Private "Guardians" Jared E. Shafer and Patience Bristol Sue Blind Man for Libel, Now Ask Taxpayers to Pay the Bill

On April 10, 2014, private "guardians" Jared Shafer, his former employee Patience Bristol,  Shafer's business  Professional Fiduciary Services of Nevada (PFSN Inc.), PFSN office manager Amy Deittrick, Deittrick's  AVID BUSINESS SERVICES, their attorneys Mark Solomon, Dana Dwiggins, Alan Freer, and Robert Simpson, and CPAs Bruce Gamett and Shawn King filed a civil libel lawsuit against Charles Pascal who has been blind since birth.

 

Charles Pascal lives in Southern California and is indigent. He cannot afford an attorney and is acting pro se in this litigation. He also has a Masters Degree from Loyola Marymount University, a tremendous feat for a sightless person. On May 12, 2014, Pascal asked the Clark County District Court to require Shafer, Bristol, and the other plaintiffs to accommodate his disability by providing all legal filings in Braille and audio per the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA).  Shafer and the other plaintiffs refused to comply, then last week reportedly tried to get the local District Attorney to criminally prosecute Pascal for the alleged misdemeanor crime of libel in order to try to save paying the Braille and audio court costs.

If the DA complies, the Braille and audio transcriptions his office pays to generate would become public record and could be used for free by Shafer, et. al., in their civil case against Pascal saving them an estimated $100,000.00 or more in court costs.  Unable to read or respond to his complaint, Pascal asked a friend who helps persons with visual disabilities to write a dictated letter to Clark County District Judge Joanna Kishner explaining his situation, and the plaintiff's refusal to abide by the ADA law. He also dictated letters to the ADA,  National Federation of the Blind, U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ), and the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) asking for assistance.

The ACLU intervened on Pascal's behalf.  Judge Kishner, on June 12, 2014, issued an order requiring Shafer to transcribe his initial 1,600 page complaint into Braille and audio along with all future filings. It cost $5.00 per page to translate a document into Braille, hence Shafer's reaction to try get the taxpayers to foot the bill. The transcription cost does not include paying someone to read the documents into a recorder,  binding, packing or shipping.

It appears that unless the plaintiffs can get the taxpayers to foot the bill to comply with ADA requirements, they have been blind-sided by a legal requirement they should surely have known about before they filed their lawsuit.

Shafer accused Pascal of writing over one hundred RipOff Reports that contain allegedly libelous statements about him and his crew. Pascal claims to know nothing about the origin of the RipOff Reports. He also told INSIDE VEGAS that Shafer cost his mother-in-law Marcy Dudeck over $500,000.00 in excessive billings and legal fees drained from her trust account, though Shafer hadn't performed any guardian services for Mrs. Dudeck before her death.

The following check from the account of Marcy Dudeck was one of many secretly cashed by Jared Shafer. Mrs. Dudeck's family say they were never informed of the cashed checks after her death, and she was under guardianship at the time she purportedly signed the checks, therefore she was legally prohibited from being a signatory on any legal document. Marcy had been declared legally incompetent by the Nevada court in September 2006, over a year before her checks began being signed with her signature and cashed by Shafer. Dudeck's daughter, Heidi, claims her mother's signature was forged, something District Attorney Wolfson should rightfully be looking into - instead of reportedly considering the criminal prosecution of Mrs. Dudeck's blind son-in-law for allegedly committing the misdemeanor crime of libeling Shafer, et. al.

Full Article and Source:
Private "Guardians" Jared E. Shafer and Patience Bristol Sue Blind Man for Libel, Now Ask Taxpayers to Pay the Bill

See Also:
NASGA:  Marcy Dudeck, Nevada/California Victim

Private "Guardians" Jared E. Shafer and Patience Bristol Sue Blind Man for Libel

READ Charles Pascal's Letter to the Clark County District Judge

READ RipOff Reports containing allegedly libelous statements



Jared E. Shafer
 



Patience Bristol

Celebrating 95 Years - and Freedom!

Guadalupe Olvera will celebrate his 95th birthday with his family on July 12 in Santa Cruz, CA.

Had his daughter not rescued him in 2010 from the abusive guardianship of Jared E. Shafer, Mr. Olvera would probably have died soon thereafter alone and destitute in a LV rest home while Shafer slowly and meticulously stole all of his assets.

