Former Cloquet police officer found guilty of taking advantage of elderly person

By Matt McConico 

SAINT PAUL & CLOQUET, Minn. – Former Cloquet Police Officer Laci Marie Silgjord was found guilty of one count of felony attempted theft by swindle.

Silgjord exploited a now-deceased 78-year-old vulnerable adult.

She gained access to victim’s bank accounts and attempted to inherit the estate worth more than $150.000, despite Ms. Armey having surviving family.

Silgjord was financially exploiting Joan Arney, at the time a 78-year-old with dementia, Silgjord met through her employment as a then-Cloquet police officer.

The state said four months after meeting the victim, Silgjord represented herself to a bank as her fiduciary, despite having no legal authority for this role, and gained access to the victim’s bank accounts.

Silgjord will be sentenced at a date to be determined.

The Carlton County Attorney referred the case to the Attorney General’s Office and the Medicaid Fraud Control Unit investigated the case. It was tried jointly by Medicaid Fraud and Criminal Division.

Timeline of the accusations against Silgjord from the Attorney General’s Office:

As outlined in the  criminal complaint and as proven at trial, Silgjord first met the victim in May 2020 when Silgjord responded to the victim’s residence for a call regarding a stolen purse. By January 2021, Silgjord had attempted to obtain the victim’s entire remaining estate despite the victim having surviving family and no written estate plan awarding anything to Silgjord. This was despite a Cloquet Police Department policy that in order to “avoid actual or perceived conflicts of interest members of this department shall refrain from developing or maintaining personal or financial relationships with victims, witnesses or other individuals during the course of, or as a direct result of, any official contact.” 

Then-Officer Silgjord first encountered the victim on May 5, 2020, when she responded to a call about a stolen purse.  On June 2, 2020, Silgjord performed a welfare check at the victim’s house upon the request of the victim’s half-brother. Silgjord and other officers conducted a second welfare check on August 25, 2020, when they found the victim in very poor condition, including that she had suffered a stroke and had deficits in memory and attention. The victim was immediately transported to the hospital.  

On September 4, 2020, the hospital petitioned for guardianship for the victim due to “severe memory and orientation deficits which make her unable to make higher level decisions about her medical care.” At a court hearing on the guardianship, Silgjord stated that a social worker at the hospital asked Silgjord to be the victim’s guardian. The Court appointed Silgjord as guardian on September 11, 2020, which allowed her to perform duties related to personal care and custody. Silgjord was never appointed as a conservator to make financial decisions for the victim or manage the victim’s money, however. 

Throughout September 2020, Silgjord recorded multiple bedside conversations with the victim.  During one conversation, the victim said she did not know where she was, did not know her maiden name, did not know her father’s name, and did not remember how old her son was when he died.  Silgjord also showed the victim a photograph of herself when she was younger; the victim did not recognize herself. During this conversation, Silgjord told the victim that she was her “new grandma” and that she loved the victim.  The victim responded that she loved Silgjord and that she wanted to take care of her. 

In late September 2020, Silgjord presented guardianship paperwork to the victim’s bank. She documented on a form titled “Fiduciary Accounts Application & Agreement” that she was the victim’s fiduciary and that she had the authority to access the victim’s accounts.   

Medical records in October 2020 documented the victim’s continued regression, and at times noted she was hallucinating. On October 28, 2020, the victim passed away with no surviving children and no will. Silgjord did not notify the victim’s estranged husband and next of kin about the victim’s death.   

Shortly after the victim’s death, Silgjord met the victim’s estranged husband at a restaurant. The Court’s order appointing Silgjord as guardian indicated that her guardianship expired upon the victim’s death — yet Silgjord claimed to the victim’s estranged husband that she was “in charge” of ensuring the victim’s wishes were carried out. Silgjord also refused to give the estranged husband the keys to the victim’s house. When the estranged husband asked Silgjord about submitting paperwork to access the victim’s bank accounts, Silgjord responded that he could “probably not” do this “because I am on the account.”   

