Burtchville Woman Pleads Guilty to Embezzling More than $86,000

July 23, 2024

LANSING – Yesterday, Lisa Marie Tramski, 57, of Burtchville, pled guilty in the 31st Circuit Court in St. Clair County to one count of Embezzlement of $50,000 or more, but less than $100,000, announced Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel. Tramski embezzled more than $86,000 from an elderly woman after becoming her court-appointed guardian. Tramski will pay $51,600.75 in restitution prior to sentencing as part of the plea. 

Tramski, who was charged with three felony counts in February, was appointed in early 2018 as guardian for the victim, who died only weeks later. About a week before the death, Tramski had the victim sign a will leaving everything to Tramski. Despite knowing there were legal challenges to the will, Tramski proceeded to take $86,033.75 from the victim’s accounts. Ultimately, the probate court invalidated the will benefitting Tramski.  

“The plea secured today marks a significant step toward justice,” Nessel said. “My department will continue to pursue accountability for those who are unable to protect themselves and ensure perpetrators face consequences for their actions.” 

Tramski will be sentenced on Sept. 16th at 9:30 a.m. in front of Judge Daniel A. Damman in 31st Circuit Court in St. Clair County.

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Burtchville Woman Pleads Guilty to Embezzling More than $86,000

Rochester woman accused of transferring $75K to herself from dying senior’s accounts

By KAALTV

(ABC 6 News) – A Rochester woman appeared in Olmsted County Court Tuesday on two felony charges of financial exploitation.

Tracy Anne Volk, 60, is accused of using her position as Power of Attorney for a dying senior to transfer about $75,000 to accounts she controlled.

According to court documents, three individuals related to the senior made a Vulnerable Adult Maltreatment report after allegedly seeing “suspicious banking transactions” show up in the senior’s account while she stayed in hospice.

The witnesses told police they had seen transfers from accounts with their names and that of the senior into accounts controlled by the senior and Volk — ostensibly to be used for bills after the senior passed away.

However, Volk had refused to pay the senior’s outstanding medical and hospice bills — about $10,000 in total — as of February of 2024, according to court documents.

Rochester police reviewed the senior’s documents and noted that the senior specifically stated “I … do not authorize any of my attorneys in fact to make gifts to themselves.”

However, police found that in June of 2023, someone transferred $55,000, then $20,000 into the account shared by Volk and the senior.

“Volk later used Victim’s death certificate to remove Victim’s name from the account,” court documents read.

Volk is scheduled to appear for an omnibus hearing Oct. 1.

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Rochester woman accused of transferring $75K to herself from dying senior’s accounts

Conservators mess up when they do not understand their role. New Tennessee law fixes that

by Amy Bryant 

Casey, Kaine Introduce Bill to Strengthen Advocacy for Long-Term Care Residents

July 23, 2024

The Strengthening Advocacy for Long-Term Care Residents Act would bolster the Long-Term Care Ombudsman program

Long-Term Care Ombudsmen advocate for long-term care residents and monitor conditions and care within long-term care facilities

Casey has long been one of the Senate’s leading advocates for long-term care residents

Washington, D.C. - Today, U.S. Senators Bob Casey (D-PA), Chairman of the U.S. Senate Special Committee on Aging, and Tim Kaine (D-VA) introduced the Strengthening Advocacy for Long-Term Care Residents Act to improve the Long-Term Care Ombudsman program, which was established under the Older Americans Act. Local Ombudsman programs designate staff and trained volunteers as representatives to advocate for residents of nursing homes and other long-term care (LTC) facilities, providing residents and their families with confidential information and assistance and monitoring conditions and care within a facility. With a growing number of older adults residing in long-term care facilities, Ombudsman program staff and volunteers face challenges to ensuring residents receive the care they deserve and have their rights protected.

“Long-term care ombudsmen are vital to ensuring that residents of nursing homes and other long-term care facilities have advocates who can represent their interests and can push for better care and conditions,” said Senator Casey. “Senator Kaine and I are introducing this bill to strengthen the Ombudsman Program and ensure that it has the resources, leadership, and personnel to continue its critical work safeguarding the Nation’s residents of long-term care facilities.”

