OHIO LAWYERS ACCUSED IN GUARDIANSHIP RACKET

A $22 million civil RICO case from Cleveland, Ohio has survived another procedural hurdle and appears headed to trial in Cuyahoga county court.

RICO stands for Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organization. It was passed by congress and signed into law by President Nixon 50 years ago, in 1970. Originally designed to combat organized crime, the laws’ application has expanded to include any group profiting from an illegal activity.

The racketeering suit was filed in January of 2019 by the Cleveland legal firm of Charles Longo and Associates on behalf of Dr. Medhi Saghafi and his family. The case is rooted in a guardianship ordered by the Lorain county probate court and has survived more than a year of procedural challenges.

A guardianship is a legal tool used by state courts to protect the health and assets of an incapacitated person. In the Ohio case, the wife of Dr. Saghafi was placed in a guardianship because she was suffering from dementia and Alzheimer’s disease.

The defendants include a group of eight attorneys from the Cleveland area: Zachary Simonoff, Stephen Wolf, Joyce E. Barrett, James Reddy, Lisa Hahn, Neil Spike, Rachelle Kuzwick Zidar and Eric Zagrans. Also named is Dr. Saghafi’s estranged daughter Jaleh Prescutto; Jaleh’s husband Phillip Prescutto, Jr., a local contractor named Christopher Francis and Stephen Sartchev who is a Certified Public Accountant.

ATTORNEYS TARGETED ASSETS OF DEMENTIA PATIENT

The 54-page suit claims that the attorneys and the other defendants defrauded the court into ordering an illegal guardianship. Then, using the guardianship that was intended to protect Mrs. Saghafi, the defendants instead turned it into an enterprise that they used to enrich themselves.

The suit asks for $22 million in damages which makes the case one of largest probate and estate-fraud cases in recent U.S. history.

OTHER SIMILAR CASES

While the Saghafi case is unusual in Ohio, there have been similar estate fraud cases in other states.

FLORIDA

The Ohio case has parallels to a guardianship case based in Florida’s probate courts. In 2017 Julian Bivins won a $16.7 million award in Florida federal court against five Florida attorneys who targeted the assets of his father, Oliver Bivins a Texas resident, while Oliver was held in a guardianship.

Writing for the Palm Beach Post, John Pacenti explained: “The younger Bivins said he felt his father was “held captive” in South Florida by the guardianship so the attorneys could liquidate real estate assets — including a New York City Upper East Side mansion — and charge more fees.”

The jury found that Florida attorneys Brian M. O’Connell and Ashley N. Crispin of the Ciklin, Lubitz & O’Connell firm not only breached their fiduciary duty but committed professional negligence.

See Pacenti’s full story here: http://www.stopprobatefraud.com/blog/2017/09/19/feds-nail-probate-firm-for-16-million/

TEXAS

In an even bigger, but slightly different case, a Texas jury delivered a $4 billion dollar punitive damage award against JPMorgan Chase for fraud in the estate of Max Hopper.

Hopper had about $19 million in assets in his estate, but had died without a will. JPMorgan Chase was hired by the heirs to administrate Hopper’s probate. They were responsible for collecting assets, paying debts and other legal and accounting tasks that are common in the accounting of an estate.

But after months of chaos, Hopper’s widow Jo and his two children (from a previous marriage) sued JPMorgan Chase for breach of fiduciary duty, breach of contract and fraud. They claimed that the lawyers and accountants who were in charge of the probate had not only failed in their core tasks, but had created strife and problems rather than delivering solutions.

The month-long trial in Dallas ended in September, 2017 when a jury found that JPMorgan Chase had committed fraud and breached its fiduciary duty to the heirs. In addition to the $4 billion in punitive damages, the jury awarded nearly $10 million dollars in actual damages and attorney fees to the Hopper family.

For more details on this story, follow this link: http://www.stopprobatefraud.com/blog/2017/12/08/jp-morgan-guilty-of-fraud/

FRAUD: THE HEARTBEAT OF A RACKET 

Fraud is an illegal activity often described as “stealing with a smile.” The Association of Certified Fraud Examiners (ACFE) broadly refers to fraud as gain or profit from deceit. Based in Austin Texas, the ACFE has 80,000 members around the world and three chapters in Ohio: Cleveland, Columbus and Cincinnati.

