Recommended Website and Book: ExploitationElderly.net

Joe Roubicek has investigated over a thousand exploitation of the elderly crimes over the past 25 years, primarily during his 20 year career with the Fort Lauderdale Police Department. Throughout his career he has testified in numerous criminal trials and depositions. He also testified in the 1990’s as an expert in related probate hearings.

Joe Roubicek has testified as an expert witness in investigations regarding exploitation of the elderly. You can request a consultation here and request information about retaining expert witness services from Joe Roubicek at this link.

Joe has compiled this website with information that can help those who are dealing with exploitation of their loved one(s), friends or neighbors. There is a link above that will bring you to suggested Training Materials and another link for Resources which will help you.

Source:
ExploitationElderly.net

Joe's book, "Financial Abuse of The Elderly - A Detective's Case Files of Exploitation Cases" is available through Amazon

Glen Campbell's Children Instigate Tennessee Law That Will Protect Elderly

This week marked a major victory for Glen Campbell's oldest children in what they claim has been an ongoing battle with their stepmother over rights to visit their ailing father. On Monday, Tennessee Governor Bill Haslam signed the Campbell/Falk Act, which protects communication rights for people who've become wards of the state and those who have conservators over their financial and living situations.

Named after the country music legend and Emmy-winning actor Peter Falk (Columbo, Murder, Inc.), the new law restricts conservators from blocking interaction with loved ones, whether it be in person or via phone, email or mail. And if the disabled person is unable to communicate — as is the case with Campbell, who is in the final stages of Alzheimer's — his or her prior relationship with the visiting person presumes consent.

Campbell's eldest daughter, Debby, and son Travis teamed with Falk's daughter, Catherine, in lobbying the government to get behind the cause. Catherine Falk claims her stepmother tried to prevent her from seeing her famous father, resulting in extensive (and expensive) legal action. Peter Falk suffered from dementia and passed away in 2011. Catherine claims her stepmother neither notified her of her father's passing, nor of his funeral.

Falk was at the Tennessee state capitol this past Monday, along with Debbie Campbell Cloyd, Travis Campbell and his wife Trudy, Marcia Southwick with Boomers Against Elder Abuse and Joseph Roubicek of the National Association to Stop Guardian Abuse. Country legend Tanya Tucker — who dated Glen Campbell in the early Eighties and has remained a close family friend — was also in attendance to lend her outspoken support.

"If this can happen to Glen Campbell, it can happen to anyone," Trudy Campbell said at the bill's signing, as reported in a news release from Tennessee's Senate Republican Caucus. "It is a civil right and certainly a God-given right to see your child and to receive mail from them. We know that thousands of others are suffering from restrictive action by a ward and are very pleased that Tennessee has passed this law to protect them."

Senator Rusty Crowe (R-Johnson City), who sponsored the bill with Representative Jeremy Faison (R-Cosby) commented that it's "heartbreaking to hear sons and daughters who cannot spend quality time with their parent after they are incapacitated and their health is in decline," adding, "We believe this new law strikes the right balance so that it protects the rights of some of our most vulnerable citizens, while at the same time giving the conservator a fair process to follow in protecting the ward."  (Continue Reading)

Full Article & Source:
Glen Campbell's Children Instigate Tennessee Law That Will Protect Elderly

Joe Roubicek: Joe's Cases: Respect vs. Ageism

In 1939 the dark comedy play Arsenic and Old Laceopened on Broadway and became an immediate hit. The New York Times reviewer wrote that “It is so funny that none of us will ever forget it.”

Indeed. The plot involves two spinster aunts who lure lonely old men into their home to poison them with glasses of homemade elderberry wine laced with arsenic, strychnine and “just a pinch of” cyanide. Then their nephew, Teddy, (who believes he’s Teddy Roosevelt) buries the bodies in the cellar. The ladies say that they are doing this “for charity.”

Arsenic And Old Lace is based on a notorious serial killer who murdered the elderly for profit. We make no connection to the plight of the elderly victims because the focus is on the killers. In this same sense, because society tends not to focus on the elderly, their victimization is largely ignored. Unless there is obvious evidence of foul play, law enforcement, the health care sector and society in general, have a tendency to believe that the elderly (versus other age groups) always die of natural causes. This often wrong assumption can be partially attributed to something called “ageism.”

Ageism is the tendency to perceive older persons in many negative ways, including being debilitated, unworthy of attention and “less alive.” When an older person forgets a name, they are senile. When a younger person forgets they are forgetful, or are having a “senior moment.”

