 |
| George Pappas, a Harbor Springs WWII veteran,
with documents showing accused misdeeds by the conservator a probate
court judge appointed to oversee his finances. |
HARBOR SPRINGS — Bars of sunshine escaped the December clouds the day
police reports say a local woman, Elise Page, drove to Traverse City
for an impromptu shopping spree.
First stop was Francesca’s, a
women’s clothing store at the Grand Traverse Mall, and bank statements
show on Dec. 10 Page then swiped a debit card for purchases at
Victoria’s Secret, Carter’s, Old Navy and Target, with an end-of-day
stop at Costco.
Court documents and bank statements show, however, none of the money she spent in those stores was hers.
The
money, according to investigators, belonged to George Pappas, a
95-year-old World War II veteran who a judge had assigned to Page just
weeks before, naming her the legal conservator over his finances.
“I
needed a bookkeeper and I got a good recommendation about this lady,
that she was someone who could help me out,” Pappas said. “But I didn’t
really know what a conservator was. What am I supposed to do with
whatever she bought at Victoria’s Secret?”
In December Pappas had
gone to City Hall to pay his electric bill, police documents Pappas
provided the Record-Eagle show. When his check was returned with a note
that said it had been written on a closed account, a utilities clerk
grew suspicious and called law enforcement.
Page has since been
charged with several felonies in 57th Circuit Court, including
embezzlement from a vulnerable adult and using a computer to commit a
crime, court records show.
A hearing is scheduled for Monday and her attorney, listed as Jonathan Steffy, did not return a call seeking comment.
But
Pappas isn’t the only one who doesn’t understand how probate court
appointments work — attorneys and probate court staff say until someone
has a family member impacted, confusion over the process is common.
The State Bar of Michigan
defines a conservator as someone appointed by a probate court judge to
manage another person’s property and finances in the event age, illness
or injury preclude the person from handling the job themselves.
A
guardian is assigned when the court decides someone is not competent to
make their own housing and medical decisions; the same person can
legally serve in both roles. A guardian ad litem is an attorney
appointed by the court to research the need for a conservator or
guardian, or to investigate when something goes wrong.
Elder
advocates say even with this investigative option, rules governing
probate court appointments have long been weak on oversight and are ripe
for abuse, with criminal acts often going undiscovered.
“I’ve
been a cop for 33 years, I was a detective downstate and this is the
first guardianship or conservatorship case I’ve seen,” said Harbor
Springs Police Chief Kyle Knight.
Theft from the vulnerable
Financial
abuse by court-appointed conservators and guardians is more common than
people know, said Ann Arbor attorney Bradley Geller, who added that a
single perpetrator can have dozens, even hundreds of victims.
Knight
and Lt. Todd Troxel, a detective with the Petoskey Department of Public
Safety, found money missing in at least two conservatorship
appointments assigned to Page — Pappas and that of another man, Isaiah
Gill of Petoskey, officials said.
Geller, an elder law advocate who wrote a handbook
on guardianship and conservatorship, sued the State of Michigan and its
probate courts in 2019, for what he says is systemic fraud in the
state’s administration of conservatorship and guardianship cases.
In May, a three-judge panel with the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit dismissed the case, citing a procedural error.
Geller
said that doesn’t change the fact that Michigan can be a
worst-case-scenario for the thousands of vulnerable adults who every
year fall victim to unscrupulous conservators and guardians dodging the
rules and gaming the system.
For example, standard probate court
protocol is to require a conservator to have a surety bond issued by an
insurance company only if the value of the assets they’re managing is
large enough to warrant it.
True to form, the order appointing
Page as Pappas’ conservator signed Nov. 3 by Emmet County Probate Court
Judge Valerie K. Snyder states, “Bond will be considered after inventory
is filed.”
Conservators have 56 days to file an initial inventory with the court.
Bank
statements and police documents show this lag time allowed Page to
close Pappas’ account with Citizen’s Bank, open a new account with
4Front Credit Union, transfer money and receive debit cards in her and
Pappas’ name.
Page then used the debit card to withdraw about
$10,000 in cash from Pappas’ bank account, bank statements and police
documents show, and spend another $3,900 at lingerie, electronic
cigarette and fast food retailers, among other purchases.
“Mr. Pappas put his trust in the system and unfortunately the system let him down,” Knight said. “It’s sad and it’s wrong.”
Investigators
say Page arrived voluntarily at the Harbor Springs Police Department
Jan. 12, where officers had a warrant for her arrest. When Knight
confronted Page, saying he didn’t believe the questionable expenditures
were accidental, a case supplemental report shows Page responded, “I
f---ed up.”
“At this time Page advised me that she took the money
and goods intentionally to get caught up with the bills and purchase
some items for her benefit,” the supplemental report reads. “Page
admitted responsibility.”
If the court had required a bond in
advance of the inventory deadline, it would have functioned as a kind of
financial guarantee, Geller said. Without one there is no easy or quick
way for Pappas to get his money back.
“The abuse is incredible in these cases,” Geller said. “Who knows what disappears in those initial 56 days.”
