beebe

Family Upset With Care of Elderly Aunt

Family Upset With Care of Elderly Aunt


The family of a 94-year-old woman kept vigil this week at her bedside in an Orland Park nursing home, protesting strong pain medication being administered to her that they believe is slowly killing their beloved aunt.

They've picketed outside the Brighton Gardens Assisted Living Community to bring attention to the end-of-life care they say Lydia Tyler's court-appointed guardian has initiated without their input.

"It's just wrong," said Tyler's niece, Mary Sue Richards. "We're watching it play out and we're totally helpless."

But others say the story of Tyler is centered on a family spat over her estate that may, or may not, be worth a lot of money.

For the past year, Tyler has been watched over by a court-appointed guardian, Pamela Chwala, a registered nurse who is not a family member. Tyler has been at Brighton Gardens since January 2007 and previously lived at a nursing home in Burr Ridge.

Read full article:

http://southtownstar.suntimes.com/news/2315988,052610endoflife.article

Is Carlton at the Lake truly a best practice?

Is Carlton at the Lake truly a best practice?

.Jeff Kelly Lowenstein on 11.24.10 at 10:53 AM
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..Jeff Kelly Lowenstein

Husband, father, reporter, reader, blogger.

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Stumble...Last year, The Chicago Reporter wrote about the Carlton at the Lake nursing home in the Uptown neighborhood as an example of some of the best practices in nursing home care in the city. As of last week, the home had retained its stellar rating.

But Mary Roman says that her mother died a horrible death after years of unnecessary and extended physical suffering after her admission to Carlton in the middle of 2007.

More at chicagoreporter.com

Roman said her mother, Leona Lemke, had been in fine physical condition before her admission to Carlton, but that her state rapidly declined after being treated with drugs and kept in a room filled with cockroaches and feces-stained chairs.

Roman took pictures that she said were from 2007 documenting her claims and, in 2008, filed a complaint against the home with the Illinois Department of Public Health.

In 2008, Lemke wrote a letter that began, "My benifit [sic] are being wasted on drugs and the service of the nursing which I don't need," and ended, "I have a lovely family that I want to go home to[;] they are frighting for my freedom from the nursing home."

Carlton at the Lake did not receive any fines from alleged violations from January 2005 to March 2009, according to violations data from the Illinois Department of Public Health.

In October 2008, Roman received a letter from the Cook County Public Guardian saying that she could only visit her mother one hour a month. The letter cited three incidents in which Roman attempted to take her mother out a side door to a waiting taxi, called the police to remove her mother from the facility and alleged that her mother was being abused at the facility.

After her mother's death in February, Roman filed a civil lawsuit against the facility, seeking at least $50,000 in damages.

The home had been sued once between January 2005 and May 2009, according to a Reporter analysis of cases filed in the Cook County Circuit Court.

During the same period, the 92 nursing homes within the city faced an average of six lawsuits.

Rose Marie Betz, spokeswoman for the home, declined to comment about Lemke, citing laws that protect residents' privacy.

"We've always tried to render the very best care at all times," she said. "Under these circumstances, we had to follow the direction of the Office of the Public Guardian, the Court of Cook County and the direction of the attending physician."

In 2007, Lemke was declared a disabled person and placed under the guardianship of the Office of the Public Guardian. In February 2008, she wrote a letter saying that she was "a victim of guardian abuse" and asserting that she "was forced into guardianship against my will."

Cook County Public Guardian Robert Harris said letters such as the one Lemke wrote are not uncommon and can trigger a process by which the person leaves the guardian's care. Harris explained that he had not heard about the feces or cockroaches in Carlton at the Lake but said his office had a positive impression of the care provided there. In addition, he said Lemke arrived at the nursing home with a severe bed sore from her care in the hospital she stayed in prior to her nursing home admission.

Roman disagreed. "They killed my mother," she said

Read more: http://www.chicagonow.com/blogs/chicago-muckrakers/2010/11/is-carlton-at-the-lake-truly-a-best-practice.html#ixzz1CXBiWlJU
 
http://www.chicagonow.com/blogs/chicago-muckrakers/2010/11/is-carlton-at-the-lake-truly-a-best-practice.html

Editor's Note:


Carlton at the Lake Nursing home is a favored nursing home of the Office of the Public Guardian. As our investigators have learned, many wards whose estates have been placed into OBRA Special Needs Pooled Trusts are ultimately placed into Carlton at the Lake Nursing Home. One would think with so many wards in this facility, that the Public Guardian would be well aware of the quality of care being provided.

One must also consider what led up to the guardianship of Leona Lemke in the article above....it appears as though a loving family member wanted to care for her, yet, as with so many other cases in Cook County, the loving family member is removed and/or restricted from their loved one, while the estate is then spent down by the attorneys and guardians.

The guardians, lawyers, and nursing home owners are profiting off of this racket. Unfortunately, this case demonstrates exactly how tragic the consequences can be for the ward of the court. This racket appears to have cost Leona Lemke her life.

For those interested, ownership and other information for Carlton at the Lake Nursing Home can be obtained from the Illinois Department of Public Health website below:

http://www.idph.state.il.us/webapp/LTCApp/listing.jsp?facilityid=6001465

State of Texas Forces Couple Into Nursing Home, Takes Over Their Finances

State of Texas Forces Couple Into Nursing Home, Takes Over Their Finances


Radley Balko
September 11, 2009

Awful story from Texas, where elderly couple Michael and Jean Kidd were made wards of the state of Texas, then held against their will while the state took over their finances.