Ageism perpetuates prejudice, discrimination and mistreatment of elders and psychological studies have found that it actually shortens the lifespans of elders.

Respecting our elders on the other hand, gives them longevity and brings us humility. A Yale University study found that those with positive self-perceptions of aging lived 7.5 years longer and moreover, older adults exposed to positive stereotypes have significantly better memory and balance. And how do we respect our elders? We can be patient, spend time, listen, tell them we love and appreciate them, and look for their wisdom because it’s there, say’s Mark Twain …

“When I was a boy of fourteen, my father was so ignorant I could hardly stand to have the old man around. But when I got to be twenty-one, I was astonished at how much he had learned in seven years.”

Full Article and Source:

Joe's Cases:  Respect vs. Ageism

Joe Roubicek: Joe's Cases: Shanghai'd For Profit

“Shanghai” refers to a time when sailors were taken either by force, the use of drugs, or liquor. This case is about someone shanghaied by a predator and the health care system, while it prevails today in a different form called “Isolate, Medicate and Take the Estate.”

It was New Year’s Day, 1991 when Christine Cobb, a 64-year-old retired postal worker, cried with relief. This was her first day of freedom from the Broward General Hospital’s psychiatric ward. She had been drugged, sedated and under observation after being committed using a Florida law called the “Baker Act,” which allows a person who may be dangerous to him/herself or others be held involuntarily for 72 hours.

Her problems began two months earlier when she moved into an unlicensed adult living facility (ALF). Just a one-story house owned and operated by 29-year-old Jennifer Smith, a former employee of the state’s Adult Protective Services agency who was very familiar with the procedures that regulated group homes in Florida. Before that, she was a bank teller with a good understanding of check-cashing procedures. She appeared to be a polite and pleasant woman, but Christine found otherwise.

Jennifer Smith began by stealing Christine’s purse and reporting to police that both of their purses, identifications and checkbooks, had been stolen. She lied about having her own identification stolen because as a former bank employee, she believed that she could still use her identification to cash stolen checks while claiming the “thief” had done it.

When Christine Cobb demanded her purse be returned, Smith insisted that she was imagining things, or delusional. Christine was outraged!

The nightmare worsened. After Christine served her purpose, she was handcuffed and led away to the psychiatric ward by police, because Jennifer Smith had Baker Acted her. Christine cried foul, infuriated with Smith and her lies, but no one would listen. The more upset she became, the more they restrained and drugged her and eventually she became despondent.

While Christine was drugged and confined, Smith began forging and cashing the victim’s checks for over $10,000. Smith used her own identification, confident that she could later insist that the thief who had stolen her ID had cashed the checks but ironically, the same bank tellers she once worked with identified her for police.

For unknown reasons, Christine was held for observation for 30 days instead of the customary 3 days. Healthcare workers later admitted there never was any basis for committing her while the state of Florida (the taxpayers) paid for Christine’s hospital stay.

Full Article and Source:
Joe's Cases:  Shanghai'd for Profit

Joe Roubicek: Joe's Cases: Rich Grandma, Poor Grandma

How badly would you like to win the lottery?

Gertrude Townsend, an 87-year-old woman from the “bad part of town,” went from rags to riches when she won 2.68 million dollars in the Florida Lottery. Her family held her hostage while stealing the spoils and attorneys battled for guardianship on her dime, to determine who would control the fortune.

Mark Twain said history does rhyme and nest eggs are still wiped out by pretentious “do-gooders.” Poor Grandma!

Lotto Grandma Lives In Poverty, Feels Heartbreak
August 15, 1998|By TESSIE BORDEN Staff Writer

FORT LAUDERDALE — Winning $2.68 million in the Florida Lottery did nothing to improve 87-year-old Gertrude Townsend’s life.

In fact, detectives say, the windfall brought her only unpaid bills, a bedridden existence and the heartbreak of a grandson who stole her money.

On Thursday morning, that grandson, Eric Jones, was arrested as he tried to cash a $650 check in Townsend’s name at the Nations Bank branch at 1300 Southeast 17th St. Police charged Jones, 25, with grand theft, passing a forged check and financial exploitation of the elderly.

“She’s technically a millionaire,” said Fort Lauderdale Detective Joe Roubicek. “But her phone is getting turned off. She’s living in squalor.”