Read Steve Miller's Report

CBS News: Disability, USA

Steve Kroft reports on the alarming state of the federal disability program, which has exploded in size and could run out of money

When it began back in the 1950s, the federal disability insurance program was envisioned as a small program to assist people who were unable to work because of illness or injury.

Today it serves nearly 12 million people - up 20 percent in the last six years - and has a budget of $135 billion. That's more than the government spent last year on the Department of Homeland Security, the Justice Department, and the Labor Department combined. It could be the first government benefits program to run out of cash. It's been called a "secret welfare system" with its own "disability industrial complex," and a system ravaged by waste and fraud. A lot of people want to know what's going on. Especially Senator Tom Coburn of Oklahoma who we talked to last fall, when this story first aired.

A lot of Conn's success, they say, had to do with a particularly friendly disability judge, David Daugherty, who sought out Conn's cases and approved virtually all 1,823 of them, awarding a half a billion dollars worth of lifetime benefits to Conn's clients. The decisions were based on the recommendations of a loyal group of doctors who often examined Conn's clients right in his law offices and always endorsed them for the disability rolls.

Steve Kroft: Were most of the medical reports submitted by the same doctors?

Jennifer Griffith: Yes.

Sarah Carver: Yes. Sometimes up to 13 to 20 reports a day.

Jennifer Griffith: I know on one, we counted 16 exams by the same doctor all in one day at his office.

Steve Kroft: And they were all approved?

Jennifer Griffith: They were all approved.

Steve Kroft: Were all those valid claims?

Sarah Carver: There's no way that you're going to have 100 percent of clients walk through your door and be disabled. 100 percent of claimants, there's no way......" 

Full Article and Source:
Disability, USA

North Shore "Live"- Cooper's Corner: Judicial Corruption in Illinois

Host Bev Cooper has dedicated these programs to those who are victims of Cook County Probate Court. Live broadcasts are aired in Highland Park on channel 19 Wednesday at 7:30 PM.

Source:
North Shore "Live" Cooper's Corner:  Judicial Corruption in Illinois

See Also:
North Shore "Live" Cooper's Corner BlogSpot

Utah Judge Postpones Ruling on Susan Powell Estate Dispute

The family of Josh Powell on Tuesday again asked a 3rd District Court judge to return them trustees of Josh and Susan Powell’s estate.

Judge L.A. Dever said he will issue a written ruling later, but he denied a motion from the Powell family attorney to require the Coxes to post a surety bond to safeguard against mismanagement. Dever said there was no evidence Chuck Cox, Susan Powell’s father, had thus far mismanaged any holdings.

 

The families of Josh Powell and his missing wife Susan are arguing over who should be the trustees and beneficiaries of two legal entities holding the couple’s assets: a conservatorship and a trust. The conservatorship is holding Susan Powell’s assets while she remains missing. The trust holds the joint assets of Josh and Susan Powell that were to be distributed in the event both of them died.

Together the trust and conservatorship hold about $2.3 million in life insurance proceeds, which are accumulating interest, as well as the Powell home in West Valley City.

Chuck Cox is the conservator for this daughter and used that authority to change the terms of the trust. Terrica and Alina Powell — Josh’s mother and sister, respectively — contend the terms of those agencies were illegally changed to remove them as trustees or beneficiaries.

Their Utah lawyer, Joshua Lee, said being conservator of Susan Powell’s estate does not give Cox all the powers that his daughter had, and only Susan Powell had the authority to amend the trust.

"A conservator can amend the trust only in the case of incapacity," Lee told Dever, citing the terms of the trust.

Lee also accused Cox of having a conflict of interest because he used his authority as conservator to make his wife and himself the lone trustees. Lee said Cox is "lining his own pockets."

But Cox’s attorney, Ted Buck, told Dever that Cox has an obligation to do what is best for his daughter, and much has changed since the trust was written in 2009. ''

Susan Powell, 28, disappeared from her West Valley City home on Dec. 6, 2009.

Her husband, Josh Powell, 35, was investigated by police, but never charged.

Josh Powell killed his two children and himself in 2012 at a home in Graham, Wash.

