SOUTHWEST MIAMI-DADE, FLA. (WSVN) - Police executed a warrant at an
assisted living facility in Southwest Miami-Dade that is at the center
of a possible elderly exploitation investigation.
7News cameras
captured Miami-Dade Police Medical Crimes units arriving at the assisted
living facility on Southwest 122nd Avenue, Wednesday afternoon.
They claim that the home has been operating as an unlicensed assisted living facility.
“So
you’re looking at 30 individuals that are living inside a home, where
of course, it’s not certified by the state, it doesn’t have a license to
be an adult living facility, it’s not meeting the proper protocols and
procedures and guidelines that are brought forth in the State of
Florida, and of course, Miami-Dade County ordinances,” said MDPD
Detective Alvaro Zabaleta. “It’s something that is unsafe and, of
course, can be inhumane.”
The Florida Department of Children and Families and the Florida Department of Health are also investigating the facility.
Police
told 7News that the facility has been in business for quite a long
time, adding that the patients inside are living in substandard
conditions.
“Multiple rooms subdivided within the home. It’s got bunk beds on there, some locker rooms,” said Zabaleta.
The employees at the home are being accused of taking care of patients without a medical license.
“These
individuals that are in here, that are employees, are not medically
trained, they don’t ave the proper certifications necessary,” said
Zabaleta.
Kimberly Baker lives and volunteers at the home. She said she was shocked when police showed up.
Neighbors told 7News those living inside would go around the neighborhood asking for different things.
But Baker said those claims are not accurate.
“They may beg for cigarettes, they’re always begging for cigarettes, ’cause they smoke them all up,” she said.
When asked whether patients at the facility have asked area residents for food, Baker replied, “No, no, not that I’m aware of.”
Fire rescue crews have responded to the facility many times this year for physical and mental illness.
Cameras
showed crews as they placed several patients on stretchers into
ambulances on Wednesday afternoon. Other patients were seen standing
outside.
Detectives, meanwhile, were seen removing bags of evidence from the home.
Family members of those who live at the facility showed up.
“I
hope the families and the police and the FBI can get together and help
them, because this is a sad situation.” said a neighbor who asked not to
be identified or show her face on camera. “Where are they going to
live? They’ve been living in this place for such a long time.”
Police
told 7News that they will be speaking to everyone at the assisted
living facility and will ask them how they arrived at the home. From
there, police will decide what charges the person running the operation
will face.
As to what’s next for those who live there, Baker said she hopes she is allowed to stay.
“I’m hoping, I’m hoping I can stay here. I’ve been here so long,” she said.
Police said anyone not determined to be vulnerable is able to stay the facility until they find better living conditions.
A New Jersey couple is facing charges in Tennessee
after they were accused of tricking an elderly man into believing he was
in a relationship with a celebrity and scamming him out of more than
$100,000. Police say the man later died by suicide.
The Washington County Sherriff’s Office (WSCO) in
Tennessee worked with the Piscataway Township Police Department to
arrest Chinagorom Onwumere, 34, and Salma Abdalkareem, 27.
Both suspects are charged with three counts
of extortion, three counts of financial exploitation of an
elderly/vulnerable person, two counts of theft over $60,000, and two
counts of criminal impersonation, according to WSCO.
Sherriff Keith Sexton of WSCO said that they became
aware of the scam in late October. The victim sent gift cards and checks
totaling $87,500 to the suspects, who reportedly made threats to the
victim and his family via email.
The suspects are still being held in Tennessee on
$500,000 bail ahead of a detention hearing scheduled for Nov. 30,
according to police.
The investigation is ongoing and additional charges are pending.
A woman who pretended to be a nurse and ripped off a blind 86-year-old Villager is back behind bars after a hit-and-run crash.
Sharon Ward DeMarsh, 44, was booked
without bond Tuesday at the Lake County Jail for violating her probation
on charges of practicing nursing without a license and exploitation of
the elderly.
DeMarsh had been lodged at the
Hillsborough County Jail as the result of her arrest in connection with
an Oct. 17 hit-and-run crash in Tampa. In that incident, she was driving
a white Nissan at about 1:30 a.m. when she put the vehicle in reverse
and struck a parked trailer, according to a Florida Department of
Corrections probation violation report. DeMarsh was arrested about seven
hours later. She had been driving on a suspended license.
Her arrest in Hillsborough County was
considered a violation of her probation in Lake County, thus she has
been transported back to the jail in Tavares.
It was also discovered that DeMarsh had been driving the woman’s 2014 red Buick. DeMarsh
claimed she had used the car to run the woman’s errands, but an
investigation revealed DeMarsh had allowed her 17-year-old son to drive
the car, unbeknownst to the owner. It also was revealed that DeMarsh
fled to North Carolina in the Buick during Hurricane Matthew, without
the elderly woman’s permission.
DeMarsh was later arrested on an
additional charge of impersonating a registered nurse, misrepresenting
herself to the elderly woman’s doctor.
DeMarsh was ordered to make restitution of $12,702 to her former client.
The most-recent probation violation report noted the DeMarsh is living with her son.
A judge awarded Aretha Franklin’s sons the singer’s real estate after reviewing a handwritten 2014 will that was found between couch cushions, Associated Press reports.
The
new decision comes four months after a jury decided that the document
was valid despite being hard to read. The will was signed with the
letter “A” and a smiley face. The handwritten document overrides a will
from 2010 that was found in 2019.
