A Knoxville woman has been arrested and charged with theft and willful abuse and neglect of her 81-year-old Clarksville uncle.
Constance
Porter, 56, who was entrusted with the man’s finances and personal
care, reportedly had been making charges and transactions with her
uncle’s personal account without permission prior to abandoning his
care.
An agent with the Adult
Protective Services Association alerted Clarksville Police to the
alleged exploitation of the man’s bank account, according to the
affidavit.
Porter was the authorized user for the victim’s bank account, but was to use the account specifically to benefit him.
An investigation revealed the man’s bank
account had been charged several times by Clarksville Enterprise
Rent-A-Car, according to court records.
Porter reportedly rented a vehicle in September 2019 making approximately $2,469 worth of transactions from the same account.
After
a trip to Knoxville, Porter allegedly abandoned her duty as caretaker,
but other family members stepped in and were able to replace her.
On Wednesday, Jan. 5, Porter was arrested and booked into the Montgomery County Jail on a $10,000 bond.
She’s been charged with auto theft and willful abuse, neglect or exploitation of the elderly.
Debt relief, restitution, will go to Washington borrowers impacted by Navient’s deceptive practices
SEATTLE — Attorney General Bob Ferguson today
announced that, as a result of his lawsuit, student loan servicer
Navient will provide nearly $45 million in debt relief, restitution and
costs to resolve Washington’s lawsuit. Ferguson asserted Navient, the
Sallie Mae offshoot that was then the nation’s largest student loan
servicer, engaged in numerous unfair and deceptive practices harming
Washington student loan borrowers.
Extend more than $35 million in debt relief, erasing the remaining
debt of more than 1,400 Washingtonians who took out certain private
student loans between 2002 and 2014 — an average of about $25,000 per
person;
Pay $2.3 million in restitution to approximately 8,900 Washington
borrowers enrolled in forbearance for an extended period of time between
2009 and 2017; and
Pay $7 million to Washington to cover costs from the complex,
multiyear investigation and litigation, along with future enforcement of
the state’s Consumer Protection Act.
Washingtonians do not need to take any action to receive these benefits.
Borrowers receiving private loan debt cancellation will receive a
notice from Navient, and they will receive refunds of any payments made
on those loans after June 30, 2021. Washingtonians who are eligible for a
restitution payment will receive a postcard in the mail from the
Attorney General’s settlement administrator in the next several months.
Federal student loan borrowers who may be eligible for a restitution
payment are encouraged to update their contact information in their
studentaid.gov account or create an account if they do not already have
one.
Borrowers who will receive restitution or debt relief span all
generations: Navient’s harmful conduct impacted everyone from students
who enrolled in colleges and universities immediately after high school
to mid-career students who dropped out after enrolling in a for-profit
school in the early 2000s.
“Higher education should not equal a lifelong debt sentence — and
student loan corporations do not have the right to deceive
Washingtonians in order to maximize their profits,” Ferguson said. “We
are holding the country’s largest student loan servicer accountable,
achieving hard-fought corporate reforms, and helping repair the damage
they did to Washington borrowers. We will continue fighting to prevent
the financial abuse of Washington students overburdened with debt.”
Forbearance was easy for Navient, bad for borrowers
Navient will pay restitution to Washington students it enrolled in
forbearance instead of fully explaining the benefits of income-driven
repayment plans. Navient unfairly pushed borrowers into forbearance,
which was good for the company because it was simple and cheap, but
resulted in long-term harm to most borrowers. Forbearance allowed
borrowers to suspend payments temporarily, but their interest continued
to accumulate. When repayment resumed, the accumulated interest would be
added to the loan principal, meaning borrowers ended up paying interest
on their initial interest. Unlike forbearance, income-driven plans
offer the possibility of loan forgiveness after 20 or 25 years of
qualifying payments, and can provide valuable interest subsidies. Under
income-driven plans, payments can be as low as $0 per month.
Today’s consent decree will apply to thousands of Washingtonians:
Approximately 847 Washingtonians who, from 2002 to 2014, took out
subprime private student loans, and had delinquent payments for more
than seven consecutive months prior to June 30, 2021. Any remaining
balances on these loans will be canceled.
Approximately 717 Washingtonians who, from 2002 to 2014, took out
non-subprime private student loans to attend certain private, for-profit
colleges (including ITT, DeVry, Corinthian Colleges and University of
Phoenix), and who had delinquent payments for more than seven
consecutive months prior to June 30, 2021. Any remaining balances on
these loans will be canceled.
Washingtonians who contacted Navient due to long-term financial
hardships with their non-Parent PLUS federal student loans, and were
enrolled into forbearance for an extended period of time. The
approximately 8,900 eligible student borrowers can expect to receive a
check of around $260 in the coming months.
Today’s consent decree also contains extensive injunctive terms to
prevent Navient from engaging in similar harmful conduct in the future.
It also requires Navient to notify borrowers of the U.S. Department
of Education’s important recent changes to the Public Service Loan
Forgiveness (PSLF) program, which offers millions of qualifying public
employees a waiver that may count past payments or periods of repayment
toward loan forgiveness.
Ferguson encourages all Washington residents who work in the government or non-profit sectors to review the PSLF website or consult the Washington Student Loan Advocate’s website to determine whether they might qualify for loan forgiveness.
Student loan borrowers with questions or complaints about their
student loans can contact the office of the Washington’s Student Loan
Advocate by using the Washington student complaint portal at studentcomplaints.wa.gov.
On Oct. 20, 2021, Navient transferred its servicing of 5.6 million
loans owned by the U.S. Department of Education to a company named
Maximus, which will service loans under the brand name AidVantage.
Following completion of this transfer, Navient will continue to service
its existing portfolio of private student loans and legacy Federal
Family Education Loans issued before the program ended in 2010.
Nationwide relief
Ferguson, along with the Attorneys General for Illinois,
Pennsylvania, California, Massachusetts, Ohio and North Carolina, as
well as the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB), led an
investigation into Navient’s business practices. Ferguson, the Illinois
Attorney General and the CFPB filed the initial lawsuits against Navient
on the same day in January 2017, then other states followed.
