BREAKING: Private Guardian April Parks Found Guilty Of Fraud, Theft, And Conversion

Written by Steve Miller Date: 12-14-2016

LAS VEGAS - For the first time in the history of Clark County Family Court, a private for-hire guardian has been found guilty of Fraud, Theft, and Conversion of the funds of a ward of the court.

On Tuesday, Family Court Judge Nancy Alf ruled for plaintiffs in a lawsuit brought by the family of Elizabeth Diana Indig after they presented evidence that Indig's court appointed guardian April Parks defrauded the senior citizen of over $300,000, including the sale of Indig's house without court permission.

(Click HERE to view Ms. Indig's complete complaint)

According to the May 19, 2016 Las Vegas Review-Journal, "A private professional guardian recently packed up and left the state with seemingly little concern for the dozens of wards she left behind. Without court approval, April Parks paid herself thousands of dollars from the accounts of the wards she was supposed to care for before running off to Pennsylvania last month, according to the court records."

Parks did not appear in court today, but was represented by attorneys.  Separate criminal investigations are currently underway by the Clark County District Attorney and the Nevada Attorney General involving this and dozens of other complaints against Parks and other Nevada private guardians.  Another civil trial is scheduled this month against April Parks in the case of Rudy and Rennie North.

A federal racketeering lawsuit brought by the late Guadalupe Olvera against Jared Shafer and Wells Fargo Bank Trust Department is also presently working its way through the Federal Court system.

Its been reported that Parks recently declared bankruptcy, but police sources say the bankruptcy will not affect criminal prosecution in the event the DA or AG decides to proceed with charges.

During today's trial, Judge Alf froze all cash and assets that Parks' attorneys claimed are still owed to her by former wards.

Its not yet known if or when Parks will be brought back to Nevada to face criminal charges, but when asked, Clark County DA Steve Wolfson said, "She can run, but she can't hide. My office has jurisdiction over state lines."

April Parks is the second local private guardian to be brought up on charges of exploitation of the elderly. In May, 2014, Patience Bristol, a former employee of veteran Las Vegas private guardian Jared E. Shafer, was convicted of elder exploitation and sentenced to five to eight years in the Nevada State Prison.  At the time of Bristol's crimes, she was employed by Shafer's Professional Fiduciary Services of Nevada Inc. (PFSN) located on Pecos Rd. in Las Vegas.  Shafer and PFSN are currently under investigation based on complaints of financial exploitation of elderly or disabled wards. 

Following an investigation by the Clark County Commission, Charles Hoskin and his appointed Hearing Master Jon Norheim, the two family court judges who consistently appointed Parks and Shafer, were removed from hearing additional guardianship cases by Clark County Chief Judge David Barker.

This is a developing story. Local, state, and federal criminal investigations are currently underway based on criminal complaints filed by numerous clients of Shafer, Parks, and other private guardians licensed to operate in the State of Nevada.

MORE INFORMATION:

http://www.ktnv.com/news/contact-13/search-warrants-served-as-police-investigate-guardianship-exploitation

http://www.reviewjournal.com/news/las-vegas/clark-county-s-private-guardians-may-protect-or-just-steal-and-abuse

http://www.reviewjournal.com/news/las-vegas/clark-county-judges-take-guardianship-oversight-away-embattled-judge-hearing-master

http://www.stevemiller4lasvegas.com/ShaferFinancialRecords2.html

Full Article & Source:
BREAKING: Private Guardian April Parks Found Guilty Of Fraud, Theft, And Conversion

See Also:

Steve Miller: The Story of Elizabeth Indig 

Elderly couple fights guardianship system

The Vegas Voice: Guardianship, Part 3: NOW GET RESULTS!

Steve Miller: Jared Shafer's Clark County Family Court Lackeys Removed From All Guardianship Cases

Contact 13 Investigates: Guardian Gouging?

Steve Miller on the Removal of Nevada Private Guardian April Parks

Couple liberated from guardianship system

New Family Court Judge Puts Immediate Stop To Elder Abuse And Exploitation By For-Hire "Guardians" Jared Shafer And April Parks

Steve Miller: The Story of Elizabeth Indig
 
Steve Miller: A Message From the Son-in-Law of an Exploited Ward of the Clark Co. (Nevada) Family Court

Boulder City police investigate guardianship cases

Steve Miller: Judge Steel Frees Three "Wards" From Exploitive Court Ordered Guardianship On Same Day

Dan Roberts, The Vegas Voice on Private Guardian April Parks: She Had the Dogs Killed

Families Caught up in Guardianship Losing Their Homes

Steve Miller: "Guardian" April Parks Home and Office Raided by Police and Nevada AG

Search warrants served as police investigate guardianship exploitation
Contact 13: Judge in guardianship cases recuses herself

Guardianship Commission to ask for criminal investigations

Steve Miller: Embattled Private Guardian April Parks Censured For Exploiting The Elderly, Mastermind Jared Shafer Stays Under The Radar - For Now

Criminal probe requested in conservatorship case

John E. Clemmons

Citing “incomplete accountings and other misrepresentations,” a court-appointed conservator is recommending that the district attorney general and the TBI open criminal investigations into a Nashville attorney’s handling of a conservatorship.