On November 24, 2020, the victim’s estranged husband went to the victim’s house, where he encountered Silgjord. Silgjord falsely claimed she had a guardianship and conservatorship over the victim, refused to provide him the keys, and said that she would not do so “until the courts make me sign it over.” 

On December 18, 2020, Silgjord filed a petition seeking to be appointed personal representative of the victim’s estate. Silgjord claimed the estate was indebted to her for guardianship expenses. Some of compensation sought by Silgjord included time she supposedly spent on the guardianship while Silgjord was on duty as a police officer. 

On January 28, 2021, Silgjord filed a claim against the victim’s estate for $71,601.58, which she estimated to be the estate’s total value. In describing her claim, Silgjord wrote “Prior to Joan’s death she told me she loved me & wanted to take care of me & my family. I was Joan’s friend & court appointed guardian.”    

On March 9, 2021, Silgjord filed a second claim seeking an additional $86,611.70 from the estate, which represented the total of the inheritance the victim was set to receive from her stepmother’s estate. In describing this claim, Silgjord wrote, “I was Joan’s court appointed guardian & took care of her prior to her death. There is no formal will but Joan told me & my husband she loved us and wanted to take care of us. I have this recorded on my cell phone.”   

The Court denied Silgjord’s claims against the victim’s estate. Silgjord’s employment as a Cloquet police officer ended in June 2022.  

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Former Cloquet police officer found guilty of taking advantage of elderly person 

Disabled Alaskans sue state and appointed guardian for alleged financial abuse, neglect

By Rachel Cassandra

The Office of Public Advocacy in downtown Anchorage. Their deputy director Beth Goldstein is named as a defendant in a class action lawsuit alleging the state enabled neglect, financial abuse and other harms of disabled Alaskans. (Rachel Cassandra/Alaska Public Media)

Ten disabled Alaskans are suing the state and their state-appointed guardian in a class-action lawsuit that alleges financial abuse and neglect.

Under his business Cache Integrity, Thomas McDuffie was a private guardian responsible for more than 100 state-assigned wards between 2021 and 2023. The lawsuit alleges he neglected to serve the people in his care, all of whom are disabled, elderly or ill.

The lawsuit also names top officials with the state Office of Public Advocacy and the state’s Adult Protective Services unit as defendants.

Alaska’s public guardianship program is supposed to serve the state’s most vulnerable people by, among other things, making decisions for them about finances, benefits or healthcare. The state employs some public guardians, but the program has struggled with overburdened public guardians. McDuffie was a private guardian assigned public cases because of the staffing shortage. 

According to the lawsuit, McDuffie wasn’t paying their taxes, wasn’t finding adequate housing for some, failed to enroll them for public benefits and overpaid himself for his services. The lawsuit claims he left one person in the hospital unnecessarily for a year, racking up a bill of over $615,000.

Anchorage attorney Caitlin Shortell, who represents the plaintiffs in the lawsuit, said the stories of how McDuffie failed his wards are endless. One of McDuffie’s wards was in a wheelchair and living in a condo when it flooded, leaving the floor warped and uneven, she said.

“Mr. McDuffie didn’t provide him enough food or pay his bills … and then failed to make a claim on the insurance for the flood damage, leaving this person malnourished, unable to really move around, even in his own home, and leaving him with property damage to his condominium,” Shortell said.

McDuffie also pooled his wards’ money together in a shared trust, Shortell said, and that makes unwinding the money he owes people extremely difficult.

“If you have hundreds of clients, and all of their money is pooled, how can you figure out whose money is whose?” Shortell said. “And that became much more complicated because of the lack of accurate bookkeeping and accounting.”

McDuffie is no longer a practicing guardian, as of the fall of 2023, and the state has reassigned his wards.

Reached by phone, McDuffie declined an interview request for this story.

Mary, whose last name is omitted to protect her privacy, was one of McDuffie’s wards and is a plaintiff in the lawsuit. Mary has dementia and was assigned to McDuffie in 2021.

As Mary’s guardian, McDuffie was in charge of her housing and financial decisions, which included managing her benefits. Mary’s daughter, Greta, said it quickly became clear that McDuffie was neglecting his duties.