Under the terms of the settlement, Navient will cancel the remaining
balance on nearly $1.7 billion in certain private student loan balances
owed by 66,000 borrowers nationwide in 39 states. In addition, Navient
will pay $142.5 million to 32 state attorneys general. In addition,
Navient will alert consumer credit bureaus to reflect the debt
cancellation on the borrowers’ and co-signers’ credit reports, and
refund certain payments sent after June 30, 2021.
Ferguson’s lawsuit first to result in a judge ruling against Navient
Ferguson’s lawsuit asserted that Navient deceptively promoted a
“co-signer release” feature of private loans to entice family and
friends to co-sign loans. However, Navient put up barriers to obtaining
co-signer release without informing consumers in advance, and failed to
disclose that very few borrowers ever achieved co-signer release.
In March 2021, King County Superior Court Judge Veronica Galván ruled that Navient violated the state’s Consumer Protection Act
with its unfair and deceptive conduct related to this program. It was
the first time a judge ruled that Navient broke a consumer protection
law in a student loan servicing lawsuit filed by a state’s Attorney
General or federal consumer protection agency.
The lawsuit also asserted Navient engaged in additional illegal business practices:
Made subprime, predatory loans to students attending for-profit
colleges with low graduation rates, despite its own expectations that a
very high percentage of borrowers would not be able to repay those
loans;
Committed unfair and deceptive acts by offering financially
distressed student borrowers a forbearance instead of informing them of
the terms and benefits of federal income-driven repayment plans;
Failed to inform those borrowers who chose repayment programs based
on their income that they had a yearly obligation to re-certify their
income and family size;
Misapplied borrower payments, and failed to provide a way for
borrowers to submit standing instructions for how to allocate excess
payments; and
Trained its agents to deceptively ask borrowers to pay an amount
that included the next upcoming regular payment, without clarifying this
was not necessary to fix a delinquency.
Assistant Attorneys General Julia Doyle, Heidi Anderson, Craig Rader,
Kathleen Box, Seann Colgan, Tad Robinson-O’Neill, Daniel Allen, Joe
Kanada, Mina Shahin and Audrey Udashen; investigators Lourdes Fuentes,
Victoria Suner, Rebecca Hartsock, Anton Forbes and Christopher Welch;
paralegals Javier Trasvina, Kelli Goins and Amanda Bartling; and legal
assistants Michelle Paules, Christopher Kiefer, Joshua Bennett, Kristina
Winfield and Serina Clark handled the case for the Attorney General’s
Office.
Former Senior Assistant Attorneys General Trisha McArdle and Shannon
Smith, and former Assistant Attorney General Benjamin Roesch also worked
on the case, but have since left the Attorney General’s Office.
Ferguson’s focus on reforming student borrowing
Ferguson proposed the Student Loan Transparency Act in
2017 as Attorney General-request legislation. The act requires schools
to provide students basic information on their student loans. The bill
passed overwhelmingly in the House with a bipartisan vote and
unanimously in the Senate.
In 2018, the Legislature passed the Student Loan Bill of Rights,
which Ferguson requested to provide vital protections to Washington
state’s student borrowers. The law created a dedicated student loan
advocate to help students navigate the murky world of loan servicers and
adopted standards for student loan servicers. The law also provided
students with basic guarantees: Student loan servicers must credit
borrowers’ payments within one business day, respond to requests for
information promptly in writing and refund fees assessed in error, among
other standards.
Ferguson has previously obtained millions of dollars in debt relief for thousands of student borrowers who attended for-profit colleges that used misleading and deceptive recruitment practices.
He has also recovered almost $1.6 million cracking down on debt
adjustment companies that charge fees to help borrowers consolidate
their federal student loans and enroll in income-driven repayment plans —
tasks that borrowers’ loan servicers can and should help them with free
of charge.
To assist student loan borrowers in Washington, the Attorney General's Office has compiled a Student Loan Survival Guide.
This guide provides tips and links to resources to help high school
students thinking about attending college, former college students who
are not able to keep up with their payments, parents of students and
everyone in between.
The Winona County Attorney's Office recently charged a
53-year-old Altura woman with four counts of financially exploiting a
vulnerable adult.
Jodi Marie Schilling allegedly
received thousands of dollars in loans and checks from a Winona
community member she provided services to as a home health care worker.
According to the criminal complaint, Schilling started to provide
services to the victim in 2018. She then repeatedly asked the victim to
take out a loan for her, according to the complaint, and the victim did
so as the victim “felt bad” for Schilling. The victim took out this loan
at a bank in Winona around September 2018, investigators wrote.
Schilling then allegedly asked the victim to take out several other
loans, according to the complaint, and the victim ultimately did so and
gave the money to her.
Then, in May 2021, the victim received a $4,000 loan from
another Winona bank, according to the complaint, and gave the money to
Schilling after she asked for it.
Meanwhile, the victim
also wrote Schilling eight checks totaling $9,340 between January 2019
and July 2021, after Schilling asked for the funds, according to the
complaint.
"Tonight on TS Radio (at 7:00 pm EST) we are asking that anyone who may have information on the whereabouts of David Italiano, resident of Pennsylvania, who has been seized in an unnecessary guardianship and disappeared in the system, please contact us. David has been isolated in an undisclosed location for unknown reasons.
PA, like many states, is quick to rush to guardianship vs. less restrictive ways to support a person. We have worked with many groups to find assistance to help David Italiano.
We reached out to the local Ombudsman for help but were told that there was a guardian and there was little that the Ombudsman could do.
We escalated our conversation to Margaret Barajas, the PA State Long Term Care Ombudsman. We had multiple meetings with her that went nowhere. We met with her supervisor, PA Sec. of Aging, Mr. Robert Torres, to request his office facilitate a meeting with the guardian.
We filed complaints with the PA Office of Civil Rights but with no signed release from David, they would not act.
We had the same response from the Federal Office of Civil Rights,
We have reached out to PA State Rep Jeff Wheeland for help. Like many of the others, he would not get involved due to their being a guardian.
