11 Indicted in El Paso Public Corruption Case

Federal prosecutors have charged 11 people, including the mayor of a small West Texas town and the El Paso County district clerk, as part of a years-old federal public corruption case.

Socorro Mayor Willie Gandara Sr. and District Clerk Gilbert Sanchez were among those who turned themselves in at the El Paso FBI office Thursday morning, authorities said. Luther Jones, a former El Paso County judge, has also been indicted, although prosecutors have not made public the details of the case.

Federal investigators first made public a far-reaching public corruption investigation in 2006 when FBI agents raided the offices of a local charity. In 2007, agents also searched the offices of El Paso County Judge Anthony Cobos and a pair of county commissioners.

Several people have pleaded guilty to various crimes as part of the case, including soliciting or taking bribes.

Court records show investigators have focused on current and public officials as well as lawyers.

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11 Indicted in El Paso Public Corruption Case

Election Commission Denies Challenge - Judge Remains on Ballot

The four-person Indiana Election Commission voted Thursday to deny a challenge against Allen Superior Judge Kenneth Scheibenberger, which means he remains on the fall ballot.

A group of citizens who filed the complaint said Indiana law governing the selection of Allen Superior Court judges prohibits people from running for election if they have had any Indiana Supreme Court Disciplinary Commission action.

The law is unique to Allen and Vanderburgh counties.

"I'm relieved. You never know what's going to happen," Scheibenberger said after the hearing. "This is going to fuel my vigor to go out and campaign to show who is the best candidate."

Scheibenberger has argued the law does not apply to him because he was disciplined as a judge, not as an attorney.

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Scheibenberger to Remain on Ballot

Huguette Clark's Relatives Ask for Independent Guardian

Relatives for reclusive 104-year-old heiress Huguette Clark today asked a Manhattan court to appoint an independent guardian for her in light of a criminal investigation into the handling of her $500 million estate by her lawyer and accountant, and a recent story in The Post revealing how her accountant tried to get her to sign new legal documents earlier this week at the hospital where she lives.

"The Clark family is extremely concerned by recent reports that raise troubling questions about Huguette Clark's advisors. The advisors in question are neither members of the Clark family nor were they retained at the behest of the family," the three relatives said in a statement."

"Based on the press reports and other information available to the family, it appears that the advisors are improperly controlling Ms. Clark's affairs and limiting access to Ms. Clark. The allegations raised in the press include payments to benefit one of the advisors, Wallace Bock, mismanagement of Ms. Clark's financial affairs resulting in imposition of liens against her property, and improper efforts to pressure Ms. Clark to sign legal documents."

The statement also said, "The family is further concerned that Irving Kamsler, with the blessing of Bock, has continued as a fiduciary to Ms. Clark notwithstanding his felony conviction on a charge of attempting to disseminate indecent materials to a minor, and purported to obtain Ms. Clark's consent to the continued representation based on false and incomplete disclosure."

"Therefore, this morning, three cousins, each representing a different branch of the descendants of William Andrews Clark, filed a petition for the appointment of an independent guardian to manage Ms. Clark's affairs.

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Relatives of 104-Year-Old Heiress Ask for Independent Guardian

See Also:
Huguette Clark (104 Year Old Heiress) Finances Under Probe

Huguette Clark's Family Asks Court to Bar Her Lawyer and Accountant

Relatives of a reclusive 104-year-old copper heiress yesterday asked a court to bar her lawyer and an accountant -- who are being criminally investigated for their actions -- from managing her $500 million fortune.

"The Clark family is extremely concerned by recent reports that raise troubling questions about Huguette Clark's advisers," two Clark nieces and a nephew said after filing a suit in Manhattan that cites Post stories detailing her handlers' curious conduct.

"It appears that the advisers" -- Clark lawyer Wallace Bock and her convicted-felon accountant Irving Kamsler -- "are improperly controlling Ms. Clark's affairs and limiting access to Ms. Clark," said the relatives, Carla Hall Friedman, Ian Devin and Karine McCall.

Their filing said that "unless a guardian is appointed, Ms. Clark is likely to suffer personal and financial harm because she remains at risk of abuse from . . . Bock and Kamsler."

Both men are under investigation by the Manhattan DA for their years of control of her finances, which includes their selling off a $23 million painting and a $6 million Stradivarius violin and allowing $2 million in tax liens to be placed on her real estate.

The relatives want Clark declared incapacitated and want one of them appointed as her personal guardian. They also are asking that Fiduciary Trust Company be named to oversee her property.