One example of fraud is seen when investigative reporters catch mechanics doing unneeded repairs. Another common fraud is found in stories about health care workers who perform tests and procedures that are not needed or wanted by a patient.

In the Saghafi case, the RICO complaint details how a guardianship that was intended to serve and protect an 80 year old woman was turned into a business enterprise that illegally drained the family’s assets under the guise of “elder care.”

The case is set for an August, 2020 trial in the court of Cuyahoga county judge Sherrie Miday.

Full Article & Source:
OHIO LAWYERS ACCUSED IN GUARDIANSHIP RACKET

Steve Miller: Elyse Tyrell, Jared Shafer's Lawyer Appears on Verge of Tears After Being Confronted at Nevada Supreme Court Hearing

I had no intention of bringing anyone to tears.

A dozen people, including myself (Las Vegas Review-Journal photo of the back of my head), testified on Monday, August 17 before the Nevada Supreme Court Guardianship Commission empowered to investigate hundreds of cases of elder exploitation. To the dismay of at least two Commissioners, the hearing was covered by national media.

The witnesses told of more than thirty years of court sanctioned thievery at the hands of several local for-profit guardians and their crooked lawyers who have an obvious stranglehold on several Clark County Family Court judges and their appointed hearing master.

Elyse Tyrell

Elder law attorney Elyse Tyrell and Family Court Judge William Voy are appointed members of the Guardianship Commission, though many believe both have serious conflicts of interest.

During testimony, Commission member Tyrell, her law firm, Trent, Tyrell & Associates, and Commissioner/Family Court Judge Voy were named repeatedly in victim's testimony as being a part of the problem, not the solution. This claim was based on both Commissioners long term legal representation of for-profit guardian Jared E. Shafer.

Judge Voy

Voy, prior to being elected to the Family Court, reportedly represented Shafer in over fifty court cases, and Tyrell took over the highly profitable job of representing Shafer after Voy's election. Both have been asked to step down from the Commission, but both have so far refused.

Ironically, Tyrell and Voy's past and present client, Jared Shafer, is the poster boy for why the Commission was formed.

Shafer, his company Professional Fiduciary Services of Nevada, Inc. (PFSN), former PFSN guardian Patience Bristol who is currently serving 3 - 8 years in prison for exploiting PFSN wards, Current PFSN manager Amy Viggiano Deittrick, Wells Fargo Bank Trust Department, and several other Shafer abettors are currently being sued in U.S. Federal Court under RICO statutes by the family of the late Guadalupe Olvera whose estate was bled of over $430,000.00 while under the court sanctioned control of Shafer and his crew.

Neither Tyrell nor Shafer responded to requests for comment for this column.

Based on "Elder Law Attorney" Elyse Tyrell's on again - off again involvement, alleged improper receipt and dissemination of confidential information, and admitted conflict of interest in Mr. Olvera's case, the complaint below was filed on August 14, 2015 with the State Bar of Nevada.

Full Article and Source:
Elyse Tyrell, Jared Shafer's Lawyer Appears on Verge of Tears After Being Confronted at Nevada Supreme Court Hearing

Tonight on T.S. Radio: Bill Scheidler

Join us as Bill Scheidler talks about his efforts to hold the Washington state BAR Assoc. and the judiciary accountable for the corruption which is rampant in that system. Bill has filed a RICO lawsuit exposing the corruption at all levels, and the protection racket that keeps it running! the ‘RICO lawsuit’ and “RICO statement” with exhibits can be found at this site.

Bill will discuss these topics:

1) At the core of our rotten government you find a lawyer,

2) At the core of the legal establishment are the Bar associations,

3) This entity — the Bar Associations — has become a “shadow government” unaccountable to the people, and

4) The Bar Associates, then become judges … who are also unaccountable …. in this way “judges and lawyers” have become our “judicial branch” and we citizens are their play-toys.

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

LISTEN to the show live or listen to the archive later

Steve Miller: The Anatomy of a Federal Racketeering Lawsuit: Olvera vs. Shafer

READ the full 17 pg. amended lawsuit filed May 21, 2015

See Also:
New Lawsuit Filed Against Nevada "Guardians" Patience Bristol and Jared E. Shafer

Here's How The Great $41 Trillion Generational Wealth Transfer Is Intercepted By Probate Pirates



Carmen Tozzo Hernandez

NEW YORK (MainStreet) — It used to be that Theresa Lyons bartered with the elderly relatives in her family.