“He did not pay any of her bills,” Greta said. “He didn’t pay her taxes. The whole time he was there, she was in debt. She had back taxes he didn’t pay.”

McDuffie took Mary out of the Anchorage Pioneer Home, a state-owned and operated assisted living facility, and put her in another facility she couldn’t afford, Greta said. Mary had insurance for long-term care, but McDuffie never billed it, Greta said.

Greta said she and her sister worked with multiple lawyers over the course of 19 months to free their mother from her guardianship and conservatorship under McDuffie. But by the time they succeeded, their mother’s health had declined severely. McDuffie didn’t schedule medical appointments for Mary or bring her to the appointments, or to occupational or physical therapy, Greta said.

“She went from walking, getting healthcare, to not getting healthcare, to not being able to walk, to being very depressed,” Greta said. “She wasn’t getting any of the medical treatment she needed.”

Mary has now moved in with Greta’s sister in Southcentral Alaska, and Greta said she’s begun walking again, is more social and her memory is improving. But Greta and her sister are now dealing with the tens of thousands of dollars of debt they said was a result of McDuffie’s mismanagement.

While the lawsuit has yet to be heard in court, the state is in the process of appointing a forensic accountant to untangle the finances of McDuffie’s former wards.

The state Office of Public Advocacy, or OPA, which runs the public guardian system, has so far been unable to help McDuffie’s former wards recover their money. All the funds McDuffie pooled are in an account that’s been frozen since early 2024.

The state is also responsible for McDuffie’s neglect as a guardian, because state employees missed or ignored signs of his failures and enabled his assignments, Shortell said.

The lawsuit names two state employees as defendants: Beth Goldstein, OPA’s deputy director, and Anthony Newman, director of the state health department’s Adult Protective Services unit.

According to the lawsuit, Goldstein did not confirm McDuffie had a relevant license, and for much of the time he was working as a guardian McDuffy didn’t have one. If Goldstein had recognized McDuffie didn’t have his license, she could’ve prevented some of the problems, Shortell said.

“Unfortunately, when it was discovered that he didn’t have a license in good standing, the licensing department of the state just retroactively granted him a license, which is really quite shocking,” Shortell said.

Goldstein also allegedly continued to refer cases to McDuffie despite evidence that he was neglecting his duties.

Adult Protective Services, run by Newman, also could have intervened earlier, after receiving numerous reports of harm about McDuffie and his company, Shortell said.

OPA directed questions about the case to the state Department of Law, which declined an interview request. But spokesperson Patty Sullivan shared a brief comment on McDuffie’s business, Cache Integrity, over email.

“The actions of Cache Integrity are tragic and the state is working on solutions,” the statement says. “It is unfortunate that the state has been included in this lawsuit when the responsibility lies with those who caused the injury.”

But under state law, Shortell said, the state does have a legal responsibility to protect vulnerable Alaskans in its care.

“So, that’s simply not true that the state of Alaska wasn’t responsible,” she said.

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Disabled Alaskans sue state and appointed guardian for alleged financial abuse, neglect

Michigan woman charged for embezzling money from her father

by: Iz Martin

LANSING, Mich. (WLNS) — A 40-year-old woman from Michigan has been charged by Attorney General Dana Nessel for allegedly embezzling from a vulnerable adult.

According to Nessel’s office, Tanya Patterson’s father was admitted to the Schnebb Senior Care and Rehabilitation Center in St. Louis, Mich. in July 2019.

In August of that year, Patterson was appointed as her father’s guardian by the Gratiot County Probate Court.

It is believed that Patterson then opened a checking account in her father’s name, with her listed as his guardian. The account was where his Social Security income was deposited.

Nessel alleges that in 2021, Patterson took money from her dad’s account and used it for personal expenses.

“Guardians and conservators are entrusted to protect and manage the medical and financial matters of a protected person,” said Nessel. “Being a family member does not relieve a guardian of these responsibilities. If guardians breach that trust, they must be held accountable.”