We contacted Senator Robert Casey’s office to request help. Both Senator Casey and his policy person for the Elderly and Disabled population, Michael Gamel-McCormick agree that the guardianship system is badly broken, there was nothing that they could offer in the way of help. Senator Casey is drafting legislation to be introduced to the 118th congress to address systemic changes that are needed to protect people from unnecessary guardianship."
There are glaring problems within the Florida guardianship system, and we must fix them.
by Ken Burke
Britney Spears supporters celebrate outside a hearing
concerning the pop singer's conservatorship at the Stanley Mosk
Courthouse, Friday, Nov. 12, 2021, in Los Angeles. A Los Angeles judge
ended the conservatorship that has controlled Spears' life and money for
nearly 14 years. (AP Photo/Chris Pizzello) [ CHRIS PIZZELLO | AP ]
Ignited by the movement to free Britney Spears from her
conservatorship, the issues and challenges within guardianship systems
across the nation became uncharacteristically mainstream this past year.
A week seldom passes without a new article highlighting the personal
adversity of victims — both individuals under guardianship and their
family members — who have suffered or are enduring hardships within the
system.
Ken Burke [ Provided ]
As
Clerks of Court in Florida, we have a role in processing and auditing
guardianships. The courts maintain oversight of guardianship proceedings
to ensure the overall health, safety and well-being of individuals
under guardianship, and clerks monitor these proceedings on behalf of
the courts. As an administrative function, Clerks of Court also audit
annual reporting on individuals under guardianship, which include any
property submitted to the courts, and advise on the audit findings.
While most guardians work in good faith, there are far too
many cases of guardians abusing their power. The most notorious example
of abuse is the case of a former guardian in Central Florida named
Rebecca Fierle.
Fierle oversaw hundreds of individuals
who were entrusted by the court to her care. In 2019, she was arrested
and charged with abuse and neglect related to the death of an individual
under her guardianship for whom she had signed a Do Not Resuscitate
order for without the court’s consent. It was later discovered she had
collected $4 million in fees not approved by the court system and is
accused of extravagantly overcharged clients for her guardianship
services.
Rebecca Fierle[ Marion County jail ]
There
are glaring problems within the Florida guardianship system that cause
this unnecessary pain, and these challenges within the system need to be
addressed. Last year, Clerks of Court and various stakeholder agencies
and organizations with a direct interest or involvement with Florida’s
guardianship system joined together to form the Guardianship Improvement
Task Force to put forward recommendations for the Florida Legislature
and Florida courts to consider as ways to improve the system. I served
as the group’s chairperson.
Members drew upon their professional and personal life experiences to
enrich the work of the task force, which facilitated meaningful
discussion by membership and inspired passionate contributions from the
public at each meeting. With the objective of providing effective
feedback for the Legislature’s use prior to the 2022 session, the task
force held to a quick timeline for completion. In less than four months,
over the course of two in-person meetings and seven virtual meetings,
we identified and discussed dozens of topics of concern involving
Florida’s guardianship system.
Without question, the most significant issue this task force
discussed and agreed upon was a means to improve what data is available
to document problems within the guardianship system in Florida. Even
basic information such as the number of people under guardianship, the
number of guardians, how many cases each guardian has, how much money
and property are under the control of guardians, and who the individuals
are under guardianship, is not readily available.
I
personally know of one egregious case where a guardian was removed from
their eight guardianships in Pinellas County for misconduct, yet they
were appointed to a guardianship examining committee in another circuit
in the state. This happened because the judge had no way of knowing they
were removed from their former role in Pinellas. Establishing a secure,
transparent statewide database will help us uncover the flaws within
the system, allow us to make better decisions, provide additional
accountability, increase transparency, and lead to better protections
for people within the guardianship system.
The recommendation for a statewide data collection system is captured in House Bill 1349 by Rep. Linda Chaney and Senate Bill 1710
by Sen. Jennifer Bradley. While we hope the other recommendations
outlined in our report will lead to tangible future changes to the
guardianship system, this legislation will have an immediate and
substantial positive impact.
While there are many
important issues for the Legislature to consider this session, few are
more critical than improving protections for our most vulnerable
populations. With the introduction of this bill, legislators can take
the first steps in fixing Florida’s broken guardianship system. If you
care about protecting individuals under guardianship and want to see
Florida build a better system, I urge you to call, write or email your
state senator and representative.
There’s a famous quote
attributed to Mahatma Gandhi: “A society is judged not by how it takes
care of its most gifted individuals, but those who are the most
vulnerable.” The Guardianship Improvement Task Force has done a
tremendous amount of legwork to get us here today, and we’ve provided a
worthy roadmap for corrective action to take better care of children,
seniors, and individuals with special needs. Please support this
legislation because we know it will make a difference.
Ken Burke is the Pinellas County Clerk of Circuit Court and Comptroller. He led Guardianship Improvement Task Force.
The state Supreme Court has
indefinitely suspended the law license of former legislator Victor
Marshall after finding he violated the judicial Code of Conduct by
filing a frivolous charge, defaming a judge and engaging in conduct
detrimental to the administration of justice.
“I’m sorry; I can’t talk to the press because of the court’s ruling,” Marshall, who practiced law for more than 45 years without previous sanction, said Thursday.
The
Supreme Court’s ruling — announced by Chief Justice Michael Vigil
following oral arguments Wednesday and formalized in writing Thursday —
is in response to a motion the lawyer filed in a decadeslong dispute
over water in the San Juan River basin and a related news release he
sent to media.
In the motion,
Marshall said a settlement in the case — which awarded more than 600,000
acre-feet of water in the basin to the Navajo Nation — should be set
aside because, he alleged, now-retired Judge James Wechsler failed to
disclose he had once worked for the Navajo Nation before approving the
2013 deal.
Wechsler had worked
not for the Navajo Nation itself but for an outfit called DNA, a
nonprofit legal aid organization, in the 1970s, according to information
provided by the Administrative Office of the Courts in 2018.
Much of the discussion during oral arguments on the disciplinary action centered on the language Marshall used in his pleading.
“Our
concern is not so much he made a claim that Wechsler had a conflict,”
Supreme Court Justice Julie Vargas said, “but the way that he made it.”