“My aging mother and her sister were helping me pay the rent, gas and electricity bills and I would take them out to eat and drive them around to where they needed to go,” said the single mother of three children.

That was until 2011 when Blanca Tozzo, Lyons’s aunt, passed away and her mother, Carmen Hernandez Tozzo, was placed in a retirement home in Florida once the Department of Children and Families (DCF) stepped in.

“I have no access to my mom's finances,” Lyons told MainStreet. “The only way I can get any money is through a subpoena and blessings from the probate judge.”

Once Tozzo became a ward of the state under a professional guardian, Lyons said most of her mother's $100,000 in retirement savings was drained.

Carmen Tozzo Hernandez

“The guardian isolated and drugged my mom, placed her in a lock down area with mentally ill and psychotic patients where she suffered dozens of falls, cuts, bruises and was almost killed by one of the male residents,” said Lyons, who is in her 50s. “When I complained, my visitation was taken away.”

Lyons’s mother is among the senior citizens losing some $36.48 billion each year to elder financial abuse, according to a True Link study called Friendly Grandparent Syndrome.

“These numbers indicate how the guardianship industry destroys the legitimate inter-generational transfer of wealth and in the process irreparably damages entire generations of innocent families,” said Dr. Sam Sugar, founder of the Americans Against Abusive Probate Guardianship (AAAPG) in Miami.

That’s 12 times more than the previously reported $2.9 billion, because elders are ashamed and humiliated and in some cases drugged while residing in a retirement home.

“They often refuse to report this crime,” said Jack Halpern, CEO of My Elder Advocate, a franchise that works with families to solve elder care-related crises. “Elder financial abuse is probably the most unreported crime in the country.”

Some $16.9 billion of these losses a year comes from deceptive but technically legal tactics designed specifically to take advantage of older Americans, according to the 2015 True Link Report on Financial Elder Abuse. “This crime is shielded from public view because the criminal is most often a lawyer in probate court,” said Kristi Hood, author of the book Probate Pirates (JKH Publishing, 2015). “The probate pirate attorney either directly or indirectly finds a way to pick the pockets of the elderly ward of the state, taking money that should be used to care for the person or charging their adult children exorbitant legal fees for help.”

Uncannily similar to organized crime defined in the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act of 1970 (RICO), probate piracy can involve the involuntary redistribution of assets, which is also known as property poaching, with the elderly person becoming the enterprise that is defrauded.

"Unscrupulous charities, probate courts, home repair scammers, retirement homes, neighbors and even distant family members know that a friendly senior with cognitive issues is a potential gold mine,” said Kai Stinchcombe, CEO and founder of True Link.

Baby Boomers and Gen X-ers are reportedly expected to be the recipients of some $41 trillion from their World War 2 generation parents as they pass away.  (Continue reading)

Full Article & Source:
Here's How The Great $41 Trillion Generational Wealth Transfer Is Intercepted By Probate Pirates

See also:
NASGA:  Carmen Tozzo Hernandez, Florida Victim

The Pitfalls of Guardianship

A Guardian: a defender, protector, or keeper.

synonym:  protector, defender, preserver, custodian, warden, guard, keeper,
conservator, curator, caretaker, steward, trustee

Rana Goodman,
Political Editor

I have long been an advocate for seniors and avidly read documents sent to me by others with similar goals. An associate, Steve Miller, who is well known in our city, has been publishing some alarming stories on-line regarding the pitfalls of guardianship.

I subscribed to Steve’s on-line newsletter, and over the last few months have sent him numerous emails and questions about this issue - all of which he responded to quickly.

As I am gearing up for the 2015 legislative session, I wanted to let our readers know what I have found. The Vegas Voice wants to know if YOU are as alarmed as I am.

Let me present the case of one man that was a resident of my own Sun City community - Guadalupe Olvera. Mr. Olvera’s wife passed away in 2009 and at that time he was 90 years of age and fully in control of his faculties.

His home was very large and fully paid for, his bank account flush, but with his dear wife gone, what was missing was family. So rather than rattle around in a large empty house, his only child, Becky, decided to move him to California to live with her.