The decision was a major victory for Franklin’s youngest son, Kecalf,
who had been arguing in favor of the document’s validity as it seemed
to suggest the Queen of Soul — who did not leave a formal will — wanted him to assume control over her estate.
Kecalf
had the support of his brother and Franklin’s second eldest son,
Edward. However, Kecalf’s efforts were opposed by Franklin’s third son,
Ted White, as well as the guardian for her eldest son, Clarence, who has
special needs.
Kecalf will inherit a $1.1 million property in the
suburbs of Detroit, while Ted White II was given another house that was
sold by the estate for $300,000 before the wills emerged. Edward was
also awarded a separate property thanks to the 2014 will.
“This
was a significant step forward. We’ve narrowed the remaining issues,”
Charles McKelvie, an attorney for Kecalf, told the AP.
The
document discovered in the couch (dated 2014) was one of two found in
Franklin’s home in 2019, along with another 11-page document dated 2010.
While all of Franklin’s sons agreed the 2010 document was a valid will,
a contentious legal battle emerged over whether Franklin had actually
signed the 2014 document, thus validating it so it would supersede the
one from 2010.
While both documents appeared to indicate that
Franklin wanted her four sons to split the income from her music and
copyrights, there were some significantly different stipulations between
the two. In the 2014 document, Franklin appeared to bequeath the $1.1
million home to Kecalf, while the 2010 will divided Franklin’s assets
more evenly amongst her heirs.
Additionally, the 2010 doc included
some conditions for Kecalf and Edward should they want to take control
of Franklin’s estate: The two “must take business classes and get a
certificate or a degree,” Franklin wrote at the time — conditions she
did not include in the 2014 document.
Franklin owned a total of four homes. She died in 2018 of pancreatic cancer.
The BDN
Opinion section operates independently and does not set news policies or
contribute to reporting or editing articles elsewhere in the newspaper
or on bangordailynews.com.
Molly Thompson is the Voting Access Advocate at Disability Rights Maine.
People placed under guardianship based on being diagnosed with a
mental illness can vote in Maine and have been able to do so for the
past 22 years. Voters’ rejection of Question 8 earlier this month does not change this fact.
In 2001, the U.S. District Court for the District of Maine found that
denying someone the right to vote was denying them a fundamental
liberty. The court found that the provision within the Maine
Constitution that automatically prohibits people under guardianship by
reason of mental illness from registering to vote and from voting
violated the Due Process Clause and the Equal Protection Clause of the
U.S. Constitution. The court also said that this provision of the Maine
Constitution violated the Americans with Disabilities Act.
This ballot question would have finally aligned Maine’s source document with this decision and removed discriminatory and unenforceable language. We are disheartened that voters failed to approve it.
Let us be clear: This rejection does not change the voting rights of
any person under guardianship. People under guardianship already had the
right to vote and continue to have that right. This right is not in
jeopardy.
Mainers with disabilities, and all voters, should feel empowered to exercise their right to vote.
In an effort to increase voting opportunities for people with
disabilities and increase civic engagement, Disability Rights Maine
recently formed the Maine Rev Up Coalition. The Rev Up Coalition — which stands for “Register, Educate, Vote, Use Your Power!” — is a project of
the American Association of People with Disabilities. Comparable
coalitions exist in 19 states and seek to increase turnout among voters
with disabilities and election accessibility.
As the partner members of the Maine Rev Up Coalition, our goal is to
substantially increase voter turnout among disabled voters. We will do
so by addressing accessibility barriers at polling places, recruiting
individuals with disabilities to become poll workers in their
communities and ensuring voter education materials are accessible. Above
all, we seek to center individuals with disabilities in our work. This
also means we counter misinformation that may discourage disabled voters
from voting.
As the state with the highest voter turnout in the country, we must do our part to ensure our elections are accessible to all community members.
If any individual or organization is interested in joining the Maine Rev Up Coalition, they can contact: mthompson@drme.org.
The Maine Rev Up Coalition is composed of representatives from the
Consumer Council System of Maine, Disability Rights Maine,
EqualityMaine, the League of Women Voters of Maine and Speaking Up For
Us. This column is a joint statement of all parties.
ATLANTA, Ga. (Atlanta News First) - The
caretaker of an elderly Rome resident was charged with defrauding the
man out of thousands of dollars, according to the Floyd County Sheriff’s
Office.
David Allen Jenkins was arrested on Nov. 17 on a felony charge of exploitation of an elderly person, the sheriff’s office said.
According
to the arrest warrant, Jenkins is accused of “knowingly and willingly”
exploiting the man, for whom “he was supposed to be a caretaker.”
The
warrant also states Jenkins is accused of defrauding the man and
stealing thousands of dollars from him between July 1 and Oct. 13, 2023,
making online purchases and Cash App transactions and taking cash
advances.
Several online banking apps were also “created without the knowledge of the victim,” according to the warrant.
PHILADELPHIA, PA – Gloria Byars, 62, of Aldan, PA, and Carlton
Rembert, 69, of Hampton, VA, were found guilty of defrauding over $1
million from elderly, incapacitated individuals. United States Attorney
Jacqueline C. Romero announced the verdicts today. Byars pleaded guilty
to conspiracy, wire fraud, money laundering, and tax fraud, while
Rembert was found guilty of conspiracy, bank fraud, and wire fraud
following a four-day trial.