In a 26-page report filed Thursday in Davidson County Probate Court, Paul Gontarek found that attorney John E. Clemmons paid himself over $370,000 while acting as the conservator of Nannie P. Malone. Court records show that most of those payments were made without court approval.

Malone passed away last year at the age of 81, but her family has filed a civil suit against Clemmons, who is facing criminal charges in a separate case in Rutherford County.

Gontarek was named to replace Clemmons in the Malone case on April 10 after the Tennessee Supreme Court suspended Clemmon’s license to practice law. Probate Judge David “Randy” Kennedy also named Gontarek to take over three other of Clemmons’ cases.

Gontarek said that his review of the four cases showed Clemmons routinely submitted accounting reports that omitted the payments he made to himself. He said some of those reports were “totally fraudulent.”

Full Article and Source:
Criminal probe requested in conservatorship case

See Also:
Nashville Attorney John E. Clemmons Charged With Theft in Conservatorship Case

Tennessee Attorney John E. Clemmons, Court Appointed as Conservator, Sued for Breach of Fiduciary Duty, Conversion, and More

Nashville Attorney John E. Clemmons Charged With Theft in Conservatorship Case

A Nashville attorney, whose license to practice law was recently suspended, has been charged with theft of more than $60,000 from a client.

John E. Clemmons, 65, was charged last week with theft from a retired teacher.

While serving as the conservator of the Rutherford County resident, Clemmons paid himself more than $50,000 in fees without court approval.

Paul Housch, Clemmons’ attorney, said his client already had entered a not guilty plea to the criminal charge. He declined to respond to the charge, stating that it would be addressed in court. An initial hearing is scheduled for June 7.

The charges were initially spelled out in an April order from the state Supreme Court which indefinitely suspended Clemmons’ license to practice law, concluding that allowing him to continue posed “a threat of substantial harm to the public.”

Chancellor Robert E. Corlew III on March 5 removed Clemmons as Russell Church’s conservator. Rutherford County Clerk and Master John A.W. Bratcher then referred the matter to District Attorney General Robert Whitesell, whose office brought the charges to a grand jury.

The indictment was unsealed last week.

Clemmons also is facing charges in a civil case brought by the daughter of a woman for whom Clemmons served as a conservator for more than four years. The suit charges that Clemmons misappropriated about $450,000 from the estate of Nannie P. Malone, who died last year.

The suit on behalf of Malone’s daughter, Teresa A. Lyle, charges that Clemmons breached his fiduciary duty and failed to properly account for thousands of dollars in proceeds when Malone’s property was auctioned. The insurance company that provided a bond for Clemmons under his services in the conservatorship has filed a cross claim against Clemmons for the value of the $300,000 bond.

Full Article and Source:
Nashville Attorney Faces Theft Charges in Conservatorship Case

See Also:
Tennessee Attorney John E. Clemmons, Court Appointed as Conservator, Sued for Breach of Fiduciary Duty, Conversion, and More

TN Attorney John E. Clemmons, Court Appointed as Conservator, Sued for Breach of Fiduciary Duty, Conversion, and More

A Nashville attorney whose law license already is under suspension for misappropriation of a ward’s funds is being accused in a civil suit of misappropriating at least $450,000 from a now-deceased elderly woman whom the courts had entrusted to his care.
In the suit filed in Davidson County Circuit Court, John E. Clemmons has been charged with breach of fiduciary duty, conversion, intentional misappropriation of more than $450,000 and repeatedly failing to account for his handling of the estate of Nannie P. Malone.

In a 16-page complaint filed Friday, Teresa A. Lyle, Malone’s daughter, charged that Clemmons had sold off at auction hundreds of thousands of dollars’ worth of Malone’s property but had failed to properly account for the proceeds.

The suit comes after the state Supreme Court indefinately suspended Clemmons license to practice law, citing him for misappropriation and concluding his continued practice of law “poses a threat of substantial harm to the public.”

The high court action stemmed from a Rutherford County case in which chancery court officials found that Clemmons had paid himself $50,400 without court approval from the estate of a nursing home resident who had been entrusted to his care. A review showed an additional $16,500 could not be accounted for.

In the suit filed in Davidson County, attorneys for Lyle charged that “Clemmons has not made any itemized accounting of any expense” incurred in the auction of Malone’s properties, including a 68-acre farm and four lots.

Full Article and Source:
Suspended Lawyer Faces Lawsuit in a Conservatorship Case
See Also:
TN Attorney John E. Clemmons Suspended After $50,000 Taken From Disabled Ward