Vargas
said Marshall implied Wechsler intentionally concealed his relationship
with the Navajo Nation, ignored the law and “fixed” the case in favor
of his former clients.
The
Supreme Court’s Disciplinary Panel stated in written findings, adopted
by the court, Marshall’s conduct “was intentional and threatened serious
harm to the integrity of the legal system” as well as causing a
distraction and delay in the case.
Marshall’s attorney Jeff Baker told the
court his client’s word choice may have been poor, but he was merely
being a zealous advocate on behalf of his clients — a group of Northern
New Mexico water districts — and shouldn’t be disciplined for asking for
the case to be stayed while he investigated “rumors” he’d heard around
the Legislature about Wechsler’s previously undisclosed relationship
with the Navajo Nation.
“It all
goes back to Mr. Marshall’s unfortunate use of the word ‘fixed,’ ”
Baker argued. “That was too harsh of a word … but it’s not the kind of
thing that ought to result in a lawyer losing his license for an
indefinite period of time.”
Marshall
said his words — particularly a passage in which he said the public
might wonder whether Wechsler had fixed the case — were being
misconstrued and he’d carefully chosen the language to comport with a
rule that requires judges to disqualify themselves when their
impartiality might “reasonably” be questioned.
“I do know how to accuse a judge of actually fixing a case if I wanted to,” Marshall told the court. “But I didn’t.”
The
disciplinary panel disagreed, noting in written findings “an
objectively reasonable person would not ‘wonder whether’ Judge Wechsler
‘fixed the case’ in favor of the Navajo Nation based upon his work as a
staff attorney for DNA legal Services roughly forty-five years prior.”
The
panel had originally contemplated disciplining Marshall via a public
censure, according to written findings, but decided his lack of
contrition warranted a harsher penalty.
“The
panel has substantial concern [because (Marshall) continues to deny
that he did anything improper and displays no remorse and] that
[Marshall] could engage in similar conduct in the future unless [his]
conduct has serious repercussions,” according to panel.
Former
Foundation for Open Government executive board member Susan Boe said
Thursday the group did not agree with the Supreme Court’s decision.
“We’re disappointed on both a policy level and certainly personally for Victor,” Boe said. “It’s a pretty harsh punishment.”
Marshall — who has represented The New Mexican
— will be eligible to request reinstatement of his license after one
year, according to the Supreme Court’s order. But he first must complete
four hours of continuing education credits and take the Multistate
Professional Responsibility Examination and pass with a score of at
least 80 before doing so, according to the order.
Jonathan Marchand, a 43-year-old man living with muscular dystrophy,
protested in a cage near the Québec legislature, in Québec City, on Aug.
13, 2020.
THE CANADIAN PRESS/Mathieu Belanger
While LTC is often considered to be a necessary institution to
support the complex medical care needs of seniors, LTC facilities are
used to warehouse disabled people who require 24-hour care, regardless of age.
And nationalizing LTC fails to adequately resolve the ableism of
warehousing disabled people, ultimately maintaining the unjust and
inadequate structures of care.
It’s time to dismantle and replace the LTC system with
deinstitutional options that prioritize the flourishing of disabled
people and meet the complex care needs of older and younger disabled
people outside the confines of institutions.
Warehousing disabled people
At the forefront of the call to abolish LTC facilities in Canada is the Disability Justice Network of Ontario,
a disability-run organization based out of Hamilton that advocates for
accessible and fulfilling living conditions for disabled people.
They are also calling on leaders to support the nationalization of
home care, palliative care, pharmacare and accessible housing that would
give disabled younger and older people the option to choose where and
how to live in the community with fully funded supports.
The government’s ongoing reliance to confine intellectually,
developmentally and physically disabled young people in LTC facilities
has been met with protest by the system’s young disabled occupants who
demand deinstitutionalization — like Jonathan Marchand in Québec, Vicky Levack in Nova Scotia and Tyson Sylvester in Manitoba.
In June 2018, Sylvester
constructed a prison cell in downtown Winnipeg to protest the way in
which the Manitoba care system “locked him out of his own life.”
Marchand similarly camped out in a makeshift cage on the lawn of
Québec’s National Assembly in August 2020, and in August 2021 was able
to move into his own apartment after receiving in-home support.
Vicky Levack is a spokeswoman for the Disability Rights Coalition.THE CANADIAN PRESS/Michael Tutton
In addition to the urgent calls for change coming from young disabled
people caged in LTC institutions, the deplorable living and working
conditions of LTC facilities in Canada has also been well documented in
over 150 scathing reports.
The scope of death recorded in LTC facilities
during the pandemic is yet another marker of the system’s inability to
provide the necessary care and support for its wide-ranging clients.
However, the harm experienced by older and younger disabled people who
continue to live in these spaces deserves action as much as
condemnation.
Prisons by a different name
Nationalizing LTC, sometimes referred to as publicizing the system,
would undoubtedly take profits out of LTC and may create system-wide
changes to improve residents’ conditions. However, these calls ignore
the fundamental character of LTC facilities as an extension of the carceral state, essentially prisons by a different name.
For example, LTC facilities frequently use carceral mechanisms of control such as the use of psychotropic medication, locking residents in their rooms and the use of physical restraints.
Residents are not able to choose what and when they eat, when they
wake up or bathe, or when they can have visitors. LTC institutions seek
to maximize resident surveillance and control while minimizing staffing
costs.
In order to create a national home care program, workers need higher
pay, job security and robust benefits. When working conditions are poor,
staff shortages will occur whether due to low pay, precarious hours and
physically demanding work, or because of workplace injury or illness
(as with workplace COVID-19 exposure).
Staffing shortages mean that disabled people do not receive adequate or consistent care,
resulting in malnutrition, dehydration or untreated bed sores.
Abolishing LTC is about establishing better working and living
conditions for both care workers and disabled people.
Philosopher Shelley Tremain refers to publicly owned nursing homes as the “window-dressing” of the nursing home industrial complex that “operates in the service of ableism, ageism and racism.”