From 2012 to 2018, Byars, while
serving as a court-appointed guardian, along with co-conspirators,
exploited her role to steal life savings from dozens of incapacitated
wards. Initially an office manager for a Delaware County guardianship
company and later operating her own company, Byars had access to the
wards’ assets, including bank accounts and real estate. Byars, Rembert,
and another co-conspirator, Alesha Mitchell, used shell companies to
funnel and launder the stolen funds. Byars misused the money on personal
luxuries, including vacations and vehicles.
In
her plea agreement, Byars agreed to forfeit 36 gold Krugerrand coins,
part of the assets she stole from her wards. She also misappropriated
over $756,000 from a retired federal employee’s Thrift Savings Plan,
contributing to the total theft of over $1 million from at least 120
victims.
The
maximum sentences for the crimes include 30 years’ imprisonment and a
$1,000,000 fine for bank fraud, 20 years and a $250,000 fine for wire
fraud, 20 years and a $500,000 fine for money laundering, and 3 years
and a $250,000 fine for filing a false tax return.
U.S. Attorney Romero condemned the exploitation of vulnerable
individuals, vowing zero tolerance for such fraud. FBI Acting Special
Agent in Charge Richard Langham emphasized the FBI’s dedication to
protecting elders from fraud and abuse. IRS Criminal Investigation
Special Agent in Charge Yury Kruty reiterated their commitment to
investigating white-collar crimes.
Delaware County District Attorney Jack Stollsteimer praised the
collaborative efforts of local and federal authorities in securing the
convictions, highlighting the importance of protecting vulnerable
residents from guardianship fraud.
PORTLAND,
Ore.—A Portland man, who for more than a decade claimed to be a
successful foreign exchange currency trader to solicit millions of
dollars in investments, has been indicted in federal court for wire
fraud.
William Bennington, 52, a resident of Portland, has been charged with five counts of wire fraud.
According to the indictment, from March 2012 until at least October
2022, Bennington is alleged to have knowingly and intentionally devised
and carried out a scheme wherein he purported to be a wealthy foreign
exchange currency trader to solicit investments in WBFX LLC, a foreign
currency investment company Bennington incorporated in Oregon in 2010.
Bennington promised his investors annual returns of up to 80 percent and
repayment terms as short as six months. He further falsely claimed to
have written a proprietary trading algorithm, which he alleged was the
source of his wealth.
Over the course of his scheme, Bennington is alleged to have caused
at least five individual victims to pay him more than $2 million.
Instead of investing his victims’ money in foreign exchange currency
markets as promised, Bennington spent it on various personal expenses.
Bennington appeared in federal court today before a U.S. Magistrate
Judge. He was arraigned, pleaded not guilty, and released pending a
five-day jury trial scheduled to begin on January 9, 2024.
Wire fraud is punishable by up to 20 years in federal prison per count of conviction.
This case was investigated by the FBI. It is being prosecuted by
Robert S. Trisotto, Assistant U.S. Attorney for the District of Oregon.
An indictment is only an accusation of a crime, and a defendant is presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty.
The EastIdahoNews.com team is busy helping a local Secret Santa give $1 million to deserving people in eastern Idaho this holiday season.
Kent, aka "The Donut Hole Man," makes sure that hundreds of people in our community get a 'Happy Birthday' phone call and if you are lucky, donut holes. He makes sure that the widows in his ward and neighborhood get roses on Valentine's Day.
Kent volunteers at the Ririe Community Center every week, helping feed the veterans and the elderly. If his neighbors are in need or struggling, he is right there to give a helping hand with a hug and a smile and whatever help they need. If he is not helping others, he is not complete.
Kent helps in the care of his elderly mother-in-law - all while battling his own health issues. He selflessly does all of this. He enjoys buying local and helping out the community. He truly loves Idaho and anyone he meets. There is no stranger in his life, he won't allow it. A helping hand, advice, a listening ear, a donut hole, or just a hello and a smile - that is Kent.
Secret Santa asked the East Idaho News to give Kent an early Christmas gift. We set up a unique surprise to share the present! Watch the video in the player above.
Under trustee, 'suddenly your identity is gone and you are no longer a person': friend of Paul Cameron Miller
by Kristin Annable, Caroline Barghout
Paul Cameron Miller, a former music teacher, has been under public
guardianship since January and is on the verge of losing his home. (Jaison Empson/CBC)
A Winnipeg musician has no access to his bank accounts,
can't collect a paycheque and can't access his medical records because
he is under the guardianship of Manitoba's public trustee — and he's on a
mission to end that.
Paul Cameron Miller, 65, has been under
guardianship since January of this year after he froze his feet
and ended up with a diagnosis of dementia while hospitalized.
"I'm
angry, and I'm not an individual who angers easily," Miller told CBC.
"I am very, very upset at the way my last year has gone."
His home
in Winnipeg's Earl Grey neighbourhood will be seized by the bank or
sold in a public auction in December. There's nothing he can do about
it, because the bank isn't legally allowed to talk to him about the
matter.
"They have absolute control over his life," said Kris Olafson, a lifelong friend and advocate for Miller.
"When the [public trustee] takes over, they take over everything," she said.
"Suddenly your identity is gone and you are no longer a person."
A person is placed under guardianship and given a trustee if medical
professionals deem them mentally incapable of making financial and
personal decisions, and the person has no other friends or family able
to help them.
A provincial special operating agency — the Public
Guardian and Trustee — is responsible for providing the service.
Currently, it's in charge of the affairs of nearly 4,000 Manitobans and
almost $200 million worth of their assets.