“Older Americans deserve to age with dignity, but sadly, we continue to see reports of abuses at nursing homes and other long-term care facilities,” said Senator Kaine. “I’m introducing this legislation to strengthen the Long-Term Care Ombudsman program and help ensure that older Virginians and people with disabilities living in long-term care facilities continue to have trained professionals able to advocate for them, address their complaints, and help ensure they have access to safe, quality care.”

In 2023, nearly 5,400 Ombudsman program staff and volunteers conducted over 340,000 visits to long-term care facilities, assisting over 500,000 residents and their families.

The Strengthening Advocacy for Long-Term Care Residents Act would improve the Long-Term Care Ombudsman program by:

• Instructing the Administration for Community Living (ACL) to establish categories of duties for volunteers and appropriate training requirements for volunteers based on those categories. Training guidelines should reflect the diversity of volunteer contributions to the Ombudsman program. This will make it easier to recruit and retain more Ombudsman program volunteers and continue to ensure volunteers have the appropriate training they need.
• Reaffirming Congress’ intent that the Ombudsman program should be led by a full-time National Director. In 2019, reorganization under the Trump Administration resulted in the loss of this position. State and local ombudsmen have reported that the lack of a National Director impedes coordination and distracts from the mission of the program.
• Requiring the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering and Medicine (NASEM) to study and issue a report with a recommendation for the number of ombudsmen per LTC facility bed. This would give states and ACL better insight into the current needs of the program. In 1995, the Institute of Medicine (now part of NASEM) released a report recommending a staffing ratio of one ombudsman per 2,000 beds for the Ombudsman program. This staffing ratio has not been updated in the nearly 30 years since and current data indicates that caseloads far exceed that threshold.

Senator Casey has long been one of the Senate’s strongest advocates for Americans in long-term care facilities. Earlier this Congress, Senator Casey released a report entitled, Uninspected and Neglected, which demonstrated the critical role Ombudsman program staff play in safeguarding nursing home residents. In addition, Senator Casey introduced the Long-Term Care Workforce Support Act, a landmark piece of legislation that would invest billions of dollars in bolstering the LTC workforce, thus ensuring those providing care are fairly compensated and supported in the workplace. Senator Casey is also leading the reauthorization of the Older Americans Act this year and held a hearing in May 2024 to discuss reauthorization priorities, which include bolstering the Long-Term Care Ombudsman program. The Connecticut State Ombudsman served as a witness at the hearing.

Read more about the Strengthening Advocacy for Long-Term Care Residents Act here.

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Casey, Kaine Introduce Bill to Strengthen Advocacy for Long-Term Care Residents

Nursing home owner who left 800 people in warehouse during Hurricane Ida avoids jail time

Bob Dean Jr gets probation after pleading no contest to counts of cruelty to infirmed people and healthcare fraud

By: Ramon Antonio Vargas

A Louisiana nursing home magnate who left 800 elderly residents to endure a potent hurricane inside a fetid warehouse has avoided prison time after choosing not to dispute the cruelty charges facing him.

Bob Dean Jr on Monday received three years of probation – along with about $2m in penalties, court costs and restitution – after pleading no contest to eight counts of cruelty to infirmed people, five of healthcare fraud and two of obstruction of justice.

An undated image provided by the Tangipahoa parish sheriff’s office of Bob Dean Jr. Photograph: AP

Dean entered his plea at a state courthouse in Amite City, Louisiana, about three years after several deaths during Hurricane Ida in 2021 were linked to the storage facility at the center of the case against him.

Louisiana’s state attorney general, Liz Murrill, said prosecutors had unsuccessfully asked Judge Brian Abels to sentence Dean to least five years imprisoned and not “only probation”. Abels technically handed Dean a 20-year prison sentence but deferred it in its entirety in favor of probation.

“Our prosecutors urged that Mr Dean be held accountable for his actions, which led to the deaths of numerous elderly individuals,” Murrill said in a statement. “I respect our judicial system and that the judge has the ultimate discretion over the appropriate sentence, but I remain of the opinion that Dean should be serving prison time.”

Abels said the 70-year-old Dean’s age, lack of prior criminal convictions and the amount he had to repay all factored into his sentence, according to a report from the CBS affiliate WWL Louisiana.

