Son pleads with father in Macomb County court to account for trust-fund spending

Fred Smith, Sr.

By Jameson Cook

Fred Smith’s son traveled from out of state to Macomb County to plead with his father to comply with a judge’s order to account for millions of dollars in his mother’s trust fund.

The son, Fred Smith Jr., told his father at a Dec. 16 Macomb County Probate Court hearing, “Sure, you made savvy business decisions on the front end of this to generate the trust, the value of the trust. And there was poor decisions made. You have to provide an accounting.

“It’s tearing mom apart. I hate to leave you in jail.”

Smith Jr., choking back tears, told Judge Sandra Harrison: “This whole matter has just torn up our family. We just need to move forward in this case.”

Fred Smith Sr., 73, remains incarcerated over the holidays after he was jailed Oct. 17 for failing to provide a credible accounting of roughly $6 million of his mother’s money. He was the trustee for a decade ending in 2015.

The case is under investigation by the Macomb County Sheriff’s Office.

Smith Jr., a captain in the Navy, told Judge Sandra Harrison he will pay for an accountant to help his father provide bank and other records of how the money was spent.

Smith Sr.’s elderly mother, Shelby Steves Smith, previously told her son in court she loves him and told the judge at the Dec. 16 hearing from her wheelchair: “I’ll do what I need to do to clear this up, but it seems to me a lot of things have been done that should not have been done, and I don’t know how to handle that.”

Shelby Smith resides in a Romeo nursing home while she waits for her Washington Township home to be renovated to be wheelchair accessible.

Harrison at the hearing decided to keep Smith Sr. jailed until at least a Jan. 3 hearing and granted a petition by his mother’s guardian and conservator, George Heitmanis, to surcharge him $4.7 million, the minimum amount of money for which Smith Sr. that officials say has failed to account. She also awarded what is known as “treble” damages that triples the amount to more than $14 million.

Judge Sandra Harrison of Macomb County Probate Court

Harrison said she had been leaning toward releasing him but was displeased that Smith appeared to lie to her at a Nov. 25 hearing when he said he had only one storage unit at two separate storage facilities. Officials learned he or a family member was renting four additional units at one of the facilities.

“Because you perjured yourself the last time we were here and you continue to attempt to hide (assets) and because you have made no progress on filing this accounting, I am going to keep you in jail,” Harrison said from the bench.

Smith Sr. responded: “It’s virtually impossible for me to complete the fudiciary reports while incarcerated.”

He complained he has very limited resources at the jail and must write with stubby pencils.

Smith Sr., a Vietnam veteran, has denied wrongful spending, noting he has his own income to spend, $7,000 per month in Navy retirement, military disability and Social Security; the Social Security is currently suspended while he is in jail.

He has accused Heitmanis of making “vicious attacks on my character and credibility.”

He said he would like transcripts to court hearings so he can refute, “line by line,” the “falsehoods” and “inaccuracies” by Heitmanis, who took over as guardian more than two years ago from attorney Terry Gilsenan.

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Son pleads with father in Macomb County court to account for trust-fund spending 

See Also:
Man jailed by Macomb judge for failing to disclose trust-fund spending, denies wrongdoing