 

Full Article and Source:
Utah Judge Postpones Ruling on Susan Powell Estate Dispute

Editorial: Utah lawyer discipline balances individual rights, public responsibility

In response to recent concerns about how attorney discipline is handled, we would like to explain how the legal profession helps to ensure that lawyers in Utah practice in an ethical manner.

The Utah Constitution gives the Utah Supreme Court the responsibility to regulate the practice of law. The Utah State Bar was established in 1931 under the authority of the Utah Supreme Court to fulfill that responsibility, which includes licensing attorneys, providing continuing legal education and, when necessary, seeking the imposition of discipline.

 

Attorneys must pass an ethics exam and a character and fitness review before taking the Bar Exam. Once they have been admitted to practice, attorneys are required to follow the Utah Supreme Court’s Rules of Professional Conduct (also known as the ethics rules). In addition to following the ethics rules, Utah attorneys are subject to rules of civility and professionalism. And, of course, all attorneys are subject to the same laws and enjoy the same rights as every citizen.

The Utah Supreme Court monitors compliance with the ethics rules through the Office of Professional Conduct (OPC), which, although it is funded by Bar dues paid by attorneys, is independent of the Bar and its board of governance. The OPC reviews and investigates allegations of attorney misconduct to determine if there are grounds for discipline; the OPC also helps educate attorneys on the nuances of complying with the ethics rules.

The OPC uses the procedures established by the Utah Supreme Court’s Rules of Lawyer Discipline and Disability. The Standards for Imposing Lawyer Sanctions are used to impose any sanction following a determination that an attorney has violated the ethics rules.

 

Full Editorial and Source:
Op-ed: Utah lawyer discipline balances individual rights, public responsibility

Court: Ohio Guardian Can't Take New Cases

Franklin County Probate Court has barred a lawyer who is under criminal investigation from obtaining any new guardianship cases.

The court has held hearings the past two months asking the lawyer, Paul S. Kormanik, to explain his billing practices. They were among the potential abuses exposed in a series of stories in The Dispatch that detailed a broken system for caring for people the court has deemed incompetent to care for themselves.

The court has found in several cases that Kormanik misused a taxpayer-supported fund that pays attorney guardians up to $420 annually to handle legal matters for indigent people.

“Of the 17 cases thus far reviewed, the court found cause for concern in 16 cases,” Judge Robert G. Montgomery wrote in a court order. “Based upon the large percentage of cases with irregularities causing concern ... the court will impose a moratorium on appointing attorney Kormanik as guardian on any further cases.”

Court officials also said they are investigating several other guardians, some of them also lawyers, but declined to name specific cases.

Ohio Attorney General Mike DeWine’s office and Franklin County Prosecutor Ron O’Brien are also investigating Kormanik’s billing practices and his use of Medicaid funds. That investigation is expected to take several months.

Full Article and Source:
Court:: Guardian Can't Take New Cases

See Also:
Unguarded:  A Dispatch Series

Maryland Citizens Encouraged to Get Involved With Local Government

The Charles County Commissioners are seeking county residents to fill vacancies on the following boards, committees, and commissions:
 

Adult Public Guardianship Review Board

There are four vacancies on the 11- member Adult Public Guardianship Review Board.  One from each of the following specifications:  Physician Member; Register Pharmacist; Attorney; Health Department Psychiatrist; Non-Profit Social Services Organization Representative. 

The board provides impartial oversight of the care and services provided for the individuals under public guardianship, reviews the current status of health and welfare of these persons, and makes recommendations as to whether guardianship should be continued as established, modified, or terminated.

Source:
Citizens Encouraged to Get Involved With Local Government

Task Force Will Help Protect Elderly

Elder abuse is one of the fastest-growing crimes in our community. Whether it is financial exploitation or physical abuse, our seniors are increasingly becoming the victims of crime. As district attorney, I am committed to making sure that our seniors are protected and that those who prey on them are prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law.

According to the United States Census Bureau, during the next three decades our senior population will increase dramatically. The fastest-growing segment of our population is those 85 years old and older. In 2010, there were 5.8 million people aged 85 or older and estimates are that by 2050 there will be 19 million people in this age group.

Elder abuse is increasing. The consequences of these attacks on our seniors are devastating. Research has shown that seniors who experience modest abuse have a 300 percent higher risk of death and are more likely to have psychological issues.