A trustee will pay a
client's bills and collect their wages, such as pensions or disability
payments. The trustee is legally responsible for making financial
decisions on how and where that money is spent.
Olafson and
Miller say they're speaking out because they want people to know what
happens when someone is under public guardianship and how difficult it
is to get out.
They also want to get Miller out of his
guardianship so he can sell his house to a close friend instead of
losing it through foreclosure.
'A suffocation of your rights'
Miller's
saga began last December, when he walked to the drug store to pick up a
prescription and inadvertently froze his feet after spending too long
outside talking to friends.
His memory of his time in the hospital
is foggy. Miller believes the mixture of painkillers he was given and
his anti-seizure medication led to a diagnosis of dementia, and then to
his affairs being signed over to the trustee.
Miller has
requested his medical records so he can piece everything together, but
the guardianship means his records go straight to the public trustee,
which has not given him access to them.
"It's a suffocation of your rights," he said.
"I've
asked many a time for all of the paperwork … anything referencing me on
it and referencing any of my medications and all of that stuff. [I get]
absolutely nothing."
Paul Cameron
Miller, 65, has been under the care of the Public Guardian and Trustee
of Manitoba since January, and is now trying to get out.
Although Miller gave the agency permission to discuss his case with
CBC, a request for an interview with anyone at the public trustee to do
so was denied. A spokesperson said because Miller is under guardianship,
he cannot give consent.
In a prepared statement, the spokesperson
said people are only placed under guardianship when there is
demonstrated need for decisions to be made for their benefit.
Guardianship
is the "last resort," the spokesperson said, and the agency fully
supports a client being reassessed if they feel they are competent.
'Wasn't at the point of losing everything'
Once
a working musician and guitar teacher, Miller was hit hard by the
COVID-19 pandemic. Before he was hospitalized, he was already facing
financial difficulties and owed over $85,000 to banks, according to land
titles records.
"He had some financial problems, there's no doubt about that," said Olafson.
But
"he wasn't at the point of losing everything. There were things that he
could have done, things that he could have sold or whatever to make
ends meet."
Neighbours say during his hospital stay, word got out
that Miller's house was empty and it was broken into multiple times.
Eventually, it was boarded up.
Kris Olafson is a lifelong friend of Miller and is trying to help him
get out of his guardianship, so he can take back control of his life and
start working again. (Jaison Empson/CBC)
When Miller was finally ready to leave the hospital, he wasn't
released to his home. Instead, he was sent to the Salvation Army — a
decision that confounds Olafson to this day, especially if the hospital
staff thought he had dementia.
"How could this happen?" she said. "They took his ID, they took his phone. He had nothing."
Olafson
said she called multiple hospitals before finding him at the Salvation
Army shelter. When she saw how he was living, she took him home to live
with her — hoping together, they could sort out the mess.
Two months later, nothing has changed.
Miller's
life remains under full control of the public trustee. Since the
trustee has all his identification, he doesn't have access to his social
insurance number, which means he can't get a job. He is unable to
collect benefits or any other income — every dime goes to the trustee.
Since coming to live with her, Miller hasn't received any money from the trustee, Olafson said.
"What
has the [public trustee] been doing? Where has his money been going? We
have no idea," she said, adding phone calls to the trustee have gone
unanswered.
According to the province's public trustee client guide,
a case worker will open an account in the name of a person who is under
guardianship, and use that to collect their income and pay expenses.
The caseworker prepares a budget for the person and "may provide money" to the client from that account, the guide says.
Facing foreclosure
Miller
is locked out of his house. He can't even pick up his winter coat or
reading glasses, he said. He has no idea if the public trustee has his
collection of guitars or if they were stolen.
He and Olafson
learned earlier this month Miller has defaulted on his mortgage and it
is now facing foreclosure. They have no idea what options the trustee
has looked at, or whether there are alternatives to foreclosure.
Miller's credit union can only discuss the matter with his trustee.
The public
trustee makes "every effort to make the best decisions in the interest
of their client," according to the agency's spokesperson, but can only
use money available from the client's assets — the trustee can't provide
new funds. Sometimes that means there is little the trustee can do to
save assets such as someone's house.
Winnipeg musician
Paul Cameron Miller is trying to get out from under the Public Guardian
and Trustee of Manitoba, after he was deemed incapable of looking after
himself.
After CBC made inquiries about Miller's case, he got a call
from the public trustee. He and Olafson are set to meet with the
trustee on Monday to go over his finances, including looking at options
for his house.
For now, they're still working to get him out of his guardianship.
"It's a slow process and it's probably going to take a couple more months," Olafson said.
"It's just been so frustrating."
She and Miller tried to get help from Legal Aid, but were told no one was able to take on such a complicated case.
Miller's guardianship can only end when a psychiatrist or doctor agrees he is mentally capable of managing his own affairs.
They
must fill out a form and send it to the province's director of
psychiatric services. If the director agrees, they can cancel the
guardianship.
Alternatively, Miller or Olafson can apply to the
Court of King's Bench to cancel the guardianship or appoint someone else
to replace the public trustee.
"Once he's released, that's fine,"
Olafson said. "But in the meantime, his house is looking very close to
being under foreclosure right now, and he has no way of making money."
Agency understaffed: CBC analysis
A
CBC analysis of annual reports found the public trustee has been
understaffed for years, despite the growing number of clients it serves.
In
2013, the agency had 75 employees serving 3,200 Manitobans under
guardianship, with the agency in charge of over $152 million of their
assets.