Becky and Lupe

When Becky arrived in Henderson and went to see her grief stricken father, he was not home, which caused her to call the Guardianship Commissioner’s office for assistance because her mother had been “guardian of person” only due to her father’s physical disabilities. Commissioner Norheim’s office gave her the unlisted home number of Jared Shafer, the guardian into whose hands her father’s affairs had been placed, to “help” her find her father. There was however a “large fly in the ointment” You would think that would be no problem if his adult daughter was voluntarily taking him with her, wouldn’t you? Unfortunately, now that Jared Shafer had hold of this, you would be wrong. Releasing Mr. Olvera into the hands of his daughter and relinquishing guardianship would also mean the loss of potential substantial billings, as the end of the tail has proven.

However, Shafer knew the law in our state was on his side, since according to the Nevada Revised Statute 159.059, a relative living outside of the state does not qualify for guardianship. Jared Shafer is a professional guardian. (Google him - I dare you).

Mr. Olvera and his daughter were adamant that they wanted to be together and he had every right to live wherever he wished. Becky then took her father to her California residence.

Jared Shafer filed a bench warrant for contempt of court against Becky, telling everyone it was for “kidnapping”. To make a long story short, Mr. Olvera was forced into a conservatorship in CA as terms for Jared Shafer to terminate the NV guardianship. Becky managed to also have the CA conservatorship also terminated.

However, it took four long years, in which time, according to Becky, her father’s trust account and CA bank account were raided for a total of over $420,000, mostly in legal fees going to Shafer’s attorneys.

She has now filed suit against Shafer to recover what she can for the estate. Additionally, Becky and four other families, who have been victimized by this guardian “scam” will accompany me to testify for revising the law to allow non-Nevada residents family members to qualify as guardians.

Source:
The Vegas Voice:  The Pitfalls of Guardianship

Judge Calls Jared E. Shafer's Libel Suit "Acrimonious" and "Contemptuous"

Clark County District Court Judge David Barker on August 12, ordered all parties in a two year long libel lawsuit to resolve their differences in Court-Mandated Mediation.

He stayed all other proceedings in the case brought by for-hire guardian Jared E. Shafer, pending Court-Mandated Mediation which will take place in the next 30-45 days.  He also, on the record, explored a resolution of the case which would allow Defendants Rebecca Schultz and Charles Pascal a way out of the suit without admitting liability or paying anything to Plaintiff Shafer, et al.

Judge Barker referred to Shafer's lawsuit as "acrimonious" and "contentious," then asked Shafer's lawyers Alan Freer and  Ross Evans what their client's ultimate goal was in suing Schultz, and Pascal, who is indigent and legally blind?  Freer responded "My client's bottom line is to remove the 108 defamatory RipOff Reports.
    
Attorney D. Brian Boggess, appearing for Schultz, quickly responded that his client did not author the reports.

Judge Barker stated, "I can make that happen," saying that if the parties agree to Court-Mandated Mediation, he will issue a Court Order to RipOff Reports to remove the postings.

Mediation is a process whereby a neutral judge is asked by the trial judge to facilitate resolution between two or more parties. Freer and Evans accepted Judge Barker's Order without protest.

The Judge then asked Pascal, a pro-se Defendant who appeared telephonically, to make a one sentence statement as to whether he objected to the removal of the 108 RipOff Reports.

Pascal replied: "I did not author any of the RipOff Reports that are the subject of this lawsuit, your honor, so of course I don't object to their removal."

Judge Barker then asked attorney Boggess whether his client Rebecca Schultz had any objections to the removal of the 108 postings?

Boggess replied: "My client has never authored a RipOff Report about Mr. Shafer or any of his associates, so she has no objection to the postings being removed." This prolonged lawsuit, which has often been described as a good example of a "SLAPP suit," i.e., strategic lawsuit against public participation was brought against the families of two of Shafer's former "wards" who both claimed he converted hundreds of thousands of dollars from their loved one's trust accounts for his own use without rendering an accounting of how the funds were kept or utilized.

Shafer in 2012 accused Schultz and Pascal of conspiring to post the 108 allegedly defamatory articles about him on the Internet, but has been unsuccessful in proving they conspired, were the authors, or in stopping subsequent postings by anonymous authors.

Coincidently, many of the allegations in the 108 RipOff Reports about Shafer, et. al. are also being alleged in a 15 page Federal Civil Racketeering law suit filed in United States Federal Court on Friday, August 8, 2014, by 95 year old Guadalupe Olvera, a former "ward" of Shafer, and highly decorated WW 2 veteran.  Olvera is the father of Rebecca Schultz, and is also being represented by attorney Brian Boggess.