In November Michael fell and broke his hip. He was taken to a Plano hospital and into surgery. After a few days, the hospital called the state Adult Protective Services to report Jean had been in the waiting room for days and wasn’t eating...

A judge determined the Kidds were incapacitated and unable to care for themselves. The state took over the Kidds lives, sent them to the Countryside Nursing Home in Pilot Point, and is now burning through their money to pay for their care.

The state refuses to give the Kidds an accounting of how it is spending their money, the reason apparently being that because they were deemed mentally deficient, they lack standing to even ask for financial records. The couple was given a court-appointed attorney (paid for from the Kidds' savings), but he looks to have worked all of 10 hours on their case. According to neighbors, the state has since allowed the Kidds' home deteriorate, and didn't even bother to lock the doors after taking the couple into custody. The local Fox affiliate reported at the end of last month that state officials were also planning to sell the couple's home at auction. Media coverage seems to have pressured a local judge to put off the sale, at least for now.

The same station reports that the judge has clarified an earlier order barring the Kidds from talking to anyone about their case, and allowing them access to their own medical records. But they're still being kept in the nursing home, and still can't access any record of how the state is spending their money.

Please read entire article from Reason at link below. This sure sounds like something the Texans learned from The Probate Court of Cook County:


http://reason.com/blog/2009/09/11/state-of-texas-forces-couple-i

Court of Appeal Upholds Judgment Against Lawyer for Elder Abuse

Metropolitan News-Enterprise

Tuesday, January 18, 2011

Page 1

Court of Appeal Upholds Judgment Against Lawyer for Elder Abuse

By KENNETH OFGANG, Staff Writer

The First District Court of Appeal Friday affirmed a judgment requiring several individuals, including an Oakland attorney, to pay more than $400,000 in damages and attorney fees to the conservator for an elderly disabled woman.

Div. Four upheld the award against Oakland attorney Carol Veres Reed, along with Ida McQueen’s sister and uncle, for misappropriation of funds from the unauthorized sale of property that McQueen’s father left her in trust.

McQueen, now 75 years old, suffers from physical and mental disabilities. Her father provided in his will that she could live in the family’s Oakland home for life. He also established a testamentary trust, giving the trustees discretion to use the principal for McQueen’s benefit during her lifetime, with the remainder of the assets to be divided among her surviving siblings after her death.

McQueen’s father died in 1990, and his two brothers were appointed to administer the estate. McQueen remained in the home until 2000, when she was taken to a nursing home due to medical complications.

Lawyers Visit

While in the nursing facility, she was visited by Reed—who had handled her father’s estate, and whose father had prepared the will—and her brother, attorney Richard K. Veres. The two lawyers presented her with a power of attorney, naming her sister, Earline Drumgoole, to act on her behalf.

A witness later testified that McQueen told him that she did not understand who her visitors were or what they had her sign.

Unable to return to the home, which was apparently uninhabitable, she was later placed in a community care facility. Her uncle, Ray Blackshire, acting as trustee, sold the house in 2004 for $240,000, with the net proceeds being placed in Reed’s client trust account and later distributed among several family members, with a part of it going to Reed as the still-unpaid legal fees for handling the estate of McQueen’s father 10 years earlier.

In November 2004, the Regional Center for the East Bay, a public entity that assists the disabled, learned that the house had been sold without McQueen’s knowledge or consent, and that she had not received funds from the distribution. Legal proceedings were initiated, resulting in the appointment of a conservator for the limited purpose of bringing an action for elder abuse.

Conservator Sues

The conservator sued Reed, Drumgoole, Veres, Blackshire, and a nephew of McQueen’s. Alameda Superior Court Judge Jo-Lynne Lee ruled before trial that the testator’s intent was to create a life estate in the house for McQueen, and that her interest was not extinguished upon the sale.

The defendants claimed at trial that they had a good fait reasonable belief that the life estate had ended, and that McQueen could not have benefited from the sale of the home because there would have been a reduction or elimination of her SSI and Medi-Cal benefits.

The conservator disputed this, presenting expert testimony that the proceeds could have been protected through proper financial planning, although a rebuttal witness testified that would not have been possible during the relevant time frame.

The judge granted McQueen’s nephew a nonsuit, and the jury exonerated Veres. As to the remaining defendants, the jury found for the plaintiff on theories of conversion, breach of fiduciary duty, negligence, concealment, and—in Reed’s case—financial elder abuse and breach of fiduciary duty as an attorney, and awarded nearly $100,000 in compensation.

Lee awarded the conservator more than $320,000 in attorney fees against Reed under the elder abuse statute.

Presiding Justice Ignacio Ruvolo, in an unpublished portion of his opinion for the Court of Appeal, said Reed was properly found liable.

He rejected the argument that jurors held her to an erroneously higher standard of care because she was an attorney. The jurist said the argument was inconsistent with the jury instructions, and that defense counsel made no showing that jurors ignored the instructions.

Nor was it error, Ruvolo wrote, for the judge to instruct the jury as to the Rules of Professional Conduct. While the rules themselves do not create tort liability, the presiding justice explained, it was appropriate for Lee to read them to the jurors so that they could resolve a “potentially confusing” factual issue.