A decade later, the number of people under guardianship
has increased by 800 — 25 per cent — but staffing levels have only
increased by five per cent.
There are now 79 full-time staff
members in charge of over $187 million worth of assets. From 2019 to
2022, the agency had only 73 full-time employees.
The agency
"continues to be impacted by [staff] vacancies," according to its
2022-23 annual report, which has not yet been posted online, but which
CBC obtained a copy of.
Its 2021-22 annual report
acknowledged the increase in clients, stating year-over-year, client
numbers and assets under its management increased "both in volume and
complexity."
The report also said caseworkers "cannot possibly meet with or get to know all of these clients well."
A 2020 report
from the Manitoba Association of Rights and Liberties said
the non-profit, which provides human rights education, found anecdotal
evidence that caseworkers for the public trustee had as many as 300
clients — most of whom they never saw in person.
Manitoba's public
trustee is independent, but reports to the minister responsible for
consumer protection and government services minister. The ombudsman can
investigate public complaints about the trustee. The agency's accounts
are also audited each year by the auditor general.
In a prepared
statement, Consumer Protection Minister Lisa Naylor said the public
trustee "makes every effort to act in the best interest of their
clients."
But Doug Surtees, a professor in the law department at
the University of Saskatchewan who specializes in guardianship, said
there are many gaps when it comes to upholding the rights of
people under guardianship.
Doug
Surtees, a professor in the law department at the University of
Saskatchewan, says that major reforms need to be made to ensure that
people under guardianship have rights. (David Stobbe/Stobbe Photography )
There
is no right to counsel for someone facing guardianship. However,
someone who is charged with a crime does have the right to a lawyer, he
noted.
"We have a justice system in this country that doesn't
allow the state to take away liberties or impose a sentence on somebody
accused of crimes unless that person has the right to be represented by
counsel," he said.
"But we do it with guardianship all the time."
Across the country, public trustees are "wildly underfunded," Surtees said, adding more staffing and resources are needed.
"If
we're asking if decisions are being made in accordance with the adult's
wishes, somebody has to have the time and expertise to communicate with
the individuals to see if, and how, their wishes are being
communicated."
A Winnipeg man, who
was placed under the control of the public guardian and trustee of
Manitoba, is warning others that this could happen to them. Paul Cameron
Miller has been fighting for the past year to get control of his own
life.
Arthur Perry, 98, has been living in a hospital since a heart attack he suffered in May impacted his mobility.
Currently staying in the Oromocto Public Hospital, he’s anxiously
awaiting placement in the Mill Cove Nursing Home, which is located near
his former home in Cambridge-Narrows.
His daughter Shelley Poirier said it’s been hard seeing him in low spirits due to his extended hospital stay.
“Most days he’s very disheartened from being there,” she said on Sunday.
“He’s unstimulated, he doesn’t have people to talk to. Emotionally
he’s going downhill. He’s very sad a lot of the time,” she said.
Poirier said while she and her sister, Shirley Applebee, are grateful
for the care he’s receiving at the hospital, it was negatively
affecting his mental well-being, as a hospital doesn’t have activities
or opportunities to socialize like a long-term care home would.
Poirier and Applebee uploaded a video to social media explaining his
situation in the hopes of raising awareness about the long wait times
for long-term care placement.
The video has now reached over 9,000 views, and Applebee said many people have reached out to them with similar stories.
“It’s not just about us. It’s about everyone who is in this system
who is trying to navigate a system that they don’t understand,” she
said, adding she and her sister had been confused about how the
long-term care home placement process worked.
Poirier said a case worker was assigned in June, but she didn’t receive any communication until early August.
“They said that they made a mistake that they weren’t in their area,
and that he was being reassigned to another case worker,” Poirier said.
Perry finally received an assessment in mid-August, and went on a waiting list for the Mill Cove Nursing Home.
“He’s ninth on the wait list, so he’ll be well into his 99th year, at
the rate things are going, before he sees a nursing home … if he does,”
Poirier said.
Global News reached out to the Department of Social Development on Friday, and is awaiting a response.
Applebee said the hardest part of this process was seeing her father’s emotional ups and downs.
“It’s just watching him … and watching the life go out of him,” she said.
During her visit on Saturday, Applebee said he “had a spark” after
seeing how the social media video had amassed thousands of views.
Applebee said it was the first time in a long time he seemed to have hope about the situation.
It is shockingly easy to declare a person incompetent and take their money.
by Diane Dimond
Ginger Franklin, a fortysomething single woman in Hendersonville, Tennessee,
fell down the stairs of her condo and lapsed into a coma. When she
awoke she discovered a court had declared her “an incapacitated ward of
the court” and assigned a stranger, a professional guardian, to take
over her life.
The guardian quickly sold Ginger’s condo
and car and placed her in a group home where she was put to work
servicing other residents. Even after Ginger had fully recovered, the
judge overseeing her case refused to end the guardianship for several
more years.
In Staten Island, New York,
a medical mishap at the birth of Michael Liguori caused him to develop
cerebral palsy. His parents won a $1.9 million malpractice settlement
against the hospital and, as the law required, the infant was assigned a
guardian to safeguard the money until Michael turned 18.
As a stellar high school student, Michael wanted to go to college but
his guardian refused to pay for it on the false grounds that he was
profoundly disabled. A judge agreed to keep the guardianship in place
allowing his court appointee to continue charging monthly fees until
Michael was 24 years old.
