Too many times the courts have entrusted the well-being of dependent individuals to guardians who promise protection, then steadily swindle them for the rest of their lives.
These guardians come with the highest credentials — attorneys, professionals and, in one Ocean County case, a minister who was also a licensed social worker. With nothing in their reputations or resumes to suggest they are other than upstanding citizens, these scoundrels gain control of the bank accounts and legal affairs of their wards.
Soon, however, the guardians will have guards watching for signs of this most despicable crime.
Last week, New Jersey Supreme Court Chief Justice Stuart Rabner Announced that teams of volunteer watchdogs will monitor the legal guardians for tens of thousands disabled and elderly people. They’ll be on the lookout for theft or abuse of power.
The Volunteer Guardianship Monitoring Program will train people to scan the annual expense reports all legal guardians are required to file with the county and look for any “red flags” that suggest possible mismanagement, as The Star-Ledger’s Susan Livio reported last week.
While the vast majority of court-appointed guardians are caring and responsible, the audacity of those who prey on the powerless is breathtaking. An Ocean County lawyer, for instance, stole millions from his physically and mentally handicapped clients who had no heirs or next of kin.
For each high-profile case, there could be hundreds of other smaller swindles.
The innovative statewide program, set to launch soon in Mercer, includes a database that will facilitate tracking and investigation. The most important resource, however, will be the volunteers.
It is, as the chief justice says, a noble aim to shield those depending on guardians from larceny.
A federal measure in the works would complement New Jersey’s vigilance on legal guardians. Sen. Bob Casey of Pennsylvania is calling for better screening of the 5.6 million representative payees who annually handle $61 billion in Social Security payments for 7.6 million beneficiaries.
The push stems from a Philadelphia case in which a woman allegedly kept disabled captives drugged and wounded in a filthy basement after tricking them into signing over their benefits to her. She was able to collect those checks even though she’d served time for starving a man to death.
During a five-state test of Casey’s measure, dozens of people convicted of fraud and violence were prevented from becoming the managers of another individual’s Social Security payments.
Implemented on a national level, this safeguard would work in tandem with the guardian-monitoring program to protect some of New Jersey’s most vulnerable residents.
Source:
Editorial: Exposing Guardian Devils - NJ Supreme Court Tightens Watch of Guardians
See Also:
Good News for New Jersey: Guardianships Get a Safety Net
RENO, Nev. (KRNV & MyNews4.com) -- Nevada Attorney General Catherine Cortez Masto announced that Carol Nanas, 62, of Reno, was sentenced today in a case of financial exploitation of an elder.
Gervais, whose most recent comedy series is set in an old people’s home, says public figures and Hollywood stars should speak out for the elderly. 
Our state government is considering a bill (S.B. No. 48) to make physician-assisted suicide legal.
Mannhattan District Attorney Cyrus R. Vance, Jr., today announced the indictment of TERENCE KINDLON, JR., 42, for practicing law without a license and filing false documents while unlawfully representing a criminal defendant. KINDLON was charged in New York State Supreme Court with three counts of Offering a False Instrument for Filing in the First Degree and two counts of Unauthorized Practice of Law. 
Too many times the courts have entrusted the well-being of dependent individuals to guardians who promise protection, then steadily swindle them for the rest of their lives.
Last week, New Jersey Supreme Court Chief Justice Stuart Rabner Announced that teams of volunteer watchdogs will monitor the legal guardians for tens of thousands disabled and elderly people. They’ll be on the lookout for theft or abuse of power.
An attorney out of Chicago and national radio show host for the Radio One Network has been indicted after being accused of defrauding lenders out of more than $10 million. The indictment has been announced by the US Attorney's Office, where Ballentine is being accused of working with others to secure mortgages that were later deemed to be fraudulent.
While the woman was living with a close family member, officials at the Shalom Center say, her money was being drained away by people overcharging for her grocery shopping, while her body and spirit were sapped by physical neglect and emotional torment. She says she was usually ordered to "go to bed," where she lay in a dark room, upset, unable to sleep.
Supreme Court Chief Justice Rabner says the new program will help ensure that those being cared for by a legal guardian are treated properly.
In the clip, the unseen videographer confronts a man who has wheeled an elderly woman to the passenger-side door of a Toyota Prius.
The State Bar of Nevada has declined to discipline a former prosecutor who had a relationship with embattled Family Court Judge Steven Jones while appearing before him.
Meet Me in DC looks like it will be Standing Room Only.
I'd like to suggest a sixth step is needed: mandatory reporting of elder
abuse.