The outlet added that family members of people who died at the warehouse addressed Abels through tears Monday, saying they never got a chance to say goodbye to loved ones who were left to die at the facility.

Dean sent 843 residents of seven Louisiana nursing homes to a squalid, former pesticide plant in the town of Independence, about 70 miles (110km) north-west of New Orleans, to ride out Ida as the category 4 storm took aim at the region.

With winds of about 150 miles (241km) an hour, Ida caused widespread power outages and other devastation across south-east Louisiana in August 2021. Residents of Dean’s nursing homes were later found sleeping on mattresses atop a wet floor – without access to their medicines, sobbing and lying in their own feces.

Warehouse conditions devolved after the failure of generators meant to provide electricity to the facility. Indoor temperatures soared to dangerous levels, prompting warnings from caretakers that Dean ignored.

The ceiling leaked, toilets overflowed and there was not enough food or water for residents who were packed in so closely it was impossible to comply with social distancing guidelines in effect at the time because of the Covid-19 pandemic.

Officials ultimately linked five of the 26 deaths that occurred in Louisiana because of Ida to the warehouse in question. Ensuing investigations determined Dean had billed the federal Medicaid program for dates his residents were not receiving care, refused to move clients out of the warehouse and “engaged in conduct intended to intimidate or obstruct public health officials and law enforcement”.

Dean later lost his licenses and federal funding to operate his nursing homes. And in June 2022, prosecutors filed the criminal charges to which he later pleaded no contest.

Though Abels said Dean had no history of criminal convictions, the case resolved on Monday was far from Dean’s only recent legal issue.

Notably, he also grappled with several lawsuits from families of those left in the Independence warehouse.

About three months after authorities charged him, attorneys for the plaintiffs announced a $12m settlement with Dean. A February 2023 report from the Louisiana news outlet nola.com reported that the families had not gotten any settlement payments, which average about $10,000 per nursing home at the warehouse after accounting for attorneys’ fees and other costs.

Elsewhere, Georgia authorities charged Dean with criminal conduct after he shot his thumb off there – and Oregon officials scrutinized him after cattle from his ranch in that state needed to be rescued from a snowstorm, nola.com also reported.

Dean’s attorney, J Garrison Jordan, told nola.com that his client’s plea and sentence Monday were “a fair disposition of the case, and everybody has closure”.

Full Article & Source:
Nursing home owner who left 800 people in warehouse during Hurricane Ida avoids jail time

Southern California dentist sentenced for $800K Medi-Cal fraud

By Legal Newsline

California Attorney General Rob Bonta announced the sentencing of a Southern California dentist and two employees for a fraudulent billing scheme that defrauded the state Medi-Cal program of nearly $800,000. Dr. Magaly Mercedes Velasquez and her spouse, Maria Jose Talavera, who served as an office manager, were sentenced by the Riverside County Superior Court to 364 days in jail and ordered to pay restitution amounting to $770,238 to Medi-Cal. Jessica Monique Perez, the billing manager, will be placed on probation for two years. The prosecution was conducted by the California Department of Justice’s Division of Medi-Cal Fraud and Elder Abuse (DMFEA).

“When dentists like Velasquez defraud Medi-Cal to line their own pockets, they jeopardize the program’s ability to provide necessary healthcare services to our most vulnerable patients,” said Attorney General Bonta. “Today’s sentencing holds Velasquez and others involved in this fraudulent billing scheme accountable and sends a strong message: The California Department of Justice is committed to safeguarding California’s communities and public programs and will not tolerate crimes against them.”

Velasquez owned U-First Dental practice where she served as a dentist from January 1, 2017, to December 31, 2019. Contracted with Borrego Community Health Foundation, a Federally Qualified Health Center participating in Medi-Cal, Velasquez received reimbursement for each day of service billed rather than for individual services provided. U-First Dental fraudulently split their services over multiple days on claims for reimbursement to maximize returns from Medi-Cal.

DMFEA protects Californians by investigating and prosecuting those who defraud the Medi-Cal program as well as those committing elder abuse. These settlements are facilitated through coordination among governmental agencies and assistance from whistleblowers reporting incidences at oag.ca.gov/dmfea/reporting.