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104-Year-Old Heiress Huguette Clark Kin Make Legal Bid to Free Her From Duo's Clutches

Conservatorship Battle Over Former Probate Judge Edward F. Casey

A trial that could ultimately decide control of a prominent retired judge's financial affairs has been scheduled for Sept. 20 in superior court.

Former Probate Court Judge Edward F. Casey and his caretaker, City Councilor Kimberly Allard, have been the subjects of a nasty legal battle since this spring, when state Rep. and former City Councilor Bill Bowles sought and obtained appointment as temporary conservator for the judge.

Bowles, who is seeking permanent conservatorship with the support of Casey's family, has alleged Allard took advantage of her friendship with the judge to obtain ownership of an Attleboro house purchased by the judge that was transferred into her name.

Bowles, in a separate lawsuit, is charging that Allard used undue influence over the judge. Allard declined comment on her case and said she is not directly involved in the conservatorship dispute.

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Trial Set for Control Over Judge's Assets

See Also:
Elderly Ex-Judge Objects to Choice of Conservator

Attorney Charged With Fund Thefts

A prominent local attorney and non-profit board member has been arrested and charged with corrupt business influence and theft amid allegations he took more than $100,000from his clients’ trust fund accounts.

Arrested Thursday, Daniel E. Serban, 53, is accused of failing to distribute money paid into Serban Law Office’s Trust Account to the appropriate clients or to those entitled by court order to receive it. According to court documents, the behavior continued from January 2006 until Tuesday.

Both charges are felonies, and if convicted, Serban could serve two or more years in prison.

Attorneys are required to keep escrow-type accounts where money either coming from or going to their clients will be kept. Those accounts are to be treated with extreme fiduciary care and attorneys have a strong ethical responsibility to protect that money, according to the Allen County Prosecutor’s Office.

Much of the money misappropriated, according to prosecutors, came from a civil case filed in 2003. In that case, Serban represented R. Bruce Dye in a dispute with former business partners over money.

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Attorney Charged With Fund Thefts

PA State Supreme Court Clarifies Responsibilities of Guardians to Seek Life-Preserving Treatment

The state Supreme Court has clarified the responsibilities of guardians to seek life-preserving treatment for people under their care.

The justices ruled unanimously last week that when an incompetent person is neither in a state of permanent unconsciousness nor in an "end-stage condition"—and has not designated a health care agent—he or she is entitled to medical help that will preserve his or her life.

The ruling came in the case of a severely retarded 53-year-old man whose parents wanted to take him off a ventilator after he developed complications from choking on a hairpin.

The man, identified in court as D.L.H. or as David, an "incapacitated person" under the state's Probates, Estates and Fiduciaries Code, has lived at the state Public Welfare Department's Ebensburg Center for most of his life.

Department spokesman Mike Race called the result "the outcome that we had wanted the court to take."

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Pa. High Court Rules on Disabled Medical Decisions

Marie Long - Protected Into the Poorhouse?

A Phoenix law firm that collected more than $230,000 from an elderly widow last year quietly pushed for a former probate commissioner to come out of retirement and rule on its request for approval of those fees.

Two months later, retired Commissioner Lindsay Ellis rubber stamped the firm's 2009 bills to Marie Long's trust, calling them “reasonable, necessary and appropriate.” This, without even holding a hearing — or giving the elderly lady's attorneys a chance to lodge detailed objections to the bills that helped put her in the poorhouse.

An attorney for Brenda Church, the trustee's lawyer who sent two of the three e-mails, downplayed her private communications
to the court as a scheduling issue, adding that Ellis had already announced that she would keep the case after her retirement.

But lawyers for Marie dispute that and say the e-mails are further evidence that the elderly widow never had a shot at a fair hearing. Marie was worth $1.3 million when she entered probate in 2005 after suffering a stroke. By last year, she was dependant on taxpayers for support.

Full Article and Source:
Why Did a Retired Probate Commissioner Hang on to the Marie Long Case?

Federal Lawsuit Challenges How Kansas Selects Its Supreme Court Justices

A federal lawsuit has been filed that challenges the process Kansas uses to select its state Supreme Court justices.

The lawsuit asks for a restraining order to prevent the state from filling a vacancy on the court left by the retirement and death of Chief Justice Robert Davis. It also seeks to change the way the Kansas Constitution allows appointment of justices.

James Bopp Jr., a Terre Haute, Ind., lawyer, filed the lawsuit on behalf of four Kansans.

A nominating commission made up of five lawyers and four lay people recommends three candidates for the court, with the governor making the final selection.

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Federal Suit Challenges How Kansas Picks Justices

CT - Editorial: What Does Probate Reform Mean?