It is clear that regardless of ownership — by private corporations or
public agencies — the warehousing, caging and incarcerating of older
and younger disabled people is an act of violence.
We must support disabled people’s call to abolish LTC and develop a
national home care, palliative care and pharmacare system that robustly
funds and prioritizes disabled older and younger people’s desire to live
in community.
Media contact: Lynsey Mukomel 517-599-2746
Public inquiries: 517-335-7622
January 12, 2022
LANSING - Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel
released the Elder Abuse Task Force's latest newsletter this morning,
which highlights the important work that continues to protect our
elderly.
"The continued work of the Elder Abuse Task Force is bettering the
lives of seniors across the state," Nessel said. "I'm proud of what this
group has accomplished thus far and know their steadfast focus will
lead to additional protections for our most vulnerable."
Michigan's Elder Abuse Task Force launched in 2019 and consists of
more than 55 different organizations in the public, private and
nonprofit sections - all working together to combat elder abuse.
The Financial Exploitation Prevention Act (FEPA) took
effect Sept. 26. Its passage last year was part of the Task Force's
First Set of Initiatives, while providing comprehensive training to
implement the Act is part of the second set.
The Act requires financial institutions to report suspected or
detected covered financial exploitation of vulnerable adults to adult
protective services or law enforcement. FEPA also requires financial
institutions to implement training for employees to recognize common
types and signs of financial exploitation.
subject line that states "FEPA Presentation Request";
a brief description of the professional background of potential attendees;
the number of people likely to attend;
potential dates and times that will work well for the group (flexibility is encouraged); and
the format of the presentation (virtual presentations are recommended).
If the group is below 50 attendees, the Department of Attorney
General asks, to preserve time and resources, that the interested group
allow another group to join their event upon request.
Eligible groups include but are not limited to elder abuse
coalitions, area agencies on aging, law enforcement, and financial
institution professionals.
The latest newsletter also provides an update on a bipartisan package of bills introduced in June.
The legislation would implement fundamental reforms impacting guardians
and conservators-individuals appointed by probate courts to act in the
best interests of vulnerable individuals. It is now up to the
legislature to move the bills forward.
A recent criminal case of interest is People v. Haynes,
decided August 12, 2021 (docket no. 350125). Gary Haynes' conviction
came after he stole over $300,000 from a widow in her 90's while serving
as her financial advisor. One of Haynes' arguments on appeal was that
there was insufficient evidence that the victim was a vulnerable adult,
arguing, in part, because she was mentally capable of handling her own
affairs. In affirming the defendant's conviction, the Court of
Appeals found that there was strong evidence by which a jury could find,
beyond a reasonable doubt, that the victim was a vulnerable adult
because she walked with a cane, needed help buying groceries, getting
to appointments, doing chores around the house, and needed help paying
her bills online because she was not familiar with computers.
The case signifies why it is critical to continue to provide training
to police and prosecutors on how to investigate and prosecute those
who financially exploit vulnerable adults.
LANSING, Mich. (WJRT) - State officials are warning Michigan drivers
to be on alert for scammers trying to get their auto insurance refunds
later this year.
The Michigan Department of Insurance and
Financial Services did not mention any specific scams circulating around
the state. But officials say scammers likely will try to capitalize on
the $400 per vehicle refunds coming this spring.
“Whenever
there is a widespread distribution of funds to consumers, inevitably
there will be bad actors who attempt to take advantage of the situation
in order to steal personal information or money from consumers,” said
Director Anita Fox.
The Michigan Catastrophic Claims Association, which reimburses
insurance companies for crash claims exceeding $600,000, will be issuing
the $400 per vehicle refunds to insurers by March 9.
Insurance
companies have until May 9 to forward the refunds to their customers,
who had valid auto insurance policies on Oct. 31, 2021. The refunds must
be provided as a direct deposit into customers' bank accounts or in the
form of a paper check.
Fox said all Michigan drivers should be
wary of anyone requesting an application for the money or offering to
provide it earlier than their insurance company.
“Your refund
check or ACH deposit will come directly from your insurer, and you will
not have to take any action to receive it," she said. "Never give out
personal information to a caller claiming to be from your insurance
company.”
Anyone who receives an unsolicited call about their auto
insurance refund should hang up immediate should hang up immediately
and contact their insurance company using a phone number on their policy
documents.
Jan. 12—A Carl Junction woman received a
suspended sentence and probation when she pleaded guilty this week to
financial exploitation of her mother.
Brittney M. Clark-Haag, 21,
pleaded guilty Monday in Jasper County Circuit Court to financial
exploitation of an elderly person in a plea agreement capping the
sentence she might be assessed at no more than five years and promising
that the prosecutor's office would not oppose the possibility of a
suspended sentence and probation.
Circuit Judge Gayle Crane
accepted the plea deal and assessed Clark-Haag five years on the
conviction, with execution of the sentence suspended and the defendant
placed on supervised probation for five years. The judge further ordered
that she is to pay $2,271 in restitution to her mother.
According
to a probable-cause affidavit, the defendant used her 75-year-old
mother's bank card to make purchases from various local and online
businesses between Oct. 21 and Nov. 26, 2019. The expenditures included
two wire transfers totaling $1,019,98 and $739.65 worth of transactions
at local restaurants.
A lawsuit filed by the grandson of Walt Disney over the disposition
of land in Teton County should be decided in California, Wyoming’s
Supreme Court has ruled.
The court on Wednesday turned down Brad Lund in his attempt to have a
lawsuit over the sale of a plot of land known as Eagle South Fork Ranch
near Wilson heard in Teton County.
Justices unanimously upheld a state district court’s ruling that
justice would be better served if Lund’s challenge was heard in a
California court rather than one in Wyoming.
“The district court did not abuse its discretion in concluding that
the California court was an available and adequate alternate forum,”
said the ruling written by Chief Justice Kate Fox.
The ruling is the latest in a long series of legal battles between
Lund, his sister Michelle Lund and the trustees for both of the trusts
maintained for the two.
Brad and Michelle Lund are the children of Sharon Disney-Lund, the daughter of Walt Disney.