The financial impact of elder abuse is enormous. Direct medical cost of violent injuries to seniors is in excess of $5.3 billion per year. The estimated financial loss to seniors who have experienced financial fraud is almost $3 billion annually.

Sadly, 90 percent of abusers are family members: an adult child, spouse, or other relative. Statistics show that these abusers have chemical addictions or simply cannot cope with their responsibilities as a caregiver. Seniors may be reluctant to report abuse because of fear of retaliation, a lack of physical or cognitive ability, or because they do not want to get the abuser in trouble.

Full Editorial and Source:
Task Force Will Help Protect Elderly

Ohio Judge Robert O. Montgomery Tries to Change Guardianship System

Franklin County Probate Judge Robert G. Montgomery has long known there were problems with the way his court handled guardianships.

Montgomery, who became the county’s probate judge in January 2011, said he was shocked to learn soon after his arrival that a handful of local lawyers serve as guardians for more than 1,000 people. Montgomery wants to end that reliance.

A guardian is appointed by the court to make decisions for a person, known as a ward, who has been declared unable to handle his or her own affairs because of age, mental illness or disability.

Guardians wield considerable power over the lives of their wards, including deciding where they live, the health care they receive and how they spend their money.

Montgomery said he has been working for more than two years to find a better way to provide guardianship services in Franklin County. That plan took a big step forward this month when he got legislative approval to create a first-of-its-kind Franklin County Guardianship Service Board, which he intends to be a collaborative effort between the court and local charities and social-services organizations.

Full Article and Source:
Judge Tries to Change Guardianship System

See Also:
Unguarded:  A Dispatch Series

Ohio Editorial: Upgrading Guardianship

Franklin County Probate Judge Robert G. Montgomery’s plan to provide better oversight of vulnerable wards — by using social workers as guardians instead of attorneys — sounds worthy. It might even provide the state with a model for reform.

But the abuse and theft that flourishes under Ohio’s guardianship system requires statewide rules and reforms to end the chaos of 88 different county systems. These courts control the lives of 65,000 elderly, ailing and disabled Ohioans, including 6,000 in Franklin County.

While some courts have commendable programs to monitor their court-appointed guardians, others are overwhelmed, neglectful or complicit in abuse. A five-part Dispatch series, “Unguarded,” found courts routinely place vulnerable Ohioans in the hands of others, often total strangers, and then fail to protect them from being locked up, forcibly drugged, mistreated and robbed. (The series is online at Dispatch.com/unguarded.)

One attorney-guardian, Kevin A. Craine of Upper Arlington, charged wards $500 to $600 to buy them a token Christmas gift. In one year, he billed one elderly woman, already paying $58,000 for nursing-home care, another $211,000 for services from a private-care company — on whose board he sits.

These were just some of the problems that The Dispatch uncovered, prompting investigations by Montgomery’s court, Ohio Attorney General Mike DeWine and Franklin County Prosecutor Ron O’Brien. And three Ohio legislators have called for hearings to prompt changes.

Judges acknowledged the system is broken, and many have tried on their own to fix it. But individual efforts are insufficient to repair a jumble of rules and practices.

“Only through a combination of legislative reform, rulemaking and the adoption of best practices will long-term changes be realized,” wrote Jonathan Fulkerson, DeWine’s deputy chief counsel, in a recent letter to Ohio Chief Justice Maureen O’Connor.

O’Connor is considering rule changes on adult guardianships, prompting the input from DeWine’s office. But the chief justice has said she is satisfied to let judges enact reforms county by county, so as to not impose a one-size-fits-all approach to vastly differing communities.

She should reconsider. Sufficient court protection for vulnerable residents shouldn’t hinge on which county they call home.

Montgomery, who took over Franklin County’s court in January 2011, isn’t waiting for further study or more guidance, according to a Dispatch story last Sunday. He got the legislature last month to change Ohio law to allow him to set up a nonprofit guardianship agency.

It would have a three-person board of directors, appointed by him and by members of the county’s Alcohol, Drug and Mental Health Board and Board of Developmental Disabilities. An executive director and social workers, as well as volunteers and interns, would care for wards.