Last year, the Connecticut General Assembly passed legislation that revamped our state’s probate court system. The changes will take effect on Jan. 5, 2011, which also begins a new term of office for probate judges. The most important change in the system involves the consolidation of probate court districts from the current level of 117 districts to 54 districts. District number 24 will be known as the Litchfield Hills Probate District and will be comprised of the Towns of Canaan, Cornwall, Harwinton, Kent, Litchfield (which includes Northfield), Morris, Norfolk, North Canaan, Salisbury, Sharon, Thomaston and Warren. The court will be located in Litchfield with a satellite office in North Canaan.

Each district will have one probate judge who will be elected on Nov. 2, 2010. Any new candidate, or non-sitting judge, must be an attorney.

In 2009, 49 percent of probate services or matters involved decedent’ estates; 15 percent, conservators; 11 percent, children’s matters; 7 percent, trusts; 4 percent, issues involving people with developmental disabilities; 3 percent, commitments; 2 percent, adoptions and termination of parental rights; and 9 percent, other matters.

Currently, courts must be opened for at least 20 hours a week. The new legislation mandates that courts be open for at least 40 hours per week to accommodate the public and increase accessibility to these important services provided by the courts. Compensation for judges and staff will now be standardized and paid by the Probate Court Administration Fund. Judges will no longer be compensated based on the fees collected by the courts.

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PATRICK WALL: What Does Probate Reform Mean for Litchfield County?

IL: Madigan Vows to Clamp Down on Leaks of Surprise Raids on Nursing Homes

Illinois Attorney General Lisa Madigan said she has taken steps to make sure nursing homes aren't tipped off to surprise raids aimed at increasing residents' safety.

Madigan told The Associated Press that said her office is clamping down on leaks that could give nursing homes time to bring in more staff and spruce up living conditions before investigators arrive.

"We're not going to let these leaks happen, and if they do happen we're going to show up at your nursing home again," Madigan said.

The attorney general's office is investigating whether someone tipped off a Chicago nursing home to an impending and supposedly unannounced visit, Madigan said. The Chicago Tribune first reported the investigation Thursday.

She said the investigation was prompted by a July visit to Grasmere Place, where a facility administrator met officials in the nursing home's lobby, looked at her watch and said: "What took you so long? I heard you were going to be here a lot earlier."

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State Investigates Alleged Tip-Off of Nursing Home

IL: Six People Indicted in Nursing Home Financial Abuse Scam

A troubling scheme was recently uncovered involving the swindling of elderly nursing home residents and their families out of tens of thousands of dollars reports the Clarion Ledger.

The plan involved an ex-nursing home social worker who told residents and their families at the Belhaven Senior Care Center that they needed to pay money to ensure that their Medicare benefits were maintained. Ponchie McCollough, one of the perpetrators, would demand checks ranging from $400 to $2,500 from the unsuspecting victims. Of course many families and residents trusted the word of the supposedly honest workers at these facilities to guide them through the process of receiving Medicare benefits. When McCollough demanded money to ensure that the aid was provided and care was continued, many of these families believed her and paid.

The families would make the checks out to McCollough’s co-conspirator, an administrator at the facility who would then cash the checks and the two would pocket the funds. Two other co-conspirators were also involved in parts of the scheme, helping McCollough funnel the money from the unsuspected elderly victims.

To make matters worse, nursing home staff members failed to report the abuse even after it was uncovered. In particular, two employees were indicted by authorities for assisting in the elder abuse by failing to report any of the criminal acts. An operations director and a billing director at the facility have been charged as “accessories” following the theft. They both attempted to help McCollough avoid getting caught and having to return the money. Both of those employees worked for the consulting firm which owned Belhaven.

Full Article and Source:
Six People Indicted Following Elder Financial Abuse

Motion for Mistrial or New Trial Denied to Skilled Healthcare Group, Inc.

[The] Superior Court of the State of California, County of Humboldt, denied the Motion for Mistrial or New Trial on Grounds of Juror Misconduct filed previously by Skilled Healthcare Group, Inc. (NYSE: SKH) in the case entitled VINNIE LAVENDER, by and through her Conservator, WANDA BAKER; WALTER SIMON; JACQUELYN VILCHINSKY vs. SKILLED HEALTHCARE GROUP, INC., et al (and 22 individually-named California nursing facilities receiving administrative services from Skilled Healthcare, LLC). The Court also granted an order for permanent injunction requiring the Defendants and those California skilled nursing facilities owned and operated by the Defendants to provide specified nurse staffing levels, comply with specified state and federal laws governing staffing levels and posting requirements, and provide reports and information to a monitor. The Company subsequently filed a notice of appeal on the injunction to the Court of Appeals, which defers enforcement of the injunction until resolution of the appeal.