Their father bought the 110-acre ranch and after their mother’s
death, the ranch was placed in residuary trusts for the two children,
with each trust owning 50% of the land.
According to the ruling, since 2009, Brad Lund and the trustees have
been involved in a lawsuit in California probate court over numerous
elements of the trust, including ways assets should be divided between
the trusts of Brad and Michelle.
In 2019, trustees agreed to let Bradford buy his sister’s interest in
the Eagle South Fork Ranch for $9.7 million rather than sell the land
to an outside party.
In September 2020, the trustees announced they had received an offer
of $35 million for the property, which they intended to accept. Michelle
withdrew her consent to her brother’s purchase of the land.
Brad then filed a complaint against his sister and the trustees in
state district court in Teton County, saying they breached the terms of
an agreement for the purchase of the land.
The trustees and Michelle asked that the lawsuit be dismissed because
all of the other legal actions surrounding the trusts were taking part
in California.
The state district court granted the request and Brad challenged it
to the Wyoming Supreme Court, saying the action involved a Wyoming
property, so it made sense to hear the challenge in Wyoming.
But the Supreme Court which agreed it made more sense to pursue legal
action in California because it was actually part of a larger probate
case in that state.
“The California court has an extensive history with these parties and
their trust disputes, and the district court reasonably concluded that
the more efficient course was to have that court preside over this
dispute as well,” the ruling said.
In addition, all of the parties, witnesses and evidence in the case are located outside of Wyoming, the ruling said.
Matthew Clason, a one-time LPL Financial FA (financial advisor), has
got 30 months behind bars, against a possible 20 years, for stealing
several hundred thousand dollars from an elderly client. The sentence
was announced by U.S. District Judge Michael Shea in Hartford,
Connecticut, and also requires him to pay restitution of $639,580.
Clason, based in Cheshire, Connecticut, pleaded guilty to one count
of wire fraud in May. He admitted to stealing over $600K from an elderly
client who was not named. Currently, out on bond, Clason is required to
report to prison on the 28th of February, 2022, as per the U.S.
Attorney’s Office.
Financial Elder Abuse
Financial abuse is a common problem with elderly people for many reasons. Sometimes, elder abusers may be suffering from mental impairments such as Alzheimer’s or dementia.These health issues can be exploited by the perpetrator to take control of their finances and then use them for their own gain.
Even
if victims are in good health with no mental impairments they can still
be targeted for financial exploitation, often from their closest
friends.
Elder
financial abuse most commonly occurs from adult children. However, it
can also happen in nursing homes or assisted living facilities and from
financial caregivers such as a power-of-attorney, trustee, guardian,
conservator, or other financial caretakers.The
Consumer Financial Protection Bureau advises you to watch out for any
new friends who seem to be controlling and possessive of your loved one.
This could be a sign that there is elder financial abuse.
Nursing staff or caregivers may take a resident’s credit cards or checkbooks in nursing homes or assisted living facilities.
Sometimes
they may do other things that are harder to spot. For example, they
might trick a resident into signing forms that transfer ownership in
cars, homes, or bank accounts without their consent or knowledge. Or,
pressure them into writing a new will.
When it comes to financial abuse, race is a significant risk factor.In
2010, a study showed that elderly African Americans were more likely to
be exploited than non-African American residents (23.0% vs. 9.4%).
Matthew Clason’s Modus Operandi
According to information made available by the U.S. Attorney’s Office
for the District of Connecticut, Clason opened a joint bank account
with the client (victim). Then he transferred over $668K from the
client’s investment accounts to this joint account, from which he
withdrew over $621K in cash apart from transferring money into his
credit card as well as personal bank accounts, thus draining it out.
Clason’s History
Clason has been in the securities industry from 2004 onwards. He
registered with Lincoln Financial in 2007 and left them for LPL
Financial in 2016, as per information available on his BrokerCheck
record.
He was discharged by LPL in August last year on suspicion of
maintaining a joint account with an LPL customer and that he “engaged in
liquidations of securities in customer’s Firm account, transferred
funds to joint bank account, and withdrew funds.”
In September 2020, he was barred by the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA).
It was also in September 2020 that the Securities Exchange Commission
(SEC) initiated action against him in the current case of theft from an
elderly client. In view of the guilty plea in May, he was also barred
by the SEC.
Every Christmas Eve for the past two decades, my son would relentlessly
wake me in order to check if Santa had arrived. This year, I told my
wife and daughter, the first time he wakes up, we will all open gifts
and then go back to a sound sleep without fear of interruption.
Moving forward
Elliott
is 24 and a resident of Moving Forward Towards Independence. My wife
and I relocated to Napa so we could remain close to him.
Elliott
is conserved with a Limited Conservatorship. Limited Conservatorships
differ from General Conservatorships which allow the conservator broad
discretion. (There are also other types of Conservatorships. Britney
Spears, for example, was subject to a Probate Conservatorship.)
A
Limited Conservator is typically for adults with an intellectual
disability and may provide the following powers over the Conservatee:
1. Housing
2. Access to confidential records
3. Marriage
4. Contract/financial
5. Medical consent
6. Social relationships
7. Education
We wanted to be sure we had access to Elliott’s medical records. We also have the ability to direct his medical care.
Ironically, an individual’s
reproductive rights may not be conserved. Elliott had to consent for his
vasectomy. I’ve never been so simultaneously proud and sad. He was
awake. I held his hand. I cried afterward.
Credit freeze
We
purposely did not financially conserve Elliott. He has very limited
resources. Anyone lending him money does so at their own risk. To
further assist in keeping him out of financial harm, I placed a credit
“‘freeze” on his file. A credit or security freeze prevents lenders from
accessing your credit file. Businesses typically will not extend credit
if they are not able to view your credit profile.
I
discovered a person must first establish credit before a freeze can be
secured. We promptly opened a student Visa account in his name; made a
purchase and let it go delinquent. He then had credit. Bad credit, but
credit nonetheless. To properly freeze credit, you need to do so on all
three credit bureaus:
While employed and through Napa Valley
PSI, Elliott assembled dog bowls for Lixit Corporation. He was paid
based on a pro-rata share of the rate a neurotypical person would earn.