Full Article and Source:
Joe Roubicek:  Joe's Cases:  Rich Grandma, Poor Grandma

Joe Roubicek: Joe's Cases: Anything for Money: A Predator's Tale

Ina hated that incessant ringing as she lay in bed with her bedroom light on in the middle of the night. I’m 93 years old, for God’s sake, she thought. I can’t take this anymore. With a trembling hand she picked up the receiver. “Hello?”

Heavy breathing, then cries and screams. “Aaaaaggg help! Aaauughhh!” It sounded as if someone were being tortured.

“Who is this?” … Silence … “Leave me alone!”

More heavy breathing.

Ina hung up the phone and unplugged it from the wall.

Next morning, she washed, made her coffee, and returned to the bedroom to plug the phone back in, something she had done every day for the past week. But no sooner had she plugged it back in when it began ringing. Since it was daytime and the nuisance calls only came in at night, she answered the phone.

“How are you this morning?”

Ina recognized the Caribbean accent of Sharon Wilcox, a woman she had recently employed. In fact, she had expected the call.

“What do you want?” Ina asked.

“I need more money, Ina.”

“I’ve already given you plenty of money, Sharon. It’s time you left me alone.”

“You know, Ina, I still have the key to your garage. You mustn’t make me use it.”

“This is the last time, so you better stop calling me.”

“I’ll need $500,” Sharon said.

“And then you’ll leave me alone?”

“I promise. I’ll stop by this afternoon to drop off your key and say goodbye, okay?”

Ina agreed and Sharon Wilcox, her former devoted caretaker, came to the house that afternoon, picked up a $500.00 check, returned Ina’s garage key, a key that ultimately already had cost Ina $2,000 to retrieve it.

Maybe the calls would stop. Maybe Ina could have some peace.

Full Article and Source:
Joe's Cases:  Anything for Money:  A Predator's Tale

Joe Roubicek: The Predatory Bank Tellers

“History doesn’t repeat itself, but it does rhyme.” ~  Mark Twain

Let’s begin with this Sun Sentinel blurb on Ganesh Viswanathan, a bank teller I arrested for fraud back in 1989.

2 Charged With Forgery
October 12, 1989|Staff reports
FORT LAUDERDALE — A couple were arrested on Wednesday on charges of forging checks worth $14,380 from a bank where the husband was employed, police said.

Arrested on theft and forgery charges were Ganesh Viswanathan and his wife, Patricia, both 24, of the 5600 block of Northeast Second Terrace.

Detective Joseph Roubicek said the couple forged and cashed two checks for themselves from the North Ridge Bank, where Ganesh Viswanathan was a teller. Both of the suspects have been fired from at least two other local banks, police said.

***********

Now here’s what really happened in that case …

A bookkeeper for a Fort Lauderdale business went to the North Ridge Bank on a Friday to do the company payroll. It was routine, or at least that’s what she thought. Weeks later, she was facing arrest for embezzling money from her employer. She appeared to have cashed thousands of dollars in counter checks, along with the regular payroll and the evidence implicating her was overwhelming:
Forged counterchecks where uttered and time stamped in unison with her regular payroll.

She was on video standing at the counter during the transactions.

The bank manager initialed each countercheck, along with the teller’s initials, confirming the transactions by the bookkeeper.

It appeared the bookkeeper had tried to conceal the theft by mixing the counterchecks in with the regular payroll checks, a common method used by dirty bookkeepers.

But she didn’t do it.

Full Article and Source:
The Predatory Bank Tellers
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Joe Roubicek: The Criminal "Civil Matter"

“History doesn’t repeat itself, but it does rhyme.” Mark Twain

January 1991 – The house was perfect for this sting operation, unoccupied and up for sale by an owner kind enough to lend it out for a couple of days. The most important feature about this house was its plumbing, which happened to be in excellent condition. It had to be for the whole case could … Well, go down the toilet. 

A 75-year-old woman, an actress provided by chief LaGraves of the prosecutor’s office, was wearing a hidden microphone, sat patiently on a couch in the living room waiting for the doorbell to ring. Soon she would be presenting herself as a poor, frail and confused old lady, just ready for the taking.

Our technical unit had set up a video camera that spied on the exterior east wall of the house from inside a neighbor’s home. A detective was parked a half block up the road, waiting to give the signal when the suspect arrived, and three more detectives sent by the camera and the neighbor’s house. Two patrolmen cruised a couple blocks away, ready if called upon, and a special prosecutor, Mark Springer, stood by his desk for progress reports. The bait was set, everyone just waiting for the suspect to arrive.