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Humboldt County Court Denies Motion for Mistrial

CA: State Can't Exclude Felons From Providing In-Home Care

An Alameda County judge blocked Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger from excluding convicted felons and shoplifters from providing in-home care in a program that serves 430,000 low-income elderly and disabled Californians.

Superior Court Judge David Hunter had ruled in February that Schwarzenegger's action was illegal because state law bars workers from the program for 10 years only if they have been convicted of child abuse, elder abuse or defrauding Medi-Cal or any patient.

In-home patients, who have access to their caregivers' criminal records, can otherwise employ anyone they want, the judge said.

Schwarzenegger, acting by executive order, is seeking to bar from the program anyone ever convicted of a felony or certain misdemeanors, which include shoplifting. After appealing Hunter's ruling in May, the governor had planned to implement his restrictions.

The state's appeal automatically suspended Hunter's decision but allowed the judge to reinstate it if he concluded that the new limits on caregivers would cause irreparable harm. Hunter made that finding, saying both caregivers and their patients would suffer if the governor's rules took effect during his appeal.

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State Can't Exclude Felons From In-Home Care

Woman Accused of Kidnapping Elderly Woman, May be More Victims

A Salisbury woman is accused of kidnapping an elderly woman to commit fraud and sheriff's investigators say there may be other victims.

On August 17, the Rowan County Sheriff's Office was called to investigate a missing 82-year-old female suffering from Alzheimer's disease.

The woman's family said she was seen leaving her home earlier that morning with a white female in a dark-colored car.

The elderly woman was returned to her home the next morning by Karen Staton, 42, of Salisbury.

Staton, however, told investigators she found the 82-year-old female at Wal-Mart and brought her home.

During the investigation, the sheriff's office learned that Staton had cashed one of the victim's checks in June.

The sheriff's office said Staton already had a charge of habitual felon, and exploitation of the elderly, pending in court.

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Woman Accused of Kidnapping Elderly Victim to Commit Fraud

Attorneys Ordered to Repay Legal Costs

A state Superior Court judge has ordered lawyers for Revlon Chairman Ronald Perelman to reimburse nearly $2 million in fees that his former father-in-law and brother-in-law paid to defend themselves against a lawsuit Perelman filed over his daughter's inheritance.

The lawsuit, which Superior Court Judge Ellen Koblitz dismissed last year, claimed that Perelman's daughter, Samantha, was entitled to half of the fortune amassed by her grandfather — Robert Cohen of Englewood, the 85-year-old founder of the Hudson News chain.

Perelman, who is appealing, was married to Cohen's only daughter, the socialite and gossip columnist Claudia Cohen, from 1985 until their divorce in 1994. Samantha was born in 1990. Claudia Cohen died in 2007 of ovarian cancer.

Perelman's suit, which he filed in his capacity as executor of his former wife's estate, claimed that Robert Cohen made an oral promise to his only daughter in the 1970s to leave half of the family fortune to her even though he had three children living at the time. Claudia's brother, James, also was named as a defendant in the lawsuit.

Koblitz ruled Perelman's suit was frivolous because no documents were provided to back up that claim.

The lawsuit also alleged that Robert Cohen, who suffers from a Parkinson's-like condition called progressive supranuclear palsy, should be declared legally incapacitated and, therefore, not capable of deciding how to divide his fortune among his heirs. The suit further claimed that James Cohen had taken advantage of his condition, persuading his father to leave him a greater share of his estate.

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Attorneys for Ron Perelman Ordered to Repay Legal Costs

See Also:
Family Feud May Test Boundaries of Inheritance Law

Woman Charged With Elder Abuse, Surrenders

According to a report posted on presstelegram.com, a Long Beach woman wanted by police for stealing over $4 million from an elderly stroke victim has turned herself into authorities. 54-year-old Li Ching Liu entered a plea of not guilty to Long Beach Superior Court on charges of elder abuse and robbery.

The report states police had been looking for Liu for 2 years before she turned herself in. Liu reportedly abused and robbed the 74-year-old victim and withheld food from her in order to make her comply with what she wanted her to do.

The victim reportedly suffered a stroke that left her debilitated. Prior to that, the victim lived independently and built a large monetary fortune through several investments including commercial real estate. Liu had created over 60 bank accounts at various banks and laundered the $4 million from the elderly victim’s account with the help of her boyfriend and son. If she is convicted, Liu faces jail time and liquidation of her assets in order to reimburse the victim of the crime.

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Woman Charged With Elder Abuse -Surrenders to Authorities