He loved it! Unfortunately, Elliott’s employment was one of the many
Covid casualties.
Sadly, with the signing of SB 639 (a bill that ends the practice of paying workers with disabilities less than minimum wage in California) I doubt he will again be offered paid employment.
I’m eating here!
Every
couple of years a court-appointed Investigator meets with Elliott to
ensure the Conservatorship is still in his best interest. One year the
Investigator wrote, "It appears that Elliott has no understanding
regarding the nature and effect of conservatorship. When given
advisement, Elliott provided no response and merely continued eating." I
thought the investigator needed perspective as his response (or lack
thereof) seemed normal teenage behavior….
A country song
At
Moving Forward Elliott lost a girlfriend, got laid off and had
disagreements with his roommates over bathroom sanitation and missing
food. He has also made wonderful friendships, developed newfound
independence and found a home that will outlive his parents.
If
a judge determines an adult is unable to make responsible choices, the
person can be placed under a court-appointed guardianship or
conservatorship. The system came under scrutiny after details about
Britney Spears' conservatorship came to light.
Over his 47-year career as a New Mexico attorney, former state
legislator Victor Marshall has called out a state attorney general for
alleged conflict of interest, filed a whistleblower lawsuit aimed at
exposing state investment schemes and advocated for legislative ethics
and campaign reform.
But his attempt to brand a respected pro tem judge as biased and
unethical in presiding over a major water rights case may lead to the
suspension of Marshall’s legal practice indefinitely.
The state Supreme Court on Wednesday is set to hear oral arguments as
to whether Marshall should be disciplined for contending that
now-retired Court of Appeals Judge James J. Wechsler was biased in favor
of the Navajo Nation in approving a major water rights settlement in
2013.
Marshall, who represented non-Indian water users, wanted a new judge
to be appointed to the case when he alleged that Wechsler had an
undisclosed conflict of interest because he once worked for the Navajo
Nation as a lawyer. Marshall also claimed in a court record that “the
public might reasonably wonder whether the judge fixed this case for his
former client.”
A state disciplinary board hearing committee found those assertions
were false and were made with “reckless disregard” as to the truth.
Wechsler, who served 22 years on the state Court of Appeals before
retiring in 2017, was appointed as a pro tem judge on the water case in
2009.
He worked on behalf of individual Navajos decades earlier when he was
an attorney with a private nonprofit legal group, DNA Legal Services.
But the judge contended he had nothing to do with the water rights
case during his time there in the early 1970s and didn’t know the
organization gave legal advice to the Navajo Nation on its water claims.
The disciplinary panel found no evidence Wechsler personally
participated in the water case as a DNA attorney.
Wechsler’s ruling in 2013 recognized the Navajo Nation’s right to
divert 635,729 acre-feet of water per year from the San Juan River. The
settlement between the state and the Navajo Nation, approved by
Wechsler, increased the nation’s share of New Mexico’s water from 6% to
10%, according to a Journal analysis.
In opposing the settlement, Marshall represented the San Juan
Agricultural Water Users Association, which includes small farmers.
After losing appeals in state court, Marshall took the long-running
legal battle over water rights adjudication in northwest New Mexico to
U.S. District Court in a lawsuit filed in November.
Whether Marshall, 74, will be allowed to pursue that case and others
is up to the state Supreme Court, which is being asked by a state
disciplinary board panel to suspend Marshall’s license to practice law
for an indefinite time. A disciplinary board panel wrote in 2019 that it
had a “substantial concern” Marshall could engage in similar conduct in
the future, given that he continues to deny he did anything improper
and displays no remorse.
An attorney for the board recommended a lesser sanction – a public censure – while harshly criticizing Marshall’s actions.
“The reality is, the evidence is not just substantial that (Marshall)
made false, derogatory, and frivolous allegations against a sitting
Judge; the evidence is overwhelming,” wrote Jane Gagne, assistant
disciplinary counsel.
‘Chilling effect’
In court filings, Marshall’s attorney Jeff Baker, said that suspension “is a draconian recommendation.”
Baker contends Marshall should face no discipline because he raised a
legitimate question about whether Wechsler should have recused himself.
“If this Court sanctions Mr. Marshall for questioning the
impartiality of a judge, it will have a serious chilling effect on all
lawyers who practice before courts of this state,” Baker wrote in one
motion, noting the impact on “any attorney who contemplates the filing
of a motion based on concerns about the appearance of impropriety or
lack of disclosure.”
Marshall’s attorney noted that the Navajo Nation asked Wechsler to
sanction Marshall for making the conflict of interest allegations, but
Wechsler decided not to.
“Suspension of Mr. Marshall’s law license is antithetical to the
rules governing judicial disclosure and recusal,” Baker wrote in a court
filing.
Wechsler did not mention his previous work for DNA before approving
the settlement, leaving Marshall without ability to seek his recusal in
advance, Baker added.
Wechsler did address a recusal request in early 2020, but in a
26-page ruling, the retired judge explained that his employment for less
than three years with DNA “does not disqualify me from these
proceedings.”
Another former DNA attorney, Robert N. Hilgendorf, said in a
deposition that he questioned whether he could be fair as a judge on a
Navajo water rights case.
But Wechsler noted Hilgendorf worked for DNA for more than seven
years and performed research regarding, and spoke publicly about, Navajo
water rights. Wechsler noted his stint was shorter and he “did not
perform any work whatsoever regarding water rights.”
Interest in transparency
Since filing his initial emergency motion seeking to vacate
Wechsler’s rulings in the case, Marshall contends he found what he
considers other evidence he says bolsters his argument. But the
disciplinary panel opted against considering that information.
Marshall also asked the Supreme Court for permission to file an
amicus curiae brief from Alan B. Morrison, of George Washington
University Law School. But the Supreme Court declined to consider it.
Morrison wrote that “the real losers if the discipline is upheld will
be clients, and not just those of Mr. Marshall who will lose almost 15
years of his efforts in the underlying case that precipitated the
proposed discipline, but also the clients of other lawyers in other
cases.”