The Mediation is expected to occur within 45 days and be administered by Judge Jerry A. Wiese.  Pending the Court Order to remove the subject RipOff Reports, no further action is anticipated in this case.

Source:  Update from Steve Miller

READ the RipOff Reports

READ the 15 page lawsuit

Las Vegas "Guardian" Jared E. Shafer Sued for Embezzling $420,000.00 From 95-Year-Old Former "Ward"

Private Guardians Jared E. Shafer and Patience Bristol Sue Blind Man for Libel, Now Ask Taxpayers to Pay the Bill

Las Vegas "Guardian" Jared E. Shafer Sued for "Embezzling" $420,000.00 from 95-Year-Old Former "Ward"

“Shafer and the other Defendants herein are responsible for embezzling, taking under wrongful pretenses and otherwise fraudulently or wrongfully diminishing the value of Olvera’s and the Trust’s assets in an amount to be proved at trial, but in excess of $420,000.00.”

Shafer embezzled funds from the bank accounts of the Guardianship Estate of Guadalupe Olvera, by submitting false or inflated invoices for payment and by taking possession of social security and pension funds without rendering an accounting of how those funds were kept and utilized.”

“By Defendants’ multiple fraudulent acts of embezzlement of funds and receiving possession of money in excess of $250.00, Defendants committed predicated racketeering acts.”

“Upon information and belief, many of the reimbursements paid by the Guardianship, Estate and/or Trust benefiting Guadalupe Olvera to PFSN were for charges made to the personal credit card(s) of Jared E. Shafer.”

World War 2 hero Guadalupe Olvera was discharged from the United States military in 1949 after two tours of duty, one in the Army, another in the Air Force. For the next 70 years, Olvera remained a soldier at heart.

15 page federal racketeering (RICO) lawsuitagainst Las Vegas for-hire guardian Jared E. Shafer; his company Professional Fiduciary Services of Nevada, Inc. (PFSN); Shafer's employees Amy Deittrick and Patience Bristol; Wells Fargo Bank and its trust officers Eve Mills and Susan Bull; the Center for Guardianship Certification, Inc.; and Sun City Anthem Community Association, Inc. and their employee Cathy Elliot.

Olvera's problems began in November 2009 when his wife Carmela passed away, and he was deemed a ward of the Nevada court because of physical disabilities he suffered in the war including an almost complete loss of hearing.

According to Olvera's daughter Rebecca Schultz, "Cathy Elliot had kidnapped my father from his Sun City Anthem home so I couldn't see him. That caused me to contact the Guardianship Commissioner's office for “help”. A woman answering the phone for Jon Norheim referred me directly to Jared Shafer, giving me his unlisted home phone number. Shafer then referred me to his friend and attorney Elyse Tyrell,who had me sign temporary papers making Shafer guardian to get rid of the “exploiter” Elliott.

Everything Tyrell told me was one big fat lie, and as soon as Shafer was temporary guardian, Tyrell told me she “worked for Jared,” even though I had paid her to help me."

Schultz continued; “After Shafer and Tyrell removed my father from Cathy Elliot, I found it very disturbing that neither Shafer nor Tyrell did anything to pursue charges against Elliot or to complain to Sun City Anthem, given the fact that Tyrell stated to my husband and I that she had no doubt Elliot was an exploiter.”

Full Article and Source:
Las Vegas "Guardian" Jared E. Shafer Sued for "Embezzling" $420,000.00 from 95-Year-Old Former "Ward"


See Also:
READ the lawsuit

NASGA:  Lupe Olvera, NV/CA Victim

Board moves to suspend ex-DA’s license

AUSTIN — The State Bar of Texas’ Commission on Lawyer Discipline is seeking to suspend the law license of ex-Cameron County District Attorney Armando R. Villalobos.

A civil trial has been scheduled for 9 a.m. on July 25 before the Board of Disciplinary Appeals, which is appointed by the Supreme Court of Texas, according to public records.

The BODA recently suspended the license of Austin attorney Marc G. Rosenthal.

Villalobos and Rosenthal were both convicted of federal public corruption charges in connection with the favors-for-cash bribery schemes of former 404th state District Judge Abel C. Limas.

Villalobos and Rosenthal are appealing their convictions.