He was considered a figurehead in a tunneling fraud operation that had burned victims for tens of thousands of dollars each. His real tools weren’t a shovel or backhoe – they were deception and extortion. Michael Angove, or “Mike The Plumber,” was known to dig a mountain of dirt for a mountain of cash that he demanded from elderly homeowners, using their limited mobility and dependency on others against them.

Dorothy Darling, an 80-year-old disabled woman, was one of those victims. She called for a plumber because her toilet made a constant leaking noise. She didn’t know that the plumbing was actually in good condition. A “leaking flapper,” the small rubber piece that keeps the water in the tank, could have been easily fixed with a $10 repair kit.

After Angove of A Aachen Plumbing in Fort Lauderdale checked it out though,he left Dorothy’s bathroom and went to his truck to begin a very different type of repair. He grabbed a shovel and dug a one-foot-deep hole by the side of the woman’s house, filling the hole with water from the garden hose.

Full Article and Source:
Joe's Cases: The Criminal "Civil Matter"

Joe Roubicek: Expert on Exploitation of the Elderly

Joe Roubicek has investigated over a thousand exploitation of the elderly crimes over the past 25 years, primarily during his 20 year career with the Fort Lauderdale Police Department. Throughout his career he has testified in numerous criminal trials and depositions. He also testified in the 1990’s as an expert in related probate hearings.

So What is Financial Exploitation?

In a sentence, Florida’s exploitation law (FSS 825.103) states that when someone maliciously takes the property of an “elderly person,” they are committing exploitation. That’s the essence of the law.

But there is also an important requirement: Within this law, an “elderly person” is defined as someone 60 years of age or older who is suffering from the infirmities of aging to the extent that their ability to adequately care for and protect themselves is impaired. The law states that the elderly person must suffer a physical or mental infirmity. Therefore, exploitation is based primarily on infirmities or disabilities and not deception.

This is why exploitation is not fraud and why it can be much more devastating and offensive. Fraud is generally defined as deception that is carried out for the purpose of achieving personal gain while causing injury to another party. Exploitation requires more than that. It requires that the victims suffer disabilities that make them more vulnerable. And when the victim is more vulnerable, the victim impact is far worse.

To compare exploitation to fraud would be like comparing robbery to larceny. If you told a police officer that robbery is the worst type of larceny, he or she would correct you and say that they are two different crimes. Larceny simply means the taking of another’s property, while robbery requires the taking by force or threat. In the same sense, exploitation and fraud are also two different crimes. While scammers focus on things that their victims want with deception, exploiters focus on things victims need through the dependency caused by their infirmities.

Source:
Exploitation of the Elderly

NASGA highly recommends Joe's books:

Tonight on T.S.Radio: Joe Roubicek on Criminal Law Applied to Guardianship

Hosted By Marti Oakley & Debbie Dahmer

Our guest this evening is Joe Roubicek, a detective who has dealt directly with the targeting of the elderly by predators in the probate system.

We are exposed to the criminal activity facilitated by corrupt probate courts and those who depend on them for access and protection, every day of the week. While the elderly are systematically targeted, kidnapped, isolated and neglected so that their estate can be siphoned off by the court appointed predators, a growing movement is underway to charge those responsible, criminally.

The corruption associated with probate courts across the country with the corresponding theft of estates perpetrated by predatory guardians, unethical attorneys and others who have interjected themselves into the case, has become a hot button topic. How to deal with these people in a so-called "justice system" that routinely works to protect the predators has also become the focus of many efforts.

Joe will be speaking about what can be applied to criminal law in probate cases.

LISTEN LIVE or listen to the archive later

4:00 pm PST … 5:00 pm MST … 6:00 pm CST … 7:00 pm EST

NASGA recommends Joe's handbook about guardianship abuse:  Guardian Angels inc.: The Vile Business of Corrupt Guardianship

LOVE AND MERCY: Brian Wilson’s Corrupt Guardianship

by Joe Roubicek

LOVE AND MERCY has finally been released, a story of how the gifted Brian Wilson of the Beach Boys became a middle aged “broken, confused man under the pharmacological and legal thrall of therapist Dr. Eugene Landy,” as the critics put it.

Take away the status and unique qualities of Brian Wilson and you are left with the typical scenario of corrupt guardianships that are going on all around us every day.