Those other clients will be harmed because their lawyers “will
hesitate to move to recuse a judge, or take other unpopular actions, for
fear that they, like Mr. Marshall, will not only suffer defeat on the
merits, but possibly lose their law licenses for zealously representing
their clients,” Morrison wrote.
The New Mexico Foundation for Open Government, citing the
disciplinary panel’s mention that Marshall issued a press release
alleging Wechsler had a conflict, has issued a letter urging the Supreme
Court to “resolve this matter in a way that does not discourage
attorneys from communicating with the media for fear of professional
discipline.”
“The public has an interest in transparency of judicial proceedings,
and limitations on the ability of attorneys to address cases in the
media undermine that interest,” wrote Shannon E. Kunkel, executive
director of FOG. A separate letter of support for Marshall was filed
with the court by the Santa Fe New Mexican newspaper, which Marshall has
represented.
Legal background
Marshall, a Republican who graduated from Princeton University and
Harvard Law School, served in the state Senate for eight years, where he
co-sponsored the 1988 constitutional amendment on the merit selection
of judges. He also sponsored a comprehensive campaign reform package
supported by then-Gov. Garrey Carruthers and pushed for a ban on
lawmakers soliciting or accepting campaign contributions from lobbyists
during annual legislative sessions.
As an attorney, he represented anti-gambling interests opposed to
Indian casino gambling. In 2011, he contended then-New Mexico Attorney
General Gary King received campaign contributions of nearly $55,000 from
former Gov. Bill Richardson, creating a conflict of interest that
should disqualify King from pursuing a pay-to-play corruption case
involving the Democrat’s administration. King denied any conflict.
Marshall at the
time represented former state investment adviser Frank Foy in a
long-running whistleblower suit over huge state investment losses. Most
of Foy’s claims were dismissed after King’s office took over the case.
Foy’s subsequent legal challenge to the $24 million settlement was
rejected by the state Supreme Court in 2020.
November 12, 2021 was a great day for Britney Spears and a great day
for justice when a judge freed her from a conservatorship that
controlled every aspect of her life. It was definitely something to
celebrate, but it was also a solemn day because Spears had had to endure
a more than decade-long nightmare orchestrated by her father and
others. It was a solemn day, because there are at least a million other,
less famous, individuals who are still trapped in exactly this kind of
arrangement.
Guardianship is an alarming threat to everyone’s health and welfare.
In secret in a judge’s chambers, one’s rights to make personal and
financial decisions can be stripped in moments. It is very widespread,
but little known, although because of Britney Spears’ chilling testimony
last summer and the persistence of the Free Britney Movement, this
practice has been catapulted into the public’s consciousness. (click to continue reading)
AUGUSTA, Ga. (WJBF) – An Augusta man has died and his daughter is charged with neglect and exploitation.
Warrants reveal more information about allegations of severe abuse in
case of 38-year-old Dianna Laws, charged with neglect and exploitation
of her father, 62-year-old Bobby Laws, who died at Augusta University
Medical Center yesterday, December 15th.
Included are allegations that the father lost more than 80
pounds in the past 5 months while in the care of his daughter and that
money for food and care for the elderly man were used by his daughter to
pay off personal debts.
Ten days prior to his death, Richmond County Sheriff’s Office had
begun an investigation into his treatment while in the care of his
daughter after concerns were raised during his emergency treatment at
Augusta University Medical Center.
Sheriff’s Office Deputies responded to the Emergency Room at AUMC Sunday, December 5th,
in response to call for a suspicious situation concerning an elderly
male subject, 62-year-old Bobby, who’d just been admitted. At this
point, the Sheriff’s Office began an investigation into the possibility
that his welfare had been endangered.
Warrants in the arrest of the deceased’s daughter, 38-year-old
Dianna, allege that Laws willingly deprived her father of healthcare and
necessary nourishment, jeopardizing his health and wellbeing.
One of the factors of the elder Laws’ deprivation, according to
arrest warrants in the case, include a massive weight loss of 88 pounds
within a five-month time period, during which his daughter, Dianna, was
his live-in caretaker at a home on the 3000 block of Deans Bridge Road.
Bobby Laws’ wounds included lacerations, exposed bones,
maggot-infested cuts and sores, and stage 4 pressure ulcers, according
to both the warrants for the younger Laws’ arrest and a report by the
Richmond County Coroner’s Report, filed after the older Laws’ death.
Coroner Mark Bowen’s report also states that Laws was admitted into the ER with electrical tape around his legs.
Further warrants for the arrest of the deceased’s daughter accuse her
of profiting off checks intended for her father’s care. The 38-year-old
is alleged to have been paying her own bills and debts using Bobby
Laws’ social security checks during her nine years as Laws’ live-in
caregiver.
Dianna Louise Laws is being held at Charles B. Webster Detention
currently on charges of Exploitation of an Elderly or Disabled Person
and Neglect of an Elderly or Disabled Person.
The Richmond County Sheriff’s Office tells WJBF that they are
continuing to investigate and that further charges are pending autopsy
results.
Attorney Gaylyn Leon Cooper, of Port Arthur, was disbarred on October
5, 2021 according to disciplinary actions reported in the Texas Bar
Journal in January.
An evidentiary panel of the District 3 Grievance Committee found
that, in representing four clients, Cooper neglected the legal matters
entrusted to him and failed to keep his clients reasonably informed
about the status of their legal matters and failed to promptly comply
with reasonable requests for information. In three of those matters,
Cooper, upon termination of representation, failed to refund advance
payments of fees that had not been earned or failed to surrender papers
and property to which they were entitled.
In two matters, Cooper failed to timely furnish to the Office of
Chief Disciplinary Counsel a response or other information as required
by the Texas Rules of Disciplinary Procedure.
Cooper violated Rules 1.01(b)(1), 1.03(a), 1.15(d), and 8.04(a)(8). He
was ordered to pay $1,825 in restitution and $1,916.25 in attorneys’
fees and direct expenses.
/cloudfront-us-east-1.images.arcpublishing.com/tbt/TJ5WSJACPJD3XAYHO7RPN2SZXA.jpeg "Ken Burke")