Limas also was convicted of racketeering on a guilty plea. Limas surrendered his law license in 2011 in lieu of disciplinary action by the State Bar of Texas. He is serving six years at the federal prison camp in Pensacola, Florida.

Villalobos is serving a 13-year sentence at the Federal Correctional Institution, Ashland, Kentucky.
Rosenthal was sentenced to 20 years in federal prison. He is held at the low-security Federal Correctional Institution in Beaumont.

In seeking the suspension of Villalobos’ license to practice law, the Commission on Lawyer Discipline noted the serious and intentional crimes for which Villalobos was convicted.

Full Article & Source: 
Board moves to suspend ex-DA’s license

See Also:
Ex-District Judge Sentenced to 6 Years in Prison

TX: Ex-Judge Testifies in Lawyer's Corruption Trial

Ex-TX Judge Takes Plea in RICO Case

TX Lawyer Charged for Paying Judge for Ruling

US Supreme Court Won't Hear Ciavarella Appeal

The U.S. Supreme Court has declined to hear the appeal of former Luzerne County Judge Mark A. Ciavarella Jr., according to an order posted Monday morning on the high court’s website.

The ex-judge’s appeal was a long shot and denial was likely, Ciavarella’s attorneys previously said, since the Supreme Court only hears about 75 of the 10,000 cases each year it is asked to consider.

Ciavarella, jailed for 28 years on corruption charges, has now exhausted all his appeals options. The only thing he and his attorneys can do now is ask the Supreme Court to reconsider its decision, something his attorneys don't plan to do.

The court did not give a reason for denying the appeal. Ciavarella case was just listed under a heading of "CERTIORARI DENIED."

“Are we disappointed? Sure we are. But we understand the Supreme Court takes very few cases in the course of the year,” said attorney Al Flora Jr., who represented Ciavarella along with attorney William Ruzzo. “I know it’s very difficult to get cases before the court. We gave it our best effort, and that’s all that could be expected.”

 

Full Article and Source:
US Supreme Court Won't Hear Ciavarella Appeal

Disgraced Conahan in default for ignoring lawsuit

Even behind bars, disgraced former Luzerne County Judge Michael T. Conahan is still dodging the law.

Conahan, locked away in federal prison, has ignored a civil lawsuit filed against him in connection with the kids-for-cash judicial scandal, federal court officials said Thursday.

The acting clerk for U.S. District Court in Scranton on Thursday ruled Conahan is in default for "failure to answer, plead, or otherwise defend against the complaint."

Conahan is a defendant in a class-action civil rights lawsuit on behalf of thousands of juveniles who appeared in court before his colleague, former Judge Mark A. Ciavarella Jr. Both men are serving lengthy prison sentences for accepting kickbacks for placed juveniles in two for-profit detention centers. The default opens Conahan to damages when the case is finally resolved in federal court.

The suit also seeks damages from Ciavarella, PA Child Care LLC, Western PA Child Care LLC and Mid-Atlantic Youth Services Corp., which own and operate the centers in Pittston Township and Butler County, and the former co-owner of those companies, Robert J. Powell, a Drums attorney who paid the judges $770,000.

Wealthy developer Robert K. Mericle, who paid $2.1 million to Conahan and Ciavarella, who placed juveniles in two for-profit detention centers built by his construction firm, is no longer a defendant in the lawsuits. He won court approval last year for a $17.75 million settlement with more than 1,000 former offenders who appeared in the county juvenile court in 2004-2008. After the suit was initially filed, Conahan asked a court to dismiss the suit on the basis of "judicial and legislative immunity." Since a federal judge denied the request, Conahan has not responded to the suit, court documents filed Thursday said.

Full Article and Source:
Disgraced Conahan in default for ignoring lawsuit

Tonight on T.S. Radio: Human Trafficking of the Elderly and Defining RICO

Join us this evening as we discuss trafficking of the elderly and how RICO applies not only to this, but to the subsequent grand larceny that occurs after the elder has been abducted by state actors.

Probate court is nothing more than the legalization of grand larceny. Lives are destroyed, estates looted all under the supervision of corrupt probate judges.

Our elders who have assets are being abducted by the state and held hostage while the estate is plundered by the predators.

This is simply another form of human trafficking done for the sole purpose of profiting from the larceny perpetrated upon personal estates. The same f+, the same predatory guardians, the same attorneys, the same APS agents and Social Services personnel…..all appear time after time in hundreds of cases. This is no co-incidence………this is organized crime!