Patterson was arraigned on Jan. 17 in Gratiot County. She was given a $20,000 personal recognizance bond.

She is expected back in court for her probable cause conference on Jan. 26.

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Michigan woman charged for embezzling money from her father

Feds: Former state attorney took bribes, stole more than $600K from elderly man, his estate

Eric Wallace, Senior Producer, I-TEAM 

Frank Powers, Assignment manager

 

Jeff Siegmeister accused of conspiracy, extortion, fraud, other charges

 

Jeff Siegmeister (WCJB-TV image)

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – Jeff Siegmeister, who was state attorney representing Columbia and six other North Florida counties for nearly seven years until he resigned suddenly in December 2019, was indicted this week on federal charges including conspiracy, extortion, fraud and several other charges.

Siegmeister, 52, of Live Oak, was arrested Friday in Arizona, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office.

After Siegmeister’s resignation, his Gainesville-based lawyer said his marriage had just ended and that he was working through a personal matter. There was much more going on in his life.

The FBI’s investigation of Siegmeister began in 2018 following allegations of a bribery scheme in which Siegmeister was accused of having “solicited money or things of value from defendants and lawyers in exchange for favorable prosecution treatment.”

According to a 37-page indictment, a grand jury charged Siegmeister with 11 counts related mostly to soliciting and accepting bribes in various cases between 2013 to 2019. Siegmeister is accused of soliciting and accepting bribes in return for the “favorable disposition” of criminal cases.

Marion Michael O’Steen, an attorney from Dixie County, who had clients prosecuted by Siegmeister’s office, was also indicted. In one case, investigators said Siegmeister asked O’Steen to purchase a bull from Siegmeister’s herd on his farm, in exchange for a favor for his client.

Another charge claims Siegmeister is accused of conspiring with another defense attorney, Ernest Page IV, to drop or reduce one DUI charge against a client of Page in exchange for a $10,000 discount on a new tractor -- or drop two DUI charges against the client for a $20,000 discount. Page was charged with conspiracy last year and pleaded guilty on August 20. He is currently scheduled to be sentenced in June.

News4Jax reported last year that the FBI had been investigating Siegmeister and his mother involving the theft of more than $600,000 in assets from the estate of an 80-year-old man who died in 2015. According to court records, Siegmeister was appointed guardian of Leonard Thomas, an elderly transient who was hospitalized in Lake City, then transferred first to an assisted living facility in Live Oak and then another long-term care facility in Lake City. Five weeks later, Thomas signed his will, in which his entire estate was bequeathed to Siegmeister’s mother.

The value of Thomas’ holdings kept rising after his death in 2015, and the FBI wrote that “Siegmeister diverted a total of $985,000 in Thomas’ assets to himself” after Thomas died.

Siegmeister is also charged with filing false tax returns in three separate years, federal prosecutors alleging he knew his income was higher than he reported.

Federal prosecutors said Siegmeister will make his initial appearance in court Monday in Flagstaff, Arizona. O’Steen appeared in federal court in Jacksonville and pleaded not guilty before being released on $100,000 bond.

The FBI is seeking forfeiture of two properties owned by Siegmeister, saying he acquired them through “money-laundering.” The forfeiture complaint details how federal investigators say Siegmeister used proceeds of stock sales to make some mortgage payments on the property the government is seeking.

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Feds: Former state attorney took bribes, stole more than $600K from elderly man, his estate

The license-to-steal document that everyone needs

BRATTLEBORO—Although not everyone needs a trust agreement, everyone should have a power of attorney, since we do not know what the future holds.

A power of attorney is a written document whereby you appoint some other person, known as your agent, to make decisions and act on your behalf.

Most of our clients have appointed agents to make a broad range of financial decisions for them if they become unable to make those decisions themselves. In light of the broad authority and discretion that a power of attorney typically confers, and the lack of judicial oversight, it is important to designate someone in whom you have complete confidence to serve in this role.

Hopefully, your agent will never need to use your power of attorney.

