Allegations of theft and misconduct against a local attorney now charged with exploitation stretch back at least 17 years, to before the earliest cases for which he was recently charged, court documents show.
Kenneth Anderson, of McCracken County, who has frequently been appointed as a guardian in cases of disabled persons, was indicted Friday on a total of 31 counts of stealing from and exploiting adults as far back as 2006.
But in a federal lawsuit filed in 2007 and dismissed on technical and jurisdictional grounds, a veteran argued Anderson stole tens of thousands of dollars from his military pension when Anderson served as the man’s guardian between 2002 and 2005.
Anderson and his wife, Gina Anderson, were both indicted Friday in McCracken County, on 25 counts of knowing exploitation of an adult of more than $300, five counts of theft by failure to make required disposition of property over $10,000 and one count of theft by failure to make required disposition of property over $1,000 but less than $10,000.
The two are scheduled to appear Dec. 22 in McCracken County Circuit Court.
Kenneth Anderson also currently faces a criminal charge in Ballard County of abuse or neglect of an adult. A pretrial conference is scheduled in that case for March.
Among the initials and timeframes specified in the McCracken indictment, Anderson does not appear to be charged with the offenses alleged by Joe Browder, who filed the federal lawsuit against Anderson and others.
Browder, who was incarcerated at the time, alleged in the lawsuit filed in U.S. District Court in Paducah, that Anderson, while serving as payee for Browder’s accounts, had stolen tens of thousands of dollars from Browder and falsified paperwork to cover his tracks. Browder also claimed that he had been found incompetent and appointed a guardian wrongfully.
Browder alleged in the suit that Anderson stole more than $36,000 in 2005 alone, in part by misrepresenting property purchases and life insurance payments.
Browder claimed the thefts represented civil rights violations, as well as violations of state law, the Americans with Disabilities Act and the Hate Crimes Act.
Browder claimed in the lawsuit that he first noticed a problem when his Veterans Affairs pension payments started coming sporadically to the Daviess County Detention Center.
A letter from the Department of Veterans Affairs filed as evidence in the case, which came in response to Browder’s request for a change in fiduciary, claims that Anderson “has performed his functions on your behalf in a proper manner,” and determined a change in fiduciary was not warranted. Browder claimed Anderson had given the Department of Veterans Affairs and the Kentucky Bar Association false information related to the complaint.
The lawsuit was dismissed due to the determination that Browder didn’t state a claim for which the court could grant relief.
Anderson in his voicemail message refers to himself as “public guardian for the Western District of Kentucky.” Statutes governing the appointment of conservators or guardians allow “any suitable person or any entity, public or private, capable of conducting an active guardianship or conservatorship program” to be appointed when a person has been declared disabled.
Though administrators are appointed by local courts, U.S. District Judge Thomas Russell said in his opinion ordering the lawsuit dismissed that most courts have “found that guardians are not state actors … because they are acting in the interests of an individual and not the state.”
Russell said the U.S. Constitution “does not apply to the conduct of private persons; it applies to conduct by the government.”
The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit declined to hear Browder’s appeal.
The Office of Kentucky Attorney General Daniel Cameron investigated the McCracken criminal case, and is handling the prosecution.
Cameron’s office declined to comment on the investigation.
Anderson did not return calls seeking comment Wednesday.
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Attorney and wife accused of exploiting vulnerable adults
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