DMFEA receives 75% of its funding from HHS-OIG under a grant award totaling $87,038,485 for federal fiscal year 2024. The remaining 25% is funded by the State of California. The federal fiscal year runs from October 1, 2023 through September 30, 2024.

A copy of the sentencing minute order will be available in the coming days.

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Southern California dentist sentenced for $800K Medi-Cal fraud

Three nursing home workers accused of elderly abuse

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Three nursing home workers accused of elderly abuse

Wendy Williams' Family Reportedly Still Have No Access To Her Amid 60th Birthday

by Afouda Bamidele

Wendy Williams remains out of bounds to her family members as she continues to deal with her health issues.

Things have not improved between the former talk show host and her family, who have still not been able to contact her physically.

Wendy Williams celebrated her 60th birthday out of reach to her family amid her battle with dementia and progressive aphasia.

Wendy Williams' Family Are Rooting For Her On Her Birthday

Despite being denied access to the star, her family declared that she remains in their thoughts and prayers, especially as she clocks a new age, and they wish her nothing but the best through the rest of her journey in life.

According to a source close to the parties, Williams' family has no idea where she is currently staying due to the ongoing litigation and the fact that no provisions have been made to facilitate contact between them.

All these obstacles have not changed her family's admiration for her as the source declared to PEOPLE that Williams "was, is and always will be an icon" to her loved ones.

Her court-appointed guardian, Sabrina Morrissey, has not commented on the new development, although things are currently tense between the celebrity's family and her guardian.

Williams' 60th birthday was celebrated with warm wishes from her colleagues and fans worldwide. Her colleague and commentator Evan Ross Katz penned an emotional tribute to her on Instagram alongside two old pictures of both of them on William's talk show.

"Happy 60th birthday to the unyielding queen of daytime, the icon, the legend, the moment: Wendy Williams. We love you. We miss you. Pop culture just isn't the same without your commentary. Wishing you health and happiness always," Katz wrote in his caption.

The Iconic Talk Show Host's Family Have Tried To Access Her For Over 2 Year

The Williams family's yearning to see the talk show icon began in April 2022 when her court-ordered guardianship program took full effect.

Her sister, Wanda Finnie, noted that she was not informed of Williams' diagnosis after she was admitted to a facility for treatment for cognitive problems.

According to Finnie, they have been in the dark about her health since the fall of 2021, which was also the last time they saw her.

"When she was in Florida, there were a number of people involved. Even beyond family, there were doctors involved, people in Wendy's professional world that were involved," Finnie said, adding that she had her health team and family around her at the time and her health was greatly improving.

Her family continued that the only person who currently has unrestricted access to her is Morrissey, as they wondered how she deteriorated from the healthy Wendy they have always loved to someone who now frequents the hospital.

Finnie questioned the rationale behind the court's preference for a guardianship system over the comfort and solace her family could offer.

"I don't know. I do know that this system is broken. I hope that at some point, Wendy becomes strong enough where she can speak on her own behalf," concluded Williams' family in their statement to PEOPLE.

Williams' Ex-Husband's Severance Payment Dispute With Her Guardian

Morrissey is performing excellently at her job of fiercely protecting Williams, and as proof of that, she demanded her estranged husband return $112k to the show host account back in April.

Per The Blast, Morrissey explained in her filing that Kevin Hunter was paid that amount for three months, indicating excess severance payment, which made him "unjustly enriched "by Williams' bank.

The flaw needed to be corrected because "Wendy Williams Show" stopped paying the former host in October 2021, and Hunter received payment till January 2022 due to a possible autopay prompt put in place by Williams' bank.

She continued that the payment defaulted the express terms of the estranged couple's settlement agreement, which stated that payments would stop if her income was reduced to less than double her then-yearly income as of February 2020.

Morrissey confirmed that Hunter has thus interfered with the 60-year-old's right of possession to those funds by holding on to the overpaid balance.

Williams' guardian did not stop there, she also demanded that Hunter pay back interest gained on the fee, adding that the court placed a gag order on him to prevent him from talking to the press or anyone about their legal proceedings.

Hunter And Williams Dissolved Their Union In 2020

The couple, who were married for 21 years, ended their marriage in 2020 after Williams filed for divorce in 2019, claiming irreconcilable differences caused their split.