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

LISTEN LIVE or listen to the archive later

"The Ultimate Ponzi"

Every region of the country has its Ponzi villain, but it's hard to imagine another who could match Fort Lauderdale's pugnacious despot Scott Rothstein for the audacity of his $1.4 billion crime against friends, neighbors, co-workers and good taste.

A web of tragedies that might give both Shakespeare and Elmore Leonard pause, Rothstein's reign played out right in front of our disbelieving eyes, as he flaunted his Bugattis and $10,000 suits on Las Olas Boulevard, leaving millionaires plundered, lives ruined and questions lingering about the mysterious deaths of two women close to him.

Fort Lauderdale public relations executive and author Chuck Malkus, who attended some of Rothstein's over-the-top social gatherings, has chronicled the now-imprisoned lawyer's rise and fall in a book, "The Ultimate Ponzi: The Scott Rothstein Story" (Pelican Publishing).

Two years in the making, the profile of this tacky, made-for-TV horror story is a spritely mix of Malkus' own memories of the "vulgar arriviste" layered with interviews with former co-workers, the duped, the adversaries and the girlfriends, as well as deposition testimony, input from forensic accountants, psychologists and local attorneys, and reporting from South Florida media, including the Sun Sentinel.

Full Article and Source:
The Ultimate Ponzi:  Scott Rothstein Books Excerpts Reveal Juicy Details

Ciavarella Seeking New Trial in "Kids-for-Cash" Scandal

Layers of judicial reflection stacked like Descartes’ wax on the bench of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit on Wednesday.

The court was faced with an odd situation, Judge Marjorie O. Rendell noted, saying it’s “judges judging judges who are judging judges.”

Former Luzerne County Court of Common Pleas Judge Mark A. Ciavarella Jr. is arguing that his convictions related to the bribes he took to place youthful offenders in a privately-owned juvenile detention center in the “kids-for-cash” scandal should be set aside because U.S. District Judge Edwin Kosik of the Middle District of Pennsylvania, who presided over his trial, had shown bias against him.

Ciavarella focused primarily on Kosik’s responses to letters from citizens expressing outrage at the allegations and a newspaper article that attributed derisive quotes about Ciavarella’s alleged conduct to Kosik. Kosik denied talking to the reporter, according to court papers.

Full Article and Source:
Ciavarella Seeks New Trial in "Kids-for-Cash" Scandal

LOS ANGELES COUNTY SUPERIOR COURT JUDGE HOLLY FUJIE ACCUSED OF MISAPPROPRIATION OF FUNDS

Documents filed in the United States District Court for the District of Columbia reveal that Holly Fujie of Los Angeles allegedly engaged in predicate acts of racketeering through and by means of money laundering, mail and bank fraud, as well as conversion of funds.

A former partner of Los Angeles-based Buchalter Nemer -- who California Governor Jerry Brown appointed to the Los Angeles County Superior Court bench under questionable circumstances involving his cousin, former California Public Utility Commisioner Geoff Brown -- is accused in federal court of committing myriad financial crimes and acts of fraud.

The lawsuit, filed as a civil-racketeering action by Marina Del Rey-based community activist Daniel Dydzak, also names as a defendant Bet Tzedek Legal Services of Los Angeles and Eric George -- the son of the controversial former chief justice of California, Ronald George.

Both Holly Fujie and Eric George were directors of Bet Tzedek, an entity which obtained millions of dollars from the various trusts funds maintained and operated by the State Bar of California, as well as funds from the California Bar Foundation, where Holly Fujie presently serves as the vice-president.

Both the State Bar of California and the California Bar Foundation are under the direct control of the California Supreme Court.

Full Article and Source:
LOS ANGELES COUNTY SUPERIOR COURT JUDGE HOLLY FUJIE ACCUSED OF MISAPPROPRIATION OF FUNDS

Ponzi schemer Scott Rothstein gets 50-year sentence

FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. — Scott Rothstein, the South Florida Ponzi schemer extraordinaire, received a 50-year prison sentence Wednesday after a hearing in federal court in Fort Lauderdale.

U.S. District Judge James Cohn, an Alabama native appointed by President George W. Bush, gave the disbarred lawyer more than what prosecutors requested for his crime as the mastermind of South Florida's biggest financial fraud.

 

"I am truly and deeply sorry for what I have done," Rothstein said, addressing the court wearing cuffs on his wrists and ankles. "I don't expect your forgiveness."

