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| John E. Clemmons |
“The Probate Court clerk’s office failed to ensure proper accountings were filed as required,” Gontarek said in one of the complaints.
In one case in which he served as an administrator, Clemmons filed just one annual report in a decade, according to the suit.
“Each failure to require an annual accounting is a separate negligent act or omission.”
Clemmons, 66, was jailed after entering guilty pleas to charges that he stole over $1 million from four clients. He is serving a sentence of up to 18 years.
Initially, Gontarek also filed suits against Bradshaw as an individual but records show he subsequently dropped those cases and consolidated all of the claims against Metro government, which employs the probate master.
Bradshaw declined to comment on the litigation. Lawyers for Metro have asked that the suits be dismissed, contending that the government is immune from such claims.
“The complaints contain no allegations of intent, malice or reckless misconduct,” Metro lawyers wrote in asking for the cases to be dismissed. “Because the duty owed is a public duty, the Metropolitan Government is immune.”
Conservator appointments
Clemmons was first appointed as the conservator for William Link and as the administrator of his estate after Link died in 2003. He also served as a conservator for Donald Griggs, 68, of Nashville. In Link’s case the missing money was supposed to go to his disabled daughter, who also is in a conservatorship.
The complaints charge that Clemmons stole $771,009 from the Link estate and $172,506 from Griggs. Clemmons was removed from both in April of last year after disciplinary proceedings were initiated against him.
Due to legal limitations the suits seek only $672,957 — $515,907 for Link’s estate and $157,050 for Griggs.
Gontarek’s complaint also charges that Bradshaw should have initiated contempt charges against Clemmons due to the failure to file the required reports.
“A reasonable person in the Probate Clerk’s position would have discovered Mr. Clemmons’ improper distributions,” the suit states. “The negligent acts and omission by the employees within the Probate Clerk’s office resulted in financial losses to the estate of William Link of at least $771,009.”
Gontarek did not respond to a request for comment.
Family’s motion
Members of the Link family, meanwhile, have filed a motion charging that Gontarek’s complaint does not go far enough and that additional criminal charges should be brought in the case.
“Both my family and I feel the actions of the circuit court clerk and probate master go beyond just negligent acts but are criminal in nature and for personal gain,” the motion by Elaine Dismang states.
Source:
Metro Sued in Probate Court Scandal
8 comments:
How can Kennedy remain in office?
Contrary to statute, his clerk accepts petitions without proof of service.
The staff, particularly attorney staff, of the Virginia Department for Aging and Rehabilitative Services, the members of the Virginia Public Guardian and Conservator Advisory Board, and the members of the Commonwealth Council on Aging should pay careful attention to this lawsuit.
YOU can be sued, ladies and gentlemen, for failing to exercise necessary oversight and demanding accountability of public guardianship programs like Jewish Family Service of Tidewater and Catholic Charities of Eastern Virginia.
YOU have only qualified immunity at best. At worst, YOU may have NO IMMUNITY WHATSOEVER because of the fiduciary duty and strict liability entailed in guardian/conservator cases.
YOUR claims of immunity can be rejected if YOUR conduct was reckless.
It's reckless, to say the least, if not actually deliberately wrongful, to ignore repeated complaints, remove all contact information for staff and board members to discourage and thwart legitimate complaints, actively cover up and misrepresent legitimate complaints, fail to act on legitimate complaints, repeatedly dissemble regarding the facts of these cases and the citizens who made the complaints, and follow a longstanding "shoot the messenger" strategy of actively defaming anyone who attempts to bring the true facts of actual legitimate complaints and serious problems with these public guardianship programs to your attention.
When your public guardianship programs were mixed up with Scott Schuett, LONG after he began to lose license after license and LONG after the well-known problems had hit the media, YOU were charged with fixing this problem, not sweeping it aside.
So you might want to check the Commonwealth's policy of indemnification and representation of staff, attorneys, and Board and Council members before you make the next misstep and continue to sweep this egregious wrongdoing under the rug.
Staff of the Virginia Department for Aging and Rehabilitative Services, members of the Virginia Public Guardian and Conservator Advisory Board, and members of the Commonwealth Council on Aging should read, reread, and re-read this paragraph until they get it. As in, truly get it:
"Members of the Link family, meanwhile, have filed a motion charging that Gontarek’s complaint does not go far enough and that additional criminal charges should be brought in the case.
'Both my family and I feel the actions of the circuit court clerk and probate master go beyond just negligent acts but are criminal in nature and for personal gain,' the motion by Elaine Dismang states."
What crimes? Well, obstruction of justice springs to mind. Malfeasance in office is also a nice, sometimes applicable charge. And there are many, many others ....
I was wondering the same thing, Anonymous. Why does Kennedy sit on the bench after all that he has ignored and abetted has come to light?
If the govt is forced to pay off for conservatorship abuse, maybe they'll decide they can't afford it and start watching conservators like Clemmons and judges like Kennedy.
Praying for victory for the victims!
Tip of the iceberg John Clemmons is one of many. One of many with connect the $ to Paul Hausch a lawyer and more $ to Judge Randy Kennedy. Tip of the iceberg where are the federal investigators? Who knew what did they know when did they know it and what if anything they did about it?
Daniel P Ryan How I would LOVE to see REAL JUSTICE served in this case!!! From what I gather, MANY heads could, and should roll! Prayerfully, the media will bite down hard on this story exposing the TRUTH regarding all aspects of this case and raising public awareness of what's now fast becoming a national crisis: Probate/guardian abuse for profit!!! And, yes, please... Someone; anyone, get judge Kennedy off that bench and preferably put in prison where he can make some "new" friends with inmates who have a fondness for corrupt judges!!!
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