The following month, Horn assisted Grey in completing a Medicaid application and arranged to have Grey moved from her home in Battle Ground to an assisted living community in the same town. Horn also arranged for M. Charlene White, the girlfriend of Grey's son, to take control of Grey's finances under a durable power of attorney, the lawsuit claims.
Horn allegedly knew that White recently had been released from prison but failed to investigate details of White's background, which would have revealed that White had been convicted in 2007 of six counts of securities fraud in King County. White was sentenced to 43 months in prison and ordered to pay $1.5 million in restitution, according to court records.
Over the course of several months, White allegedly stole more than $117,000 from Grey, the lawsuit states.
"When the family discovered Ms. White had used that power of attorney to financially exploit Jackie, they then petitioned to have Beagle, Burke & Associates (of Washington) appointed as her guardian," said attorney Larry Wagner, whose firm is handling the lawsuit. "BBA did an extensive investigation and determined the extent of the financial exploitation."
The lawsuit seeks compensation for the stolen money, attorney's fees of $72,859 related to Grey's guardianship case and non-economic damages of at least $300,000. It was filed Friday in Clark County Superior Court by Baumgartner, Nelson & Wagner of Vancouver. A spokesperson with the state Department of Social and Health Services was not immediately available Wednesday for comment on the lawsuit.
White, 58, has been charged with first-degree theft, second-degree theft, first-degree attempted theft, attempted money laundering and attempted false statement or fraud regarding medical assistance in connection with the alleged thefts. Her trial is scheduled for Jan. 12.
Prosecutors accuse White of stealing more than $125,000 from Grey. That amount is greater than what was identified in the lawsuit.
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Lawsuit: State Enabled Ex-Con to Steal from Battle Ground Woman
If Horn knew that the woman had a criminal record, and still assisted her in obtaining a PoA,
ReplyDeletewhich resulted in financial exploitation, he should have been charged as well.
Exactly, Thelma. This is a criminal conspiracy.
ReplyDeleteThat's the problem with Adult Protective Services and our public guardianship programs -- the cure is often worse than the disease.
Social workers are able to get the courts to buy into a double standard in which NOTHING they do is subject to scrutiny -- the court simply assumes without proof that APS workers are the good guys. These agencies misuse the CLIENT'S confidentiality rights to cover up their misdeeds.
I hope these victims get a very large, very public judgment against this APS worker. This was a very ordinary situation of a lady slipping into self-neglect due to normal aging. The problem could have easily been solved with services. Instead, the APS worker made the situation much, much worse, moving this lady from minor self-neglect to major financial exploitation.
That's the guardian's job and I'm glad to see a guardian doing it.
ReplyDelete