Reed, the presiding justice explained, testified that with respect to the power of attorney, she was acting as counsel for both Drumgoole and McQueen. It was therefore proper, Ruvolo said, for the judge to explicate the ethical requirements regarding representation of adverse interests and the duty to inform a client of significant developments.

In the published portion of the opinion, Ruvolo concluded that the judge was correct in instructing the jury to disregard McQueen’s government benefits in calculating damages.

This was a proper application of the collateral source rule, Ruvolo said, even though there appear to be no prior published cases on whether federal government benefits are a gratuitous source under the rule.

The case is Conservatorship of McQueen, A126825.

Editor's Note:  This sounds like one of the cases  presently being investigated in the Probate Court of Cook County.  Lucius Verenus, Schoolmaster, ProbateSharks.com

Court of Judiciary Responds to Ginger Franklin's Complaint Against Judge Randy Kennedy

Court of Judiciary Responds to Ginger Franklin's Complaint Against Judge Randy Kennedy

In an unusual turn of events, the Court of the Judiciary responded to Ginger Franklin’s appeal in her complaint vs. Judge Randy Kennedy. Click the link below to read the correspondence. This is the second investigation simultaneously being conducted by the COJ into the judicial misconduct of Judge Kennedy that we are aware of. We have also been told that there are several other complaints vs. Kennedy and that the attention Kennedy has notoriously garnered in the last year has led to an avalanche of complaints. This all in a probate court which rarely becomes the spotlight of complaints vs. judges. Let’s see if the Court of the Judiciary does their job. We’ll be contacting Senator Mae Beavers to find out what she is doing as Chair of the Senate Judiciary Committee.

Source:

ImpeachRandyKennedy
http://impeachrandykennedy.wordpress.com/

Read the Tennessee Court of Judiciary's Letter
http://impeachrandykennedy.files.wordpress.com/2011/01/coj-appeal-response.pdf
See Also:

Ginger Franklin Freed!
http://nasga-stopguardianabuse.blogspot.com/2010/12/ginger-franklin-freed.html


Editor's note: Visit the Probate Court of Cook County to see  "Ginger Franklin" style persecution taking place on a daily basis. Thank God our FBI is investigating this criminal activity. Lucius Verenus, Schoolmaster, ProbateSharks.com

Anna Nicole Smith Case Returns to Court

Anna Nicole Smith Case Returns to Court



Even by the high-brow standards of the Supreme Court, Tuesday's case over the estate claimed by deceased Texas sex symbol Anna Nicole Smith delves so far into the depths of probate and bankruptcy law that even the most attuned legal minds will be challenged to fully understand all of the complexities now before the justices.

While the high court is known for issuing rulings on great constitutional issues, its routine business often ventures into the mundane interpretation of somewhat obscure laws passed by Congress. In this instance, it's a dispute over a provision in the 1984 Bankruptcy Act.

As any regular reader of supermarket checkout line magazines already knows, the case started with the 1995 death of tycoon J. Howard Marshall and the struggle between Smith, a strip club dancer whom the elderly Marshall married shortly before his death, and Marshall's son Pierce over claims to the hundreds of millions dollars left in the estate.

Over the years the case has worked its way through various federal bankruptcy courts and Texas probate proceedings and a much-publicized stop at the Supreme Court in 2006. Then, camera crews surrounded the court to get a look at Smith who died nine months after the justices ruled unanimously in her favor.

The 2006 ruling sent the case back to the Ninth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals for further review.

Last year that court again ruled against Smith, known as Vickie Lynn Marshall in the legal records, and the executor of her estate, Howard K. Stern.

One of the many oddities of the case is that Pierce Marshall is also dead. So the dispute before the justices is between two estates fighting over J. Howard Marshall's will.

Full Article and Source:
 
http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2011/01/17/anna-nicole-smith-case-returns-supreme-court-tuesday/

Judge in Disney case orders arrest of lawyer at hearing

Judge in Disney case orders arrest of lawyer at hearing


A Maricopa Superior Court judge ordered the arrest of one lawyer and promised to impose sanctions on others during a hearing on a case involving Walt Disney's grandchildren.

Judge Gary Donahoe told sheriff's deputies to put Tempe lawyer Joel Sannes in handcuffs and threatened to jail him indefinitely last week after he refused to answer questions about a subpoena issued to a court-appointed physician.

Editor's note:  Please read the complete article and view videos on the NASGA blog at the links below. 
 Lucius Verenus, Schoolmaster, ProbateSharks.com.

Posted at: http://nasga-stopguardianabuse.blogspot.com/


Part 1 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=439Cx1ir_zw

Part 2 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Gw8lnhFcBcA

Part 3 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TCAtzy2LhWc&feature=related

Financial Exploitation of an Elderly Person:Illinois Law

Financial Exploitation of an Elderly Person:
Illinois Law

Has your elderly loved one been exploited during their guardianship proceedings by his/her guardian, attorney, judge, nurse, or care manager? Well, as you might imagine, this is illegal.

If you identify financial exploitation, prepare a report of what has occured, and submit to the following people: the police department where the ward lives, the Attorney General's Office of Financial Exploitation of the Elderly, the FBI, and appropriate professional licensing agencies (see index on How To Report Unethical Attorneys, Judges, and Nurses).