State: No training? No problem
The
requirements to be a conservator in Michigan are few: state law gives
probate court judges power to appoint “any competent person over 18 or a
professional conservator to serve.”
Professional conservators —
those incorporated with the state as a business — also must be competent
and older than 18 but the term “competent” is not well-defined, no
background checks are required, Geller said, and neither is even the
most minimal training, education or certification.
Staff with the
Michigan Guardianship Association, a trade group based in Coldwater,
said they have no record of Page being a member.
“We frankly have no knowledge of her,” said Marissa Gonczar, board
administrator. “To be clear, even if she was a court-appointed
conservator, it does not mean she was serving as a professional
guardian. A guardian has to meet certain statutory requirements to meet
the definition of ‘professional.’”
Gonczar did not elaborate on
what those statutory requirements are, but did say MGA would, in theory,
support an improvement of the guardianship system in Michigan.
The
need for more strict oversight of conservators and guardians has not
escaped notice of Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel, who in 2019
launched the Michigan Elder Abuse Task Force.
More
than two decades ago the state’s Supreme Court launched a similar task
force, tapping 25 people from the courts, senior services and advocacy
groups to serve.
Geller was one and said in 1996 many reforms were
discussed, including requiring training and certification as well as
surety bonds, yet little of substance was accomplished, he said.
Nessel
and Michigan Supreme Court Justice Megan Cavanaugh announced the more
recent task force and went on a statewide listening tour in the fall of
2019. They made a stop in Traverse City, where attendees shared personal
stories of abuse in conservatorship and guardianship cases.
Nessel’s
task force —larger than its 1996 precursor and made up of 80 people
from 55 organizations including MGA — has since released its
recommendations.
Topping the list: Requiring minimal training and surety bonds for professional guardians.
So far, that hasn’t happened.
“There
is legislation with the legislative service bureau to make this a
reality,” said AG spokesperson Lynsey Mukoel. “The hope is to have that
introduced in the near future.”
A flaw in optional background checks
While
Geller said the state does not require background checks of guardians
or conservators, documents filed in the Pappas’ case show Emmet County
Probate Register Deb Niswander did request a criminal background check
on Page.
An investigation by the Record-Eagle found no criminal
convictions for Page, though records in Emmet County’s 90th District
Court reveal a history of financial lawsuits going back to 2004.
“Any
history of financial issues should absolutely be taken into account
when considering someone as a conservator,” Mukoel said, when asked
about the recent criminal charges lodged against Page.
Page was
sued in small claims court by a local florist, Flowers from Kegomic, in
2006 for non-payment, though owner Wendy Kuebler said once the certified
letter was mailed, Page came into the store with a check and the case
was dismissed.
Schelde’s Restaurant sued Page in 2004, court
records show, as did Check and Cash USA. Arrow Financial Services sued
her in 2007, that case was dismissed, though the company received a
default judgment against Page and her husband, Timothy Page, in 2008,
court documents show.
Bayside Family Medicine, Vital Care Home
Medical Equipment and Boyne Country Urgent Care also sued the couple in
2009 and 2010, with cases either dismissed, dismissed with prejudice or
the disposition wasn’t included in court records.
Midland Funding LLC received a judgment against Page in 2016, the most recent entry regarding Page in district court records.
A criminal background check would not necessarily have flagged these cases, even though they are public record, officials said.
Pappas regains control of his finances
Pappas,
who lives independently in an apartment, runs errands in his Toyota
Prius and has been known to rake a neighbor’s acreage when the leaves go
untended, disputes he ever needed a conservator.
A sergeant in
the U.S. Army Air Force’s 341st fighter squadron, Pappas served in the
Pacific during World War II, and trained as a radar specialist and a
radar mechanic.
In September Pappas said he asked Lisa Cunningham,
a social worker with the Veterans Affairs Administration, for help with
some very specific tasks — getting the brakes on his car fixed, having
some dental work completed and planning for his burial and funeral.
“I needed a little help with a few things, not a complete takeover where my money ended up gone,” he said.
Pappas
said Cunningham reached out to the probate court, which sent the social
worker a list of conservators and guardians that included Page, then
Cunningham visited Pappas at his apartment, discussed the process and
filed a petition with the probate court Oct. 1.
In April, court documents show Pappas was able to extricate himself from a court system he says was “asleep at the wheel.”
The
conservator appointed to replace Page had filed an objection, though an
attorney for Pappas and a guardian ad litem were able to prevail on
Pappas’ behalf.
He no longer has a conservator, and now handles
his own affairs with the help of a family member who lives downstate,
records show.
Pappas said he still is waiting for an accounting of
his money, however, and hopes to learn more during an upcoming probate
court hearing in June.
“She stole from me,” Pappas said. “She did it a little bit at time, over and over. Now I’m not sure who I can trust.”
Cunningham and Niswander declined requests to comment for this story, citing privacy issues and ongoing litigation.
“She stole from me. She did it a little bit at time, over and over. Now I’m not sure who I can trust.” George Pappas