Angela
Woodhull and her mother, Louise, visited an attorney for advice on what
to do to protect the elderly woman’s substantial estate from a
conniving relative. Before they knew it, that lawyer surreptitiously
filed a Petition for Guardianship of Louise in a Gainesville, Florida court. The judge quickly approved it—without seeing Louise or her daughter.
The
appointed guardian took control of Louise’s money and quickly relegated
her to a nursing home. Louise died there just three months later with
several strong opioids in her system. What happened to Louise’s
million-dollar-plus estate remains a mystery. Angela inherited nothing
and she insists her mother was murdered.
For those who thought
guardianship (called conservatorship in some states) only affected the
elderly with memory issues—or the occasional off-the-rails celebrity
like Britney Spears who endured nearly 14 years under court
control—think again.
Perhaps Martin Scorsese’s latest epic, Killers of the Flower Moon,
left the public with the idea that emotionally abusive and financially
devastating guardianships were a thing of the past—unforgivably forced
on the entire Osage Indian tribe in the 1920s as a way for the greedy
white man to take control of the tribe’s massive oil wealth.
Sadly,
Scorsese failed to explain why, just five minutes into the film, an
Osage woman named Molly Kyle (wondrously portrayed by actress Lily
Gladstone) sits before a self-important white man, declares herself to
be “incompetent,” utters the phrase “282 allotment” and asks for release
of some of her money to pay medical bills. Scorsese could have added a
bit of dialogue explaining what prompted the government’s unconscionable
guardianship move, but he didn’t.
It was a missed opportunity to
highlight how the system, ostensibly created to “protect” the nation’s
most vulnerable citizens, has always been a playground for predators.
Today it has morphed into a predatory program that routinely allows bad
actors to prey on an ever-increasing victim pool. Judges could stop
them, but they don’t.
Britney and the Osage may be free now, but there are an estimated 2
million Americans currently living under guardianship or
conservatorship.
They are almost always immediately declared
incapacitated, stripped of their civil rights, all their assets are
seized and put into the name of whoever is appointed guardian.
Astonishingly, state courts seize a collective $50 billion of ward’s
assets every year.
The newly minted “protected person” no
longer has the right to hire their own attorney to fight for them. They
cannot vote, sign a contract, marry, decide what doctors they will see,
or where they will live. They are not allowed to drive, spend their own
money, use a credit card or have a passport. If their family member
complains about a court appointee’s actions, they can be banned from
visiting the ward—permanently. (Isolation and overmedication of a ward
are red flag warnings of a predatory court appointee.)
With
billions up for grabs in this secretive, ill-regulated, and largely
unsupervised system is it any wonder that the criminally minded would
gravitate to work within?
Today, unscrupulous players target all
sorts of victims, including: those who have won sizeable workers’
compensation or malpractice settlements; young people who have earned or
inherited considerable money; military veterans or disabled Americans
receiving generous monthly government checks; citizens of means who
suffer from mental health issues or the aftermath of a stroke, traumatic
brain injury, or other temporary health problems.
Once they
recover, just like Ginger Franklin did, they often find themselves
trapped. It is next to impossible to escape from guardianship.
How Does It Work?
It is remarkably easy for
one person to guardianize another, they just have to find a willing
lawyer to draw up an official Petition for Guardianship and present it
to the court.
The petitioner could be a worried relative, an angry
ex-business partner, a neighbor, or a former lover. Petitions have been
initiated by financial institutions (as in the case of talk show host
Wendy Williams) and hospitals looking to move out a patient whose
insurance is about to lapse. Landlords have guardianized rent controlled
tenants. Real estate agents have successfully guardianized landowners
in a bid to get valuable property. The common denominator in these
cases? The potential ward has attractive assets.
There is no
shortage of lawyers willing to create these fee generating petitions.
My years-long investigation into the system reveals many petitions are
frequently full of exaggerations (“He always forgets to take his medicines and pay his bills …”) or downright lies (“Her daughter stole $100,000,000 from her mother’s accounts…”), and overworked or uncaring judges routinely accept the petition’s contents as gospel.
Courts
that hear guardianship or conservatorship cases don’t operate under
standard rules. They are “equity courts” where there is no guarantee of
due process, no trials, and no meaningful opportunity for the targeted
person to launch a defense. In fact, judges often never lay eyes on the
potential ward before deciding to declare them incapacitated and turn
their fate and future over to someone else. Courtroom doors are usually
closed to the public, case files are sealed, gag orders are not unusual,
and unscrupulous players explain the secrecy as necessary under federal
HIPAA medical privacy laws.
Many court ordered guardianships
proceed just fine, especially if a trusted family member is appointed as
the guardian. And many professional guardians and conservators operate
with compassion and integrity.
As a society we obviously need a
system to help at-risk citizens who truly have no one to assist them.
But we don’t need a system in which judges routinely ignore family
members seeking guardian status and instead tap for-profit professionals
who can charge the ward up to $600 an hour. And we don’t need a system
whereby court appointees can engage in dizzying spasms of spending and
then ask the court for permission to ignore a ward’s pre-planned will,
irrevocable trusts, or other estate plans so they can refresh the
coffers from which they draw.
You think this can’t happen in America? It happens all the time, in
states across the country. There is a nationwide cabal of judges,
lawyers, guardians, conservators and others who have created a lucrative
industry out of the suffering of others.
It makes one wonder why
Congress hasn’t passed federal reform laws. Or why the Department of
Justice hasn’t stepped in to investigate, much like it has probed civil
rights allegations against police departments.
My conclusion? Powerful lobbying groups have convinced the powers that be that the status quo is working well.