Here is what the law says:

State of Illinois Section
5/16-1.3 (720 ILCS 5/16-1.3) which provides in pertinent part:
Sec. 16-1.3. Financial exploitation of an elderly person or a person with a disability.


(a) A person commits the offense of financial exploitation of an elderly person or a
person with a disability when he or she stands in a position of trust or confidence with the
elderly person or a person with a disability and he or she knowingly and by deception or
intimidation obtains control over the property of an elderly person or a person with a
disability or illegally uses the assets or resources of an elderly person or a person with a disability. The illegal use of the assets or resources of an elderly person or a person with a
disability includes, but is not limited to, the misappropriation of those assets or resources
by undue influence, breach of a fiduciary relationship, fraud, deception, extortion, or use
of the assets or resources contrary to law.

(b) For purposes of this Section:

(1) "Elderly person" means a person 60 years of age or older.
(2) "Person with a disability" means a person who suffers from a physical or mental impairment resulting from disease, injury, functional disorder or congenital condition that impairs the individual's mental or physical ability to independently manage his or her property or financial resources, or both.
(f) It shall not be a defense to financial exploitation of an elderly person or person
with a disability that the accused reasonably believed that the victim was not an elderly
person or person with a disability.
(g) Civil Liability. A person who is charged by information or indictment with the
offense of financial exploitation of an elderly person or person with a disability and who
fails or refuses to return the victim's property within 60 days following a written demand
from the victim or the victim's legal representative shall be liable to the victim or to the
estate of the victim in damages of treble the amount of the value of the property obtained,
plus reasonable attorney fees and court costs. The burden of proof that the defendant
unlawfully obtained the victim's property shall be by a preponderance of the evidence.
This subsection shall be operative whether or not the defendant has been convicted of the
offense.

Signed,

Your ProbateSharks Law Students

Editor's Note: A more thorough version of the law is found below. Please note that breaking this law is a FELONY.


720 ILCS 5/16‑1.3) (from Ch. 38, par. 16‑1.3)

Sec. 16‑1.3. Financial exploitation of an elderly person or a person with a disability.

(a) A person commits the offense of financial exploitation of an elderly person or a person with a disability when he or she stands in a position of trust or confidence with the elderly person or a person with a disability and he or she knowingly and by deception or intimidation obtains control over the property of an elderly person or a person with a disability or illegally uses the assets or resources of an elderly person or a person with a disability. The illegal use of the assets or resources of an elderly person or a person with a disability includes, but is not limited to, the misappropriation of those assets or resources by undue influence, breach of a fiduciary relationship, fraud, deception, extortion, or use of the assets or resources contrary to law.

Financial exploitation of an elderly person or a person with a disability is a Class 4 felony if the value of the property is $300 or less, a Class 3 felony if the value of the property is more than $300 but less than $5,000, a Class 2 felony if the value of the property is $5,000 or more but less than $100,000 and a Class 1 felony if the value of the property is $100,000 or more or if the elderly person is over 70 years of age and the value of the property is $15,000 or more or if the elderly person is 80 years of age or older and the value of the property is $5,000 or more.

(b) For purposes of this Section:

(1) "Elderly person" means a person 60 years of age
or older.

(2) "Person with a disability" means a person who

suffers from a physical or mental impairment resulting from disease, injury, functional disorder or congenital condition that impairs the individual's mental or physical ability to independently manage his or her property or financial resources, or both.

(3) "Intimidation" means the communication to an

elderly person or a person with a disability that he or she shall be deprived of food and nutrition, shelter, prescribed medication or medical care and treatment.

(4) "Deception" means, in addition to its meaning as

defined in Section 15‑4 of this Code, a misrepresentation or concealment of material fact relating to the terms of a contract or agreement entered into with the elderly person or person with a disability or to the existing or pre‑existing condition of any of the property involved in such contract or agreement; or the use or employment of any misrepresentation, false pretense or false promise in order to induce, encourage or solicit the elderly person or person with a disability to enter into a contract or agreement.

(c) For purposes of this Section, a person stands in a position of trust and confidence with an elderly person or person with a disability when he (1) is a parent, spouse, adult child or other relative by blood or marriage of the elderly person or person with a disability, (2) is a joint tenant or tenant in common with the elderly person or person with a disability, (3) has a legal or fiduciary relationship with the elderly person or person with a disability, or (4) is a financial planning or investment professional.

(d) Nothing in this Section shall be construed to limit the remedies available to the victim under the Illinois Domestic Violence Act of 1986.

(e) Nothing in this Section shall be construed to impose criminal liability on a person who has made a good faith effort to assist the elderly person or person with a disability in the management of his or her property, but through no fault of his or her own has been unable to provide such assistance.

(f) It shall not be a defense to financial exploitation of an elderly person or person with a disability that the accused reasonably believed that the victim was not an elderly person or person with a disability.

(g) Civil Liability. A person who is charged by information or indictment with the offense of financial exploitation of an elderly person or person with a disability and who fails or refuses to return the victim's property within 60 days following a written demand from the victim or the victim's legal representative shall be liable to the victim or to the estate of the victim in damages of treble the amount of the value of the property obtained, plus reasonable attorney fees and court costs. The burden of proof that the defendant unlawfully obtained the victim's property shall be by a preponderance of the evidence. This subsection shall be operative whether or not the defendant has been convicted of the offense.