* * *

If you do not have a power of attorney and become unable to care for yourself, to write checks, to sign deeds and tax returns, and to otherwise manage your finances, your family or friends might need to initiate protracted and expensive involuntary guardianship proceedings.

In Vermont, courts will appoint guardians in involuntary proceedings only if the person in need of a guardianship has been evaluated by a qualified mental-health professional.

Persons in need of a guardian must be represented by an attorney, as well as a guardian ad litem.

Once a guardian has been appointed, he or she must file detailed annual accountings with the probate court which detail the income, expenses, and assets of the person under guardianship. Those accountings must balance. The preparation of those accountings can be challenging and expensive.

Clients occasionally ask when the authority granted in powers of attorney takes effect. There are documents known as “springing powers of attorney” wherein the authority granted does not take effect until the person who signed the power of attorney, known as the principal, is certified to be unable to make financial decisions by his or her physician.

I will explain why I have never drafted a springing power of attorney.

As noted above, I caution my clients that before they sign their power of attorney, they must be sure that their agents will not take advantage of them through those documents.

Under Vermont law, principals may file petitions in court to require agents to account for their actions. That authority is also granted to the Commissioner of Disabilities, Aging, and Independent Living.

A principal who sustains damages as a result of an agent’s action or inaction may sue the agent for damages. If that principal becomes unable to make their financial decisions, they are unlikely to realize any misappropriation or abuse of the power of attorney authority — much less do anything about it.

The misappropriation of a principal’s funds has torn many families apart. Even if a principal prevails in a suit against his or her agent, the recovery of the funds that have been misappropriated may be difficult at best.

Unlike some states, Vermont does not have a statutory power of attorney. I find those documents only get longer. The most recent addition to the power of attorney that I use with my clients concerns digital assets such as their email account and Facebook page. (Digital assets in estate planning will be the subject of another article that my colleagues or I hope to write.)

* * *

In Vermont, before an agent may exercise the authority granted in a power of attorney, the agent must acknowledge in writing that they have accepted their appointment and that they understand their duties under the law.

In the powers of attorney that I draft, I include the statute that outlines the duties of an agent. They include the following duties:

• to act in good faith in the interest of the principal;
• not to self-deal;
• not to commingle their principal’s funds with their own;
• to keep records of all transactions taken under the power of attorney;
• to provide accountings upon request;
• to follow the directions of the principal.

It is important to understand that the authority granted under a power of attorney ceases when the principal passes away.

Finally, with banks and brokerage firms encouraging their clients to dispense with the need for written statements, it is important to let someone know where to find all the records concerning your finances. Otherwise, some of your assets could wind up with the Office of Unclaimed Property in the state in which you reside.

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The license-to-steal document that everyone needs

Hardin County woman indicted on mail, wire fraud charges

Edward L. Stanton III, U.S. attorney for the Western District of Tennessee, announced today that Martha Marie Bizzell, 42, of Crump, was indicted earlier this week by a federal grand jury sitting in the Western District of Tennessee on charges of mail and wire fraud.

According to the 17-count indictment, Bizzell was appointed as guardian of a husband and wife who were disabled adults in Peoria County, Illinois. The couple needed the services of a guardian to ensure their physical and financial security and well-being.

The indictment alleges that after being appointed as guardian, Bizzell relocated the couple to the Western District of Tennessee and took over management of their finances. The couple's estate was then worth approximately $1.5 million. Assets were in the form of stock, real estate and cash, and included Certificates of Deposit valued at approximately $118,120; an investment account valued at approximately $638,098; Caterpillar stock valued at approximately $585,000 and 52 rental properties located in Illinois.

Bizzell allegedly ordered the sale of the Caterpillar stock, disposed of the couple's real estate holdings, and withdrew money from investment and savings accounts, according to the news release from the U.S. attorney. The proceeds were then deposited into Bizzell's bank accounts, the release said.

From between Nov. 10, 2011 through July 30, 2012, Bizzell took into her personal possession approximately $1,082,342 in funds belonging to the disabled couple, authorities said.

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Hardin County woman indicted on mail, wire fraud charges