This idea is promising, but Ohio needs a comprehensive statewide reform of its guardianship system. As the baby boomers age and more people are diagnosed with dementia — or mental illness and traumatic brain injury — our system will face even greater challenges.

Ohio should hasten to adopt standardized rules and protections for court-ordered guardianships.

Source:
Upgrading Guardianship

Keeping Ohio Seniors Safe

The Ohio House of Representatives has been working hard to pass legislation that will help some of the most vulnerable populations in our state. One of these pieces of legislation is House Bill 49, which focuses on keeping our seniors safe by combatting the abuse they may face.

Unfortunately, abuse and neglect, to the age 60-plus population, occur daily but often go unreported. In response to this, two of my colleagues introduced HB 49, also known as the Elder Justice Act. This legislation requires the Ohio Department of Job and Family Services (ODJFS) to create a registry to track elder abuse. This registry will allow for patterns and trends to be found in order to discover ways to prevent future crimes.

Through the Elder Justice Act, ODJFS is required to submit a report outlining a process to implement the registry and document the estimated cost to both the state and county Job and Family Service departments for such a project. HB 49 will also provide a program of ongoing, comprehensive training for protective service caseworkers who are required to report abuse.

In addition to the registry, HB 49 adds to the definition of elder abuse, which currently focuses on physical harm. The definition would be expanded to include abandonment and financial harm. Financial abuse, especially, is a growing problem as technologies continue to develop and criminals become more creative.

Full Article and Source:
Keeping Ohio Seniors Safe

Former Minnesotta Conservator, Stephen Grisham, Faces Federal Theft Charges

by James Eli Shiffer

As a guardian and conservator, Stephen Grisham managed the finances and lives of hundreds of Minnesotans deemed incapacitated by a judge.
Now Grisham is the latest of these court-appointed caretakers to face a criminal charge after the authorities say he embezzled from vulnerable adults under his supervision.

The company founded in 2000 by Grisham, Alternate Decision Makers Inc., handled at least 293 cases before he stepped down last summer in the face of the theft allegations.

Grisham was charged with " misappropriation by a fiduciary" via "criminal information," which is filed in anticipation of a plea deal, The document indicates the embezzlement happened between January 2012 and December 2013, and that Grisham violated laws of the Department of Veterans Affairs governing his role as a fiduciary for "veterans, beneficiaries, and other individuals who were deemed incompetent or were incapable of handling their financial affairs."

An attorney for Grisham declined to comment Wednesday. A plea hearing has not been scheduled. If convicted, Grisham faces up to five years in prison.

Full Article and Source:
Former Conservator Faces Federal Theft Charges

Missouri Association of Public Administrators

The Public Administrator's Office was actually established in 1880 by the General Assembly, State of Missouri, as an elective office, such election to be held every four years. The Office follows the statues in the Probate Code, to carryout the duties and responsibilities of the office. The Association of Public Administrators was later established in March, 1981.

 The Missouri Association of Public Administrators is made up of the County Public Administrators from each county in Missouri. These are elected positions except for Jackson County, St Charles County and the City of St Louis. The elected offices are up for election every four years.

Public Administrators serve as court appointed Personal Representatives in decedent's estates, and as guardians and/or conservators for individuals who are unable to care for themselves or their property when there is no one else to serve.

MAPA is also an advocacy group for the mentally ill, developmentally disabled, individuals with brain injury, and advanced age individuals with dementia and Alzheimer's. Many from our association serve on boards or advocate for NAMI, Department of Mental health, Brain Injury Association, and various legislative committees, working for the good of our clients.

Source:
Missouri Association of Public Administrators

Indiana Officer Keeps Job After Pushing Over Man in Wheelchair

Lafayette police officer will keep his job despite a recommendation that he be fired after video showed him knocking over a man in a motorized wheelchair.

The Oct. 1, 2013, incident involved Lieutenant Tom Davidson and 25-year-old Nicholas Kincade. Police were called to the area after receiving reports that Kincade was armed with a gun near a charter school.

Police didn’t find a firearm and said Kincade had a pocket knife that he carries for protection. School officials told officers to inform Kincade that he wasn’t welcome near the school. Police told him he could be charged with trespassing and ordered him to leave.