(Source: P.A. 95‑798, eff. 1‑1‑09.)

GUARDIANSHIP MAFIA

GUARDIANSHIP MAFIA

Editor's note:  One of our "research sharks" found this gem on the internet.  It is certainly worthwhile viewing the link below

What started out as a personal website to expose the victimization of the Daniel J. Bennett Family by the New York and Florida ‘Guardianship Mafia‘, has within the first two weeks of launching quickly spread throughout the world. Hundreds of people, including other victimized families, investigative authorities, governors, civil rights lawyers, law school professors, and the media have expressed interest in helping stop the crimes.


OPERATION GOLDEN GAVEL is now a NATIONWIDE investigation and prosecution of public corruption and racketeering by judges, lawyers, law enforcement officers, government agency personnel, and others who commit fraud upon the court and use the court system as their modus operandi to commit crimes against children and adults through fraudulent guardianship cases.


http://guardianshipmafia.com/our-mission/

http://courthousesteps.wordpress.com/

Editor's note: Alice R. Gore Estate value about 1 million dollars: Alice R. Gore, deceased, a disabled 99 year old ward of the Probate Court of Cook County, Judge Kawamoto’s courtroom was hours away from ending up in the Cook County Morgue. Alice's estate was depleted by probate court parasites and there were reportedly no funds to bury her. Her loving family paid for the burial expenses so that Alice would not have to suffer the indignity of being stacked like an Auschwitz inmate in the Cook County morgue. The judge allowed an easily manipulated mentally disabled granddaughter to be appointed as Alice’s guardian and yet no sanctions were instituted against the judge or court officers for this blatant infraction of the law.



Strangely, 16 of Alice’s annuity checks, two of which show forged endorsements, disappeared. Alice’s daughter has a copy of a check with her signature possibly forged. The daughter’s attorney has been trying to obtain copies of the 16 other annuity checks for two years without success. Even more puzzling is a $150,000 life insurance policy owned by Alice and not inventoried into the estate by the court. The Probate Court of Cook of Cook County refuses to investigate these blatant infractions of the law. Lucius Verenus, Schoolmaster, ProbateSharks.com

Al Katz, a Holocaust survivor Part 1 and Part 2

Al Katz, a Holocaust survivor and his new Florida Holocaust

http://www.redcounty.com/content/al-katz-%E2%80%93-story-holocaust-survivor#comment-60131


This is the first in a series of investigative columns that will tell the story of Al Katz, a Holocaust survivor.

Why should you be interested? If you or a loved one is a senior citizen, living in Florida either full time or part time, this story applies to you.

Al Katz had his liberty and property taken from him by National Socialist Germany in 1940. They tried to take his life, but he survived. Fast forward seventy years to 2010, and Al Katz had his liberty and property taken from him a second time. This time, however, the state in which this all happened is Florida.

During the Holocaust, Al helped to save innumerable lives by secretly distributing scraps of food to starving slaves along the train route he drove. After the Holocaust, Al delivered his memories to thousands of students in Manatee County and other southwest Florida schools. He was a true Holocaust hero to those he saved and the generations after them.

This story is a written in his memory and is a warning to all those who live in Florida and beyond. How can I say this? Because the September 2010 Report to the Chairman, Special Committee on Aging, U.S. Senate says so. The report is titled Guardianships: Cases of Financial Exploitation, Neglect, and Abuse of Seniors, GAO-10-1046, which reads in part:

“Most of the allegations we [the GAO] identified involved financial exploitation and misappropriation of assets. Specifically, the allegations point to guardians taking advantage of wards by engaging in schemes that financially benefit the guardian but are financially detrimental to the ward under their care. Also, the allegations underscore that the victim’s family members often lose their inheritance or are excluded by the guardian from decisions affecting their relative’s care.”

And who is involved in the “financial exploitation and misappropriation of assets” in Al Katz’s case? The Florida Department of Elder Affairs, the Florida judicial system and the lawyers and professional guardians appointed by the state.

Al’s story stretches over several years and involves people in Indiana, Washington, D.C., and Manatee County, Florida. It involves Al’s son who is Vice President and the Treasurer of The George Washington University, Washington, D.C., to Edwin Boyer, a Florida attorney and the current President of the National Association of Elder Law Attorneys, and Gerald F. O’Brien, Esq. It involves a loving daughter, a disinterested son and a group of lawyers, judges and professional guardians in Manatee County who helped take away Al Katz’s liberty and property.

Al Katz died on July 11, 2010, and the judges, lawyers and professional guardian are still picking on the bones of Al’s estate to make sure they are kept whole while his family pays his bills.

This is a story about a family that, as the GAO found, was excluded, in whole or in part, by the Florida Department of Elder Affairs guardian and Twelfth Circuit Court from decisions affecting their father’s well being and inheritance.

It is a frightening story about how a simple “emergency” turned into a grab for the control of Al’s life. The story culminates in the Circuit Court for Manatee County, Florida, Probate Division, in the case RE: Guardianship of Al Katz (File No. 2009 GA 1171).

This case involves Dr. Beverly R. Newman, Ed.D, the daughter of Al Katz, Florida Attorney Edwin Boyer and Florida Professional Guardians Ashley Butler and Herbert Schimmel. Ashley Butler was Al Katz’s public guardian from September 18 to November 23, 2009. Herbert Schimmel was Al’s professional guardian of the property from November 24, 2009 until his death.