It decidedly is not. You or someone you love could be next.
BELLAIRE — A professional guardian, appointed to oversee the needs of
at least 40 vulnerable adults in six counties, is facing an
embezzlement charge following a Michigan State Police investigation.
Vicky
Hamlin-Rogers of Petoskey was charged in 86th District Court with a
misdemeanor count of embezzlement of more than $200 and less than $1,000
from a vulnerable adult.
Hamlin-Rogers is scheduled to be arraigned Dec. 5, court records show.
Unguarded is a
Traverse City Record-Eagle special project that, through nine months of
reporting from courthouses spread across Michigan, prov…
The
family of a 77-year-old Elmira man has for two years been at odds with
Hamlin-Rogers concerning expenses and $23,000 they say hasn’t been
accounted for following the sale of a portion of their father’s land.
The Dobrzelewski family, some of whom live in
Ohio, previously filed paperwork with the Antrim County Probate Court,
records show, questioning expenses Hamlin-Rogers incurred when she
served as their father’s court-appointed conservator.
“I don’t know anything yet,” Hamlin-Rogers said in a text message Wednesday, when asked about the charge.
She previously denied any wrongdoing.
The
Record-Eagle also reached out to Robert Banner, an Emmet County
attorney who previously represented Hamlin-Rogers in an unrelated
contested guardianship in Charlevoix County, although Banner’s office
said he was not representing Hamlin-Rogers in the Antrim County case.
Last
year, Antrim County Prosecutor James Rossiter said he was reviewing a
state police investigation into accusations of embezzlement, passed to
his office in October 2021, to determine whether to press criminal
charges in the case.
Staff with Rossiter’s office confirmed
Wednesday that an assistant prosecutor, Angela Ferrara, was handling the
case. Ferrara did not return calls seeking comment.
The expenses
questioned by the Dobrzelewski family include home repairs and shopping
trips to Walmart, as previously reported, and which only came to light
when Hamlin-Rogers was removed as conservator in favor of one of the
elderly man’s adult children.
The Dobrzelewskis have so far
declined to comment publicly on the specifics of the case, but said they
continue to hope their father’s guardianship ordeal might be
instructive for fixing the state’s broken probate court system.
“The
current system provides easy opportunity for the exploitation of our
most vulnerable population by the very courts and conservators and/or
guardians charged with protecting them,” the family previously told the
Record-Eagle in an emailed statement.
“Many of the most vulnerable have no capability to challenge the
fiduciary decisions and accountings made by conservators and/or
guardians,” the family said.
Their father is medically vulnerable,
court records show, and the Record-Eagle is not naming him in this
story to protect his privacy.
Hamlin-Rogers is a professional
guardian based in Emmet County. She has more than 40 wards between
Emmet, Otsego, Charlevoix, Cheboygan, Grand Traverse and Antrim probate
courts.
In Charlevoix, the Record-Eagle previously found
Hamlin-Rogers had expensed $20,000 for “home repairs” in another
conservatorship, as previously reported — not unlike some of the
expenses flagged by the Dobrzelewskis in Antrim County.
Record-Eagle
reporters in August 2021, as part of the Unguarded project, began
examining records in more than a dozen Michigan’s probate courts,
finding a steady stream of issues ranging from family isolation to
outright theft.
Previously reported stories in the continuing
Unguarded series involved a range of people of means and those on fixed
incomes, people who live independently and those who require residential
care, those with close family members and those without, but all had
one fact in common: A judicial decision meant to protect the individual
by the appointment of a guardian or conservator.
Many guardians
and conservators serve in those roles without ever running afoul of the
law, but the vulnerable adults involved have little control over some of
the most important decisions in their lives — such as where they live,
who they can see, and how their savings are spent.
Decades of
reform attempts by governors, attorneys general and legislators
previously failed to alter the Michigan judiciary, which is charged with
overseeing these guardianships.
That may be changing, however.
In
October, Michigan’s House of Representatives passed a package of
legislation to create an Office of State Guardian in what supporters say
would be a first step toward reforming a problematic probate court
system.
A state guardian, with appropriate staff and funding,
could provide a layer of needed oversight, Rep. Betsy Coffia, D-Traverse
City, a sponsor of one of the guardianship bills, previously said.
“While
many guardians and conservators act in good faith, the truth is 73,000
seniors and vulnerable adults are financially and otherwise abused each
year — including some disturbing cases in northern Michigan,” Coffia
said.
Adding an Office of State Guardian was also one of the
recommendations of the Elder Abuse Task Force, members of which were
appointed by state Attorney General Dana Nessel and pulled from more
than 50 organizations and state offices.
The bills are expected to be considered by the state Senate when it returns in January.
Hampton, VА. — A federal jury has convicted Hampton, Virginia resident Carlton Rembert, 69, for his involvement in a scheme to embezzle funds from court-appointed guardianships. The elaborate fraud involved funneling money through a network of shell companies. Rembert faces charges of conspiracy, bank fraud, and wire fraud following a four-day trial in the Eastern District of Pennsylvania.
Gloria Byars, a 62-year-old Aldan woman, chose to plead guilty to charges of conspiracy, wire fraud, money laundering, and filing a false income tax return. Alesha Mitchell, 42, of Suffolk, Virginia, had previously pleaded guilty in 2022 to conspiracy to commit bank fraud for her role in the $1.2 million scheme.