According to Chief Patrick J. Flannelly, Kincade started preparing his backpack and chair to leave as requested. Kincade moved forward and ran over Davidson’s foot, “at which point Lieutenant Davidson pushed Kincade and the wheelchair, causing it to tip over and Kincade to fall out and onto the street,” according to Flannelly.

Full Article, Video, and Source:
Lafayette Officer Keeps Job After Pushing Over Man in Wheelchair

AZ Court: Hospitals Can be Sued for Elder Abuse

The Arizona Supreme Court ruled Monday hospitals can be sued under special laws adopted to protect vulnerable adults, saying the elderly can be abused anywhere.

In a unanimous decision, the justices rejected arguments by attorneys for hospitals that the law was intended only to cover only places like nursing homes and similar facilities.

Chief Justice Rebecca White Berch said there is nothing in the wording of the statute to support that claim.

Berch said adopting the view of the hospitals “would thwart the legislature’s goal of protecting vulnerable adults” in adopting the 1089 Adult Protective Services Act.

She said, for example, someone is as subject to bedsores from not being turned regularly in a hospital or a nursing home.

“Nothing in APSA indicates legislative intent to protect vulnerable adults from abuse, neglect or exploitation only when they are housed in particular facilities.”

Shannon Clark, an attorney for one of the survivor families in one of the two cases at issue, said the ruling is very important.

“It really does confirm that this is supposed to have a broad, remedial effect,” he said.

But the ruling also has immediate financial effects: It means that hospitals found negligent under the law could end up facing larger jury verdicts.

Monday’s ruling addresses two separate cases that now may go back to trial.

One was brought by the survivors of Helen Wyatt, who was a patient at Phoenix Baptist Hospital, where she received 350 medications and medical interventions from doctors, nurses, technicians and therapists.

The other suit was brought by survivors of Karl Kuhfuss Jr. who underwent three surgeries at John C. Lincoln Hospital and got postsurgical care there.

In both situations, the survivors contend the care their family members received violated the Adult Protective Services Act. But in both cases, trial judges threw out those claims, saying hospitals are exempt.

Among the contentions of the hospitals was that the law specifically applies only to facilities that “provide care” to vulnerable adults. They argued that the hospital “provide treatment,” which is something different.

Full Article and Source:
Court:  Hospitals Can Be Sued for Elder Abuse

Former District Court Judge Angus McGinty Speaks for the First Time Since Indictment

A former district court judge is speaking for the first time since being indicted on 15 federal charges of corruption.

Angus McGinty had his first appearance today in federal court.

The charges against him stem from allegations made by former defense attorney Albert Acevedo.

Yami Virgin spoke to McGinty after his court hearing.

For those of us who have covered cases with Angus McGinty its a bit ironic to see the former judge on the other side of the bench.  Next to him other men charged of committing crimes against the United States of America.

In his suit instead of a robe, the former judge sat today in federal court next to three other shackled defendants.

McGinty faces 15 charges related to courthouse corruption stemming from allegations and recordings the FBI collected with the help of former defense attorney Albert Acevedo.

Charges of wire fraud, conspiracy to commit bribery, commission of bribery and extortion allegedly in exchange for more lenient sentences for Acevedos' clients.

Immediately following the court proceedings McGinty chose to make his first public statement since this case was made public earlier this year.

"I am not guilty.  Keep me and my family please in your prayers.  Thank you."

In May, Acevedo plead guilty and accepted a deal with the U.S. Attorney's office.

Full Article and Source:
Former Judge Speaks Out on Corruption Charges

See Also:
Former Bexar Co. Judge Indicted on Bribery, Extortion, Fraud Charges

11 Lawyers Disciplined in South Florida

The  Florida Supreme Court disciplined 11 South Florida attorneys in recent actions brought by the Florida Bar. Five were disbarred, four suspended and two reprimanded.

Full Article, Names of Attorneys and Source:
Attorney Discipline:  11 Punished in South Florida

Tonight on T.S. Radio: Corruption in the Court: The Hunting of Seniors and the Disabled

Tonight's show will start with a discussion on civil rights vs natural (constitutional) rights.  Also called [civil liberties] the difference is major.  Also, Cary-Andrew Crittendon will be calling in with an update on the retaliation against George Williams, by the court.