Al Katz’s case was reported in the Bradenton Herald in 2009 when Beverly was finally given guardianship of her father, but not his property. I am picking up the story from there.

The Bradenton Herald reported, “[Beverly] Newman and her husband, Lawrence T. Newman, had petitioned the [Manatee] court for control of Katz’s health care decision-making since Sept. 18 [2009], when Bradenton’s Aging Safely was awarded emergency temporary guardianship after Katz was taken to the hospital with “confusion, agitation and bronchitis,” according to court documents.” [My emphasis]

This was the “emergency” that triggered the state of Florida taking control of Al’s life, liberty and property. Something every Florida senior citizen is potentially subject to.

According to Beverly Newman the “confusion, agitation and bronchitis” may have been caused by her father being over medicated which led to his having flashbacks of his experiences during the Holocaust.

I will stop here and ask that you bear with me as I tell the story of struggle of Beverly to take back her father’s life, liberty and property from the state in my next column.



Part Two

http://redcounty.com/content/al-katz-story-holocaust-survivor-part-2

This is the second of a series of columns about how Al Katz, a Holocaust survivor and senior citizen, lost his property and freedom to the State of Florida. To read the first please go here.

I call this column “The Road to Perdition”.As the saying goes, the road to perdition is paved with good intentions. Well, in Al Katz’s case the road is filled with massive pot holes of bad if not dangerous government policy.

The story begins on December 11, 2008, when Al Katz is put into a Bradenton nursing home against his will by his girlfriend. Upon hearing of this, his daughter Beverly Newman on December 15th legally files for guardianship of her father in Indiana because her father always stated that he did not want to be placed in a nursing home. Up until that time Beverly and her husband Larry had been Al’s sole familial caretakers through numerous medical crises since 2002.

From December 2008 through August 2009, Beverly constantly contacts her brother Louis H. Katz, Executive Vice President and Treasurer of The George Washington University in Washington, D.C., who has Power of Attorney for their father to help Beverly get him back home to Indianapolis, where he had been domiciled since 1946.

In the interim, Al Katz is repeatedly hospitalized by a Dr. James Hanusa. Unbeknown to Beverly, Dr. Hanusa contacts Louis to give guardianship of his father to Ashley Butler, Public Guardian of Manatee, Sarasota, and DeSoto Counties. This is done even though Al (a) is not indigent; (b) has his daughter ready to care for him; and (c) has never been domiciled in Florida, all 3 of which are mandatory before placement in public guardianship.

In September 2009, Al was hospitalized with breathing problems. Inexplicably, Dr. James Hanusa orders that no information about Al be given to his daughter Beverly.

On September 17, 2009, Beverly Newman receives a phone call from an anonymous third party that someone is trying to improperly put her father into guardianship in Florida, but no details are given. Beverly immediately tries to contact her brother to find out what is happening to their father, but Louis refuses to reply to all telephone calls, e-mails, and faxes. Finally in desperation, Beverly searches the Internet for the names of guardians in Bradenton and calls the offices of Ashley Butler and Jo Eisch of Aging Safely, Inc.,and their attorney. Beverly leaves a message, in case Ashley might know anything about her father’s guardianship. Ashley Butler never returns Beverly’s call, and proceeds to complete the guardianship in what appears to be a violation of Florida law.

Without ever listing Beverly on court documents as next-of-kin and without notifying Beverly, who is in Indianapolis, of the guardianship hearing scheduled for the very next day, September 18, 2009, Ashley Butler is given guardianship of Al Katz.

Immediately, Ms. Butler attaches all of Al’s assets (bank accounts, Social Security, Holocaust reparations), changes the locks to his house, and takes boxes of legal documents, jewelry, financial data, and valuables from the home, while keeping Mr. Katz in a nursing home against his oral and written wishes.

After the guardianship is granted, Al Katz’s former attorney tells Beverly that Ashley Butler has guardianship of her father in Bradenton.

Concerned about her father’s physical well-being, Beverly and her husband Larry on September 20, 2009, drive from Indianapolis to Bradenton overnight. They arrive on September 21st and visit Al, who is in Manatee Memorial Hospital. He is visibly thrilled to see them.

Al Katz is released on September 24th by his three physicians to return to his Bradenton home with his daughter Beverly and her husband. Immediately, Ashley Butler, the Public Guardian, demands that Mr. Katz be put into the hospital’s lock-down psychiatric unit. Mr. Katz, against the wishes of the family, is put into the lock-down unit using the Baker Act. To make matters worse for Al and his family, a psychiatrist, Dr. David Panting, places a no-contact order on Mr. Katz, who is now isolated from all his family and friends.

Despite the Baker Act’s 72-hour limit, Mr. Katz is kept in the hospital’s lockdown unit for three weeks, under the no-contact order. Finally, on October 12th. Al Katz is released from hospital lock-down, and is immediately put into lock-down in the Casa Mora nursing home, still under the no-contact order.

After two days of court hearings, Beverly Newman is finally granted three hours of visitation per day with her Father.