Full Article and Source:
Ponzi schemer Scott Rothstein gets 50-year sentence

The Ponzi Thief Who Picked Judges

Where do judges come from?

From Marybeth Feiss, of course.

Feiss, according to federal investigators, ran the fraudulent political contribution scheme that enabled her bombastic, absurdly grandiose, insanely ostentatious Ponzi thief of a boss, among other outrages, to buy himself a seat on the state judicial nominating committee.

Feiss, 42, was charged last week with bundling hundreds of thousands of dollars in illegal campaign contributions from 2006 through 2009 at the behest of the infamous scammer Scott Rothstein. Some $3 million was funneled to local, state and federal candidates and political parties, much of it illegally, through lawyers and employees (and their spouses) of his now-defunct Las Olas Boulevard law firm, Rothstein Rosenfeldt Adler.

The criminal complaint, filed Thursday (exactly two years after the feds arrested Rothstein), states: “It was the object of the conspiracy that Rothstein and his co-conspirators, including Feiss, aimed to dramatically increase the political influence and power of RRA and become one of the most powerful law firms in the country by utilizing some of the attorneys and administrative personnel of RRA and other persons associated with RRA to unlawfully make prohibited political contributions.” Rothstein reimbursed his minions for the contributions, much of it in the guise of bonuses.

John Gillies, the head of the FBI office in South Florida, put it a bit more succinctly. With Feiss, his administrative assistant, doing what assistants do, Gillies said, “Rothstein tried to buy political influence with the money he stole from the Ponzi scheme to contribute millions of dollars to political campaigns.”

But Rothstein didn’t just try to buy political influence. He outright bought it.

Full Article and Source:
The Ponzi Thief Who Picked Judges

Scott Rothstein's Belongings Headed to Auction

Soon you will be able to get your hands on some fancy merchandise once owned by convicted Ponzi schemer Scott Rothstein and his wife Kim.

Friday, we got a first look at the more than 200 items items up for auction by the bank. They include custom-made suits, autographed sports memorabilia, luxurious home furnishings and wide-screen TVs.

The auction is being held by order of the U.S. Bankruptcy Court and in hopes of bringing victims some compensation for the millions they lost and the Rothsteins spent.

An online auction will be held between October 6 and 13 and a live auction on October 15 at the Embassy Suites in Boca Raton. Registration will begin at 8 a.m.

Full Article and Source:
Scott Rothstein's Spoils Head to Auction Block in Boca Raton

Michael T. Conahan Could be Headed to Cushy Prison

If the U.S. Bureau of Prisons takes the advice of the judge who sentenced Michael T. Conahan on Friday, Conahan will serve his time in a minimum-security prison camp in the Florida Panhandle that was ranked one of the nation's 10 "cushiest" federal prisons by Forbes Magazine in 2009.

The Federal Prison Camp in Pensacola is adjacent to the Pensacola Naval Air Station and inmates have prime employment and recreation opportunities on the base that are not available in most federal lockups, the magazine concluded.

U.S. District Judge Edwin M. Kosik recommended the prison camp at the request of the defense so that Conahan could be near members of his family. Conahan's wife, Barbara, purchased a home in Delray Beach, Fla., in June, according to records in Palm Beach County, Fla.

Full Article and Source:
Conahan Could Be Headed to Cushy Prison

Former Judge Michael T. Conahan Gets 17.5 Years!

On Friday, September 23, 2011, former Luzerne County President Judge Michael T. Conahan, 59, was sentenced by Federal Middle District Court Judge Edwin M. Kosik to 210 months, or 17.5 years, in federal prison for his part in the Luzerne County judicial scandal. Conahan pled guilty to his crimes and received a sentence of almost 10 years less than co-Defendant, former Luzerne County Judge Mark A. Ciavarella.

Kosik additionally ordered Conahan to pay more than $874,000 in restitution, along with other fines. Judge Kosik also recommended that Conahan be sent to a prison in Delray Beach, Florida "not for convenience" but so that his family can be in close proximity

Before the sentence was handed down, Conahan sat as he read a prepared statement accepting responsibility for his actions and apologizing to all of those he harmed. He told the court, "...the system was not corrupt. I was corrupt."

Source:
Former Luzerne County Judge Michael T. Conahan Sentenced to 17.5 Years in Prison