Later:
Across the country our seniors and disabled adults are targeted by predatory guardians who operate through probate and family courts.  Anyone can be targeted for committing the new age crime of [aging with assets].  Assets that predator fiduciary's have decided should belong to them.  The system of legalized theft is facilitated by having the victim declared incompetent to handle their own affairs.

Many active and vibrant seniors are declared incompetent or incapacitated by unethical doctors and psychiatrists who many times have never even seen the victim.  The same doctors and psychiatrists are used routinely by the courts and the predators as they can be depended upon to write whatever diagnosis is desired.

Please join us as we take another look at the horrendous system put in place to loot the estates of unsuspecting elders who though they had their estates well planned.

5:00 pm PST … 6:00 pm MST … 7:00 pm CST … 9:00 pm EST

LISTEN LIVE or listen to the archive later

Private "Guardians" Jared E. Shafer and Patience Bristol Sue Blind Man for Libel

On April 10, 2014, private “guardians” Jared Shafer, his former employee Patience Bristol, Shafer’s business Professional Fiduciary Services of Nevada (PFSN Inc.), PFSN office manager Amy Deittrick, Deittrick’s AVID BUSINESS SERVICES, their attorneys Mark Solomon, Dana Dwiggins, Alan Freer, and Robert Simpson, and CPAs Bruce Gamett and Shawn King filed a civil libel lawsuit against Charles Pascal who has been blind since birth.

Plaintiff Patience Bristol is now serving 3 - 8 years in Nevada State Prison for ripping off Shafer’s elderly wards.  Plaintiffs Gamett, King and Shafer in 2009 were Defendants accused by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission of participating in a “Ponzi Scheme” that “fraudulently offered and sold approximately $180 million in unregistered notes to more than 800 investors, many of whom were senior citizens.” After being named as Defendants, Shafer, Gamet, and King agreed to return a portion of their commissions in order to escape prosecution.

Shafer, PFSN Inc., Bristol, Deittrick, and AVID BUSINESS SERVICES, are defendants in another civil lawsuit filed on May 1, 2014, by one of PFSN’s former wards who claims she was robbed of over $450,000.00 while she was under PFSN’s control.

Despite Shafer, Bristol, Gamett, and King’s own brushes with the law, they proclaim that their professional reputations have been damaged by Pascal and others who allegedly wrote derogatory Internet articles about them and their involvement in court appointed Nevada guardianships.

Source:
Private "Guardians" Jared E. Shafer and Patience Bristol Sue Blind Man for Libel

See Also:
NASGA:Marcy E. Dudeck: Nevada/California Victim

New Jersey Wants to Take an Elderly Man's Home for a Casino That Went Bankrupt Twice

A glitzy casino once praised as a way to revitalize Atlantic City has filed for bankruptcy. Again.
Currently losing $2 million a week, the Revel Casino Hotel filed for bankruptcy last week. With almost $450 million in debt but only $9 million in cash, Revel said it would shut down if they don’t find a buyer. An auction date for the beleaguered casino is tentatively scheduled for August 6, 2014.

Despite Revel’s two bankruptcies, New Jersey is still trying to use eminent domain to benefit the casino. Charlie Birnbaum, a piano tuner for casinos in Atlantic City (and who once tuned for Sinatra), is fighting to save his family home from the Casino Reinvestment Development Authority (CRDA).

His walk-up apartment near the boardwalk has been in the Birnbaum family since 1969.

But instead of respecting Charlie’s property rights, CRDA wants to take his home and bulldoze it to make way for a “mixed-use development.” According to CRDA documents, that development would “complement the new Revel Casino and assist with the demands created by the resort.” Those demands won’t even exist if Revel shuts its doors. Nor has CRDA actually said what the development plans would be. In May, the Institute for Justice filed a lawsuit challenging CRDA’s unconstitutional abuse of eminent domain.

Full Article and Source:
New Jersey Wants to Take an Elderly Man's Home for a Casino That Went Bankrupt Twice

California Disbarments for July 2014

CRAIG T. WORMLEY

STANLEY LEWIS EVANS

JENNIFER MARIE URQUIZA

RAYMOND ORTIZ BUENDIA

CARL WILLIAM NYMAN

MATTHEW HOWARD POWELL

DIANE M. TRZCINSKI

BRYAN CHARLES BECKER

Full Article, Additional Information, and Source:
California Bar Journal