On October 20, 2009, it appears Ashley Butler may have illegally permitted Jackie Steuerwald, Mr. Katz’s designated Healthcare Representative, to make medical decisions for Al Katz, even though Mr. Katz never granted healthcare decision-making powers to Steuerwald. Steuerwald then, without proper authority, hires Eric Jason, a Florida professional guardian, as Mr. Katz’s “care manager.” On their Agreement for Services, the signature of Al Katz, who has been a ward for one month and therefore prohibited from signing legal documents, appears to have been forged. Mr. Jason thereafter illegally makes all medical decisions for Mr. Katz and obtains Mr. Katz’s confidential medical information from Blake Hospital, various doctors, Casa Mora nursing home, and First in Care home health services.

In an effort to bring her father back to his loving family and remove the government's Draconian control over him, Beverly files a series of motions: a Motion to Vacate Guardianship, a Motion for Order Prohibiting Medical Decisions and an Objection to Fees.

Do you see the pattern and understand how a state like Florida and its guardianship system can keep a family at bay while making life-and-death decisions of questionable legal authority?


The next chapter in the story of Al Katz – Holocaust survivor - will take you through the court system and lawyers who picked his estate dry, while he was dying
 
Editor's Note: Visit a courtroom on the 18th floor of the Daley Courthouse and view this monstrous plot taking place every day in the Probate Court of Cook County.

Editor's note: Alice R. Gore Estate value about 1 million dollars: Alice R. Gore, deceased, a disabled 99 year old ward of the Probate Court of Cook County, Judge Kawamoto’s courtroom was hours away from ending up in the Cook County Morgue. Alice's estate was depleted by probate court parasites and there were reportedly no funds to bury her. Her loving family paid for the burial expenses so that Alice would not have to suffer the indignity of being stacked like an Auschwitz inmate in the Cook County morgue. The judge allowed an easily manipulated mentally disabled granddaughter to be appointed as Alice’s guardian and yet no sanctions were instituted against the judge or court officers for this blatant infraction of the law.


Strangely, 16 of Alice’s annuity checks, two of which show forged endorsements, disappeared. Alice’s daughter has a copy of a check with her signature possibly forged. The daughter’s attorney has been trying to obtain copies of the 16 other annuity checks for two years without success. The Probate Court of Cook of Cook County refuses to investigate these blatant infractions of the law. Lucius Verenus, Schoolmaster, ProbateSharks.com

KawamotoDragon.com

Court of Judiciary Demands Answer From Kennedy

Court of Judiciary Demands Answer From Kennedy

In an unusual turn of events, the Court of the Judiciary responded to Ginger Franklin's appeal in her complaint vs. Judge Randy Kennedy. Click the link below to read the correspondence. This is the second investigation simultaneously being conducted by the COJ into the judicial misconduct of Judge Kennedy that we are aware of. We have also been told that there are several other complaints vs. Kennedy and that the attention Kennedy has notoriously garnered in the last year has led to an avalanche of complaints. This all in a probate court which rarely becomes the spotlight of complaints vs. judges. Let's see if the Court of the Judiciary does their job. We'll be contacting Senator Mae Beavers to find out what she is doing as Chair of the Senate Judiciary Committee.

http://impeachrandykennedy.files.wordpress.com/2011/01/coj-appeal-response.pdf
COJ Appeal Response


Editor's Note:  This Tennessee case portends a growing trend among other states to punish corrupt probate court judges and other court functionaries.  The corrupt Probate Court of Cook County should take heed of this groundswell.  Lucius Verenus, Schoolmaster, ProbateSharks.com

State of Illinois Law Makers Tackle Medicaid Reform

State of Illinois Law Makers Tackle Medicaid Reform

SPRINGFIELD – A major reform bill that supporters say will save the state hundreds of millions of dollars and lead to better health care in Illinois was sent to Gov. Pat Quinn on Thursday. The House approved a Medicaid reform bill (HB 5420) 111-4. The Senate approved the bill Wednesday.

Excerpts from Illinos State House News, January 3, 2011:

"SPRINGFIELD –

Medicaid reform will happen in Illinois this week, but total savings are still under wraps.

However, one key element may raise hackles among the state’s long-term care providers.

As a member of the House Medicaid Reform Committee and a House budget expert, state Rep. Frank Mautino, D-Spring Valley, said he expects to see reform legislation surface either Tuesday or Wednesday.

However, he wouldn’t put a number on the potential savings, nor would his Medicaid Reform Committee Senate colleague, Sen. Heather Steans, D-Chicago.

The proposed legislation will most likely ruffle feathers among providers of long-term care for the elderly, developmentally disabled and mentally ill, Mautino said.

The philosophy of “money following the person” is popular at both the state and federal levels since it generally is less expensive than institutional care. And the U.S. Supreme Court’s 1999 Olmstead decision calls for the disabled to live in the least restrictive environment possible.

The proposed legislation also calls for Medicaid recipients to periodically prove continued eligibility instead of the state assuming they are still eligible; provide a statement of monthly income for eligibility instead of a single pay stub; and cross check eligibility among databases from the Illinois Departments of Healthcare and Family Services, Human Services and Employment Security.

Senate lawmakers return to the Capitol on Tuesday."

The entire article may be read at :

http://illinois.statehousenewsonline.com/4810/medicaid-reform-slated-for-midweek-targets-long-term-care/


Probate sharks would like to make this plea to our Illinois Law Makers:


As you examine issues related to long term care, please consider how OBRA Special Needs Pooled Trusts are being utilized in guardianship cases in Cook County Probate Courts.