I would highly recommend this movie, but PLEASE read the following excerpts from “Guardian Angels Inc. The Vile Business Of Corrupt Guardianship.” so that you might appreciate the consistency in methodology of these culprits.

On Corrupt Guardianship
Page 11-12

Similarly, despite the original intent of guardianship -- to protect the life of the ward while preserving the ward’s assets – it too has often become corrupted to the point where the ward is silenced without legitimate legal representation.

Then, like the “Trojan Horse” of Greek mythology, attorneys and guardians use the ruse of good intent “in the best interest and well-being of the ward,” to attack and plunder estates while victims are isolated, taken hostage, drugged, imprisoned and even murdered.

Their estates are either brazenly stolen, or quietly depleted through a pretentious process of “servicing” the guardianship. When paid by the hour, these professionals make more by working at solving problems than by actually solving them. 

This corrupt process has been identified by activists as, “Isolate, Medicate and Take the Estate.”

Source:
Exploitation by the Mailman

See Also:
Announcing the Release of Joe Roubicek's New Book, "Guardian Angels inc. - The Vile Business of Corrupt Guardianship

2014 Year-End Reflection #2: Joe Roubicek's New Booklet on Guardianship Abuse

So often when victims tell their story, they are not believed either in part or completely.

Guardianship abuse is a reality that is often seemingly so outrageous, it could not happen in America, the land of the free and home of the brave.  Those who have not heard of guardianship abuse or have not experienced it directly, often have a hard time understanding or wrapping their minds around it.

Joe Roubicek gave advocates a valuable awareness tool this year:  "Guardian Angels, inc.:  The Vile Business of Corrupt Guardianship" - a forty page expose' of present-day corruption within the guardianship industry, that focuses on isolation, medication and disposing of the elderly for their estates.

The booklet is a concise, thought-provoking piece authored by a seasoned investigator of financial exploitation of the elderly crimes.

NASGA suggests all advocates have one of Joe's books on hand, especially  when they are speaking to media or their local elected representatives about their case or our cause.

Thanks, Joe!
Available through Amazon

Financial Exploitation Expert Joe Roubicek Quoted in AARP's Bulletin

Before the move

Notify the post office at least seven to 10 business days before your move.

During the move

Supervise everything. Your presence can deter sticky fingers. If you can't be there, designate a trusted person to be your eyes and ears.

After you arrive

Within 30 days of your move, verify that all mail is coming to the new residence. Ensure that old utility, cable or other accounts have been closed.

Three months after the move, get a free copy of your credit report online at annualcreditreport.com to ensure that no fraudulent accounts have been opened in your name.

This is especially important for snowbirds. Crooked store clerks know that "with a seasonal visitor, they have a better chance of using that card without getting caught," says Joe Roubicek, author of Financial Abuse of the Elderly: A Detective's Case Files of Exploitation Crimes.

Full Article and Source:
Keeping Your Personal Information Safe When You Move

See Also:

Financial Exploitation of the Elderly: A Detective's Case Files of Exploitation

Guardian Angels, inc. : The Vile Business of Corrupt Guardianship

Tonight on T.S. Radio: TS Radio With Guests Joe Roubicek and Dr. Arden Gifford.

In the first hour, join us as Joe Roubicek discusses his new 40 page pamphlet on guardianship.

Joe’s book ” Guardian Angels inc/ The Vile Business Of Corrupt Guardianship” is available on Amazon and exposes the realities of professional predatory guardians and the looting of estates.

This book is ideal for handing out to those who are planning to attend seminars that claim to help avoid guardianship/conservatorship, and are instead a data basing system used to identify and track those with assets. It is a must have to educate others on the impending theft of their estates and how it is done by the courts and professional predators.

In the second hour, Dr. Arden Gifford joins us again to discuss forensic psychiatry, your right to a second opinion and the use of psychotropic drugs on the elderly. Please be advised that Dr. Gifford cannot diagnose or treat any specific case or individual.  This interview is for educational purposes only.

5:00 pm PST … 6:00 pm MST … 7:00 pm CST … 8:00 pm EST

LISTEN LIVE or listen to the archive later

Available at Amazon

Announcing the Release of Joe Roubicek's New Book: Guardian Angels inc. - The Vile Business of Corrupt Guardianship

A forty page expose' of present-day corruption within the guardianship industry, that focuses on isolation, medication and disposing of the elderly for their estates. This is a concise, thought-provoking piece authored by a seasoned investigator of financial exploitation of the elderly crimes.

Available at Amazon