At the stroke of midnight on Friday, Scottsdale millionaire Edward Abbott Ravenscroft is scheduled to be a free man.
If I were Ravenscroft, I wouldn't be planning my liberation celebration just yet.
Ravenscroft has filed a federal racketeering lawsuit against his probate handlers – the ones who last year gained control over his life and his bank account. Now Maricopa County's probate court may use that lawsuit as an excuse to continue its protection of the man and his millions.
A hearing on whether to let him live his own life – and spend his own money as he sees fit – is scheduled for this morning.
“It's all about money,” he told me on Tuesday. “If I didn't have millions, I'd be like anybody else, out there on my own.”
Ravenscroft, 49, is part of the Abbott pharmaceutical family. Court records indicate he's worth $5 million and has an income of $168,000 a year from Abbott stock dividends.
He also has battled drug and mental-health problems, having been arrested several times for drug possession and hospitalized several times for drug overdoses. In early 2009, his probation officer, concerned that he might be victimized due to the size of his bankbook, handed him over the probate court, where fiduciaries and attorneys are appointed to help vulnerable people – and sometimes themselves, as well, when a well-to-do ward comes along.
Ravenscroft has been clean and sober since August. His temporary guardian and conservator were due to bow out last month but at an emergency hearing they asked to continue their oversight of Ravenscroft and his money for another 30 days, “to ensure a successful transition” back to independence.
That transition is set to end on Friday.
Now, in yet another emergency hearing, the Sun Valley Group is asking that it be named his permanent conservator. Sun Valley attorney Alisa Gray told Judge Karen O'Connor last week that there are “sophisticated and complex financial matters,” including questions about whether Ravenscroft is being exploited by a bank, a real estate firm and the attorney who filed the federal lawsuit.
Full Article and Source:
Scottsdale Millionnaire to be Freed Friday....Maybe"
See Also:
Millionnaire Almost Escaped
8 comments:
HATS OFF to Laurie Roberts for her reports on the Ravenscroft case!
I am hopeful Edward Ravenscroft's racketeering suit shakes them to their greedy core!
We are pulling for you, Edward, and praying for your freedom.
I am praying for victory, but having a worth of over $5 mil remains appetizing to the guardianship.
Usually in these cases, the court decides to give freedom when the estate has been fully depleted. So, I am a bit worried, but will hope for the best.
I hope Mr. Ravenscroft's lawyer has had the wisdom to check the campaign contributions made to the judge in this case.
WHEN DOES THIS BS STOP?
I could spit nails when I read case after case after case of these pirates plundering innocent people.
Outrageous!
These crooks hang on to that money at all costs. “Sophisticated and complex financial matters,” you bet. I think Alisa Gray points fingers of accusation by her questions about whether Ravenscroft is being exploited by a bank, a real estate firm and the attorney who filed the federal lawsuit. What that says to me is she wants a piece of this pie. It's not about what the millionaire wants or even whats best for him.
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