The filing also clashed with the birth of Hunter's daughter with his mistress, Sharina Hudson, which we believe the news of her pregnancy may have contributed to the decline of their marriage.

Williams reportedly paid Hunter a huge sum of money in divorce settlement and a severance payment after she had previously doled out $250,000 to assist her ex-husband in finding a new apartment.

Wendy Williams' Guardian Alleged A&E Television Networks Of Exploitation

Not only did Morrissey move to stop the unnecessary flow of money from Williams' account, but she also filed a lawsuit to block the broadcast of the "Where is Wendy Williams" documentary.

The unsealed lawsuit claimed that A&E Television Networks, a subsidiary of Lifetime, "shamelessly" took advantage of a vulnerable Williams and portrayed her "in an extremely demeaning and undignified manner."

The Blast reported that Morrissey affirmed that due to her health issues, Williams lacked the capacity to consent to the terms of the documentary contract, and she remained in that condition, 

However, Morrissey clarified that she initially permitted the docuseries to proceed with filming under the condition that the project would only advance after a review and approval from herself and the court.

However, the documentary's trailer horrified her and was a direct violation of their initial promise to depict Williams positively.

Here's to better days and longer years to the iconic Wendy Williams!

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Wendy Williams' Family Reportedly Still Have No Access To Her Amid 60th Birthday

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Wendy Williams

‘Larry’s Law’ set to protect Virginia’s vulnerable populations

by: Sam Graham

ROANOKE, Va. (WFXR) — “Larry’s Law” went into effect on July 1 and is designed to protect Virginia’s most vulnerable communities from financial exploitation.

While the law has gained a reputation for primarily protecting the elderly, it seeks to prevent scams from attacking any at-risk communities, including adults with disabilities and cognitive challenges.

Julie Wheeler, President of the Better Business Bureau for Western Virginia explains the evolution of technology and the trusting nature of many individuals living in the rural areas of Southwest Virginia raise concerns as a potential at-risk community.

“You’re in a part of the state where people tend to be trusting,” she said. “They tend to want to be nice.”

For the technology portion of concern, Delegate Michelle Maldonado (D-Manassas) brings up the rise of artificial intelligence.

“Our AI technology only needs a few seconds of your voice to be able to replicate proper intimation and pronunciation,” said Maldonado.

Maldonado sponsored the bill derived from the Senior Safe Act, naming it “Larry’s Law,” in honor of the late Larry Cook. He was a native of Herndon, Virginia, and a retired Navy submarine commander.

His family says Cook was robbed of over $3 million in a wire fraud scheme in 2021.

The law provides banks certain immunity to reach out to trusted contacts designated by the account holder when they suspect fraudulent activity. As it currently stands, some banks fail to contact relatives or loved ones for fear of litigation, while others are simply too small to dedicate the resources to tracking down additional contacts.

The introduction of an emergency contact was done in hopes of stifling scams before they get out of control. However, it has raised some concerns about overstepping the independence of these vulnerable individuals. In the end, Maldonado believes that while banks may occasionally misidentify fraud, that outweighs the consequences of failing to reach out when there is a scam at work.

“We have to make sure that we’re not taking away the independence, autonomy, and decision-making of our elders,” said Maldonado.

Many scammers prey on the fears of their victims by impersonating family members or government officials to fabricate situations that require urgent attention. Experts suggest establishing a code word with family members to pick out the real from the imaginary, but there are other potential solutions.

“If it sounds too good to be true or they are trying to scare you to death, chances are you need to step back, talk to someone else, and evaluate before you take any action,” said Wheeler.

Wheeler identified prize scams, investment fraud, and impersonating family members in need of help as popular forms of exploitation in Southwest Virginia.

According to Maldonado, the next goal for this type of legislation is to introduce a standard mandatory reporting process for financial institutions. As for Larry’s Law, the process of developing a standard guide for banks to report fraud is expected to be in place by January 1, 2026.

With that on the horizon, Maldonado has a message for those who steal from the vulnerable.

“We’re coming for you,” she said. “We see it and we know that things are getting more sophisticated. And we will do the work to protect our people.”

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‘Larry’s Law’ set to protect Virginia’s vulnerable populations