Rich and semi-rich wards’ funds are being placed into these trusts, and the wards are being moved to public aid nursing homes.

A full investigation is needed as to the full scope of this issue. How much money is being placed into these trusts? How quickly is the wards’ property being sold to be placed into the OBRA, and how much below appraised value is it selling for? How quickly are these properties then “flipped” for a profit?

How much income does the ward currently receive from Social Security, VA Disability benefits, etc? Could the ward have afforded to stay at home, or in their private-pay assisted living facility or nursing home facility?

How much of the estate is ultimately spent on guardians' fees and how much of the estate is being paid to attorneys for their fees in representing the guardians? Which public aid facilities are benefitting by this scam?

Please review our other articles related to OBRA trusts. They may be located on the index to the right of our website.

A preliminary investigation being perfomed by our group of volunteers is startling. Please contact us.


Please…the elderly disabled are being exploited. It's time to REALLY "ruffle the feathers among providers of long-term care". Starting with the owners of nursing homes whose census is boosted by placement of ORBA-cized wards through the Cook County Probate Court.

Please contact us.

Signed,

Your ProbateSharks Medicaid Reform Supporters

Senate bill would reform Medicaid

Senate bill would reform Medicaid


From today's Northwest Herald:

SPRINGFIELD – Medicaid reform took a “bold” step Wednesday as the Illinois Senate approved a measure projected to save $800 million during the next five years. Lawmakers were assigned the task of tightening the $14 billion state-federal health care system in December and still were hashing out the details Wednesday morning.

All states are looking at Medicaid reforms in anticipation of the ramp-up of the federal health care law in 2014, when low-income single adults will be eligible to enroll. State Sen. Dale Righter, R-Charleston, said the proposal would return the “struggling” program to a safety net for the poor, instead of a catch-all for the potentially ineligible.

“It’s struggling for the people who need it the worst,” he said. “We’re talking about the people who are on the lowest rungs of the economic ladder, the people for whom access is a truly critical issue.

The legislation makes an attempt to crack down on fraud by setting up administrative hearings that can collect and fine individuals who have been scamming the system, and even refer the cases to local prosecutors.

The measure also tightens eligibility by requiring individuals to provide proof of Illinois residency and a month’s worth of income, and to periodically re-apply to the program.

The measure now heads to the House, where a vote is expected today.



We at probate sharks would like to urge both our State Senate and our State House to examine the use of OBRA accounts by guardians of elderly disabled wards in the Cook County Court system. Court-appointed guardians are placing the estates of the elderly disabled worth hundreds of thousands of dollars into OBRA accounts, thereby making the ward appear destitute, and eligible for Medicaid. Once the estate is placed into an OBRA account, that money can no longer, by law, be used for housing for the ward, and they can no longer use their own funds in their OBRA account to pay for their private pay nursing homes. Thus, the ward is moved into public aid housing, at the cost of the taxpayer, and to the burden of our Medicaid system.

OBRA accounts are quite a lucrative thing for the guardians and lawyers, however. You see, OBRA accounts may not be used for housing, but they may be used for "administrative fees". Administrative fees include guardians' fees and attorneys fees.

Thus, the guardians and attorneys are enriching themselves off the estates of the elderly disabled through the Probate Courts of Cook County. And the elderly disabled are being removed from their homes or private pay nursing homes, and placed into public aid facilities. The owners of public aid nursing homes are also benefitting financially from this scam. And the taxpayers are incurring the cost.

We urge our state law makers to look at this more closely. It is our belief at Probate Sharks that this is fraud, and the system is being scammed, to the benefit of greedy guardians and attorneys, under the watchful eyes of the judges as they approve petition after petition after petition for attorneys' fees and guardians' fees until the estate is depleted.

A review of public records has revealed that the Office of the Public Guardian places 60 - 65% of their wards' estates into OBRA accounts....not because the ward is destitute, but because the estate can then be made available exclusively for "administrative fees." The wards are then moved into public aid nursing homes, despite the fact that their estates are worth hundreds of thousands of dollars, and could support many years in private-pay nursing homes. The quality of life for the elderly disabled is drastically affected by these moves to public aid facilities, while the quality of life for the guardians and attorneys is greatly improved at the expense of the ward.

Something is not right with this picture. It is shameful, unethical, and appalling. And it is all being done under court order in the Cook County Probate courts.

Please visit our other articles on OBRA usage in the Cook County Probate Courts....they are listed in the index to the right.

We look forward to the day when justice occurs in the Cook County Probate Courts. We look forward to a day when OBRA accounts, which qualify the ward for Medicaid, are no longer an incentive for unethical guardians and attorneys to attempt to remove willing familiy members from their POA's and positions as guardians. We look forward to an end to this racketeering, and to the bringing forward of a RICO suit by prosecutors.

We believe that this statement from the news article above opens the door for an investigation:

The legislation makes an attempt to crack down on fraud by setting up administrative hearings that can collect and fine individuals who have been scamming the system, and even refer the cases to local prosecutors.

As always, we invite lawmakers, law enforcers, and the media to contact us. We have data to support our claims. It is time for an investigation so the elderly disabled are no longer abused and financially exploited through the Cook County Probate Courts. Please contact us.

Signed,

Your Probate Sharks Medicaid Reform Supporters