The trio illicitly obtained over $1.2 million from incapacitated wards through unauthorized checks, manipulating the funds through various shell corporations. Byars, entrusted with managing assets for elderly individuals, abused her role as a guardian, diverting funds for personal use.
The complex financial fraud involved fraudulent checks, shell companies such as Global Guardian Services LLC, ICU Records & Billing, CWR Medical Services, and ACC Medical Billing LLC. Funds were stolen by Rembert and Mitchell, who deposited cashier’s checks into Byars’ accounts.
Byars spent the embezzled funds on personal luxuries, including vacations, clothing, vehicles, gifts, and parties. The investigation revealed that the fraud extended to the Church of the Overcomer, where the Collins, who serve as pastors, faced state charges in connection with the same scheme.
Byars and her co-conspirators collectively stole over $1 million from at least 120 incapacitated individuals. Sentencing for Mitchell is scheduled for December 5, Byars on February 20, and Rembert on February 29. Each faces up to 30 years in prison and substantial fines for their roles in the conspiracy. The case was prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorneys Tiwana Wright and Samuel Dalke.
Dave Wilder received a letter from Social Security that stated he was
overpaid during the pandemic and must pay $84,000, along with having his
payments cut.
LANSING – Today,
Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel has announced that Colleen Kelly
O’Connor, 58, of East Lansing, was charged in the 65A District Court in
Clinton County with Second-Degree Vulnerable Adult Abuse related to the
December 2022 death by exposure of an 82-year-old woman. The charge is a
4-year felony.
At the time she died, the victim was under O’Connor’s care at Vista
Springs Imperial Park at Timber Ridge, an assisted living facility in
Clinton County where O’Connor was employed.
“Caregivers have a responsibility under the law to act in the face of
grave danger to a vulnerable person in their care,” said Nessel. “I
want to thank the Bath Township Police Department for their partnership
during the investigation of this tragic case.”
The People allege that during the very early morning hours of
December 23, 2022, O’Connor twice observed the victim attempt to go
outside without appropriate attire into a blizzard with single-digit
temperatures, subzero windchill, and blowing and drifting snow. A
snowplow driver found the victim in the parking lot around 7 a.m.,
partially buried in snow. It is unknown precisely how long she was
outside before she was found. The victim was transported by ambulance to
a nearby hospital but died due to hypothermia shortly after arrival.
The charge against O’Connor alleges that, as a caregiver, O’Connor
recklessly failed to act to prevent the victim from going outdoors into
the storm, resulting in her death.
O’Connor was arraigned on November 20th before Magistrate Nikki
Maneval and granted a $5,000 cash/surety bond. The case is scheduled for
a probable cause conference before Judge Michael Clarizio on November
30th at 10:00 a.m.
The Attorney General’s Health Care Fraud Division (HCFD) handled
this case for the Department. The HCFD is the federally certified
Medicaid Fraud Control Unit for Michigan, and it receives 75% of its
funding from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services under a
grant award totaling $5,541,992 for the fiscal year 2024. The remaining
25% percent, totaling $1,847,326 is funded by the State of Michigan.
###
Please note:
For all criminal proceedings, a criminal charge is merely an
allegation. The defendant is presumed innocent unless and until proven
guilty. The Department does not provide booking photos.
Elder financial abuse is a crime that
is on the rise, according to Clint Smith, region president for Zions
Bank located in Logan.
His
team sees more counterfeit bills, fraudulent checks and elderly folks
who are being taken advantage of during the holiday season.
Most
financial abuse committed against older individuals is perpetrated by
someone that is close to the individual, Smith said. Often that’s a
caretaker or a family member. But sometimes its perpetrators outside of
the United States involved in fraud schemes.
“It can take all forms,” Smith said. “But when we’re speaking about
elder abuse, I think it’s most narrowly defined as somebody who’s in a
position of trust who takes advantage of an older person. And for the
most part, that is people that are close to them.”
Smith said elder financial
abuse is something bank employees deal with regularly, and it’s
something they are pretty adept at spotting. According to him, one in
five Americans over the age of 65 have been a victim of this kind of
abuse. In Cache Valley, one in 10 residents are 65 and older.
“It’s affecting a large portion of our populace here in the valley,” Smith said.
This
time of year, the issue significantly increases, he said. While Smith
doesn’t know the exact reason, he thinks it may be because people are
strapped for cash this time of year and are looking to have money to buy
presents or for other reasons.
“I
just know that in our industry, we’re on high alert November and
December in terms of losses, these are our highest months for losses,”
he said. “We’re extra vigilant this time of year because there’s so much
going around.”
Smith
said it is extremely important for an elderly person to have somebody in
their life who they can trust. This could be a trusted friend or family
member who can help them review their statements on a monthly basis.
“That can go a really long way in helping to spot those trends that are emerging before they get out of control,” he said.
Elderly
individuals and those with older people in their lives should be
educated on this issue, Smith said. An individual should never trust
someone they do not know personally about their financial information.
The only person an individual should really trust with financial
information is their bank’s employees.
“Bring
your questions to your bank,” Smith said. “Ask your banker if something
feels off, and always give your bank the truth because the questions
that we’re asking are to protect you.”
Those with older folks in their
lives should be on the lookout for signs of financial exploitation, he
said. The signs they look for in a bank setting can include transactions
that are out of the normal and physical indications such as strange
interactions between elderly people and family members, physical abuse
or intimidation.
“Really
being on the lookout for anything that looks out of the normal for a
family member or a neighbor can help us to spot that abuse and protect
them,” Smith said.
