Man Indicted, Accused of Fleecing Oil Company Heir of $20 Million

A Chappaqua man accused of bilking a Katonah musician and oil company heir out of $20 million has been indicted on felony charges that could send him to prison for up to 25 years.

Vickram Bedi pleaded not guilty to first- and second-degree grand larceny after rejecting a plea deal in which he would have agreed to serve five to 15 years in state prison.

A grand jury indicted him on Nov. 29.

Westchester County Judge Barbara Zambelli today restored Bedi's $3.5 million bail to $5 million after prosecutors detailed the complicated six-year scheme that Bedi allegedly used to fleece Roger Davidson, a pianist and composer.

Bedi and his girlfriend, Helga Ingvarsdottir, are accused of conning Davidson into believing he was in grave danger because his computer had been compromised and offered him protection. Davidson had taken his virus-plagued computer to Datalink Computer Services, owned by Bedi, in August 2004.

The schemes, prosecutors claim, included stories of threats by Polish priests affiliated with the Roman Catholic Opus Dei order. Bedi allegedly told Davidson that the Central Intelligence Agency had subcontracted with him to help prevent the Polish priests from infiltrating the U.S. government.

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Chappaqua Man Indicted Accused of Fleecing Oil Company Heir of $20 Million

Arthur Goldstein Included Among 'Best Lawyers in America'

Upper Saddle River resident Arthur S. Goldstein has been included in the latest edition of the publication "Best Lawyers in America."

Selection to the 2012 edition of Best Lawyers is based on a peer-review survey comprising more than 3.9 million confidential evaluations by other top attorneys, according to the publication's website.

"It is an honor to be included, for the eighth consecutive year, in such a prestigious peer-review publication," said Goldstein, a litigator who practices in the areas of banking, commercial and estate litigation, and white collar criminal law, in an email.

He is a member of the law firm Wolff & Samson PC, which has 25 members from a range of Wolff & Samson's practice groups listed in the 2012 edition of Best Lawyers.

Goldstein served as legal counsel to the Transition Committee of Bergen County Executive-elect Kathleen Donovan, according to a press release from the firm. He also leads Wolff & Samson's efforts as special counsel to the Bergen County Improvement Authority.

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Arthur Goldstein Included Among 'Best Lawyers in America'

Three Charged With Forgery of Late State Representative's Will

Forgery charges have been filed relating to the will of the late state representative Ulysses Jones, Jr.

Avis Langford-Brannon, Beverly Prye and Sandra Richards have been indicted on charges of forgery, tampering with evidence and aggravated perjury.

All three women are employed by the Memphis Fire Department. Their bonds are set at $20,000 each.

In May, the fight over Jones' will ended with a Probate Court judge ruling that the signature on the document was not Jones' and therefore not valid.

The fake will had left the bulk of the estate to a woman he lived with for the past 18 years.

Two handwriting experts testified Jones' signature was a forgery.

The estimated $100,000 estate is now in the hands of Jones' two adult children, who contested the will.

Source:
Three Charged With Forgery of Late State Representative's Will

Massachusetts' Highest Court Rejects Criminal Prosecution of Nursing Home Facility

The Commonwealth of Massachusetts indicted Life Care Centers of America, a nursing home corporation, based on its staff's alleged failure to act to protect a resident from known life-threatening harm. The indictment charged the corporation with involuntary manslaughter and neglect based on its collective knowledge and conduct of a number of the corporation's employees, without singling out any one employee for indictment.

This was the first time in Massachusetts that a corporation had been indicted criminally for manslaughter and neglect in a nursing home setting without the charging of an individual, and the question of whether a corporation can be held liable under such a theory was taken up by the state's highest court.

Unfortunately, the court declined to find a criminal prosecution proper against the corporation, ruling that the alleged criminal responsibility could not be supported under state law.

AARP's brief, filed by attorneys with AARP Foundation Litigation, reviewed the history of nursing home regulation, litigation and criminal liability.

The brief also discussed the collective knowledge theory of corporate liability — a legal doctrine that is derived from the concept that a corporation can be held criminally liable for the acts or omissions of its agents acting within the scope of their employment. This theory has, for example, held trucking firms criminally liable for knowingly and willfully permitting unsafe drivers to operate, and it has been used in other situations where the courts determined it was the corporation's responsibility to determine whether its employees, in carrying out their duties to their employer, were complying with the law.

AARP's brief detailed how numerous states around the country had brought criminal charges against nursing home corporations and have resolved those cases separately from charges brought at the same time against individual officers or agents of the corporation. That separate liability, the brief argued, combined with the collective knowledge theory, supported the state's contention that a corporation can in fact be held liable for criminal misconduct in the absence of charges against individuals

Full Article and Source:
Commonwealth of MA v Life Care Centers of America

Read AARP's Amicus Brief

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

Probate Sharks: Editorial - There is Only One State in America That Can Call Itself the Champion of Political Corruption: Illinois

Seeing this article in the Chicago Tribune is almost a religious experience. Now if we can provide similar enjoyment for the other members of the political elite who laugh at us and work to destroy our democracy it would indeed be a happy holiday. Pay to play may just be a slogan to some, but it is real to the people who are victims of it i.e. the abused and financially exploited elderly and other disabled persons who have been denied their civil rights so that some court appointed criminal in guardian's clothing can pillage their estate.

Let's hope that Judge Zagel sends a strong message to the political elite - we live in America - the land that was founded on honesty, honor, and equality before the law. Maybe this holiday season, for the first time in a long time, we will reward our political elite with Justice and a taste of the democratic process.

Ken Ditkowsky,
http://www.ditkowskylawoffice.com/

Source:
ProbateSharks.com
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PROBATE SHARKS:
Our mission is to expose and remedy corruption in the Probate Court of Cook County, Illinois. We assist, educate and enlighten families of the dead, the dying, the disabled and the aged to better understand their rights in order to protect themselves from the excesses of the Probate Court of Cook County. ProbateSharks.com is dedicated to networking the human element of people to people. We join together in reforming the corrupt Cook County Probate Court system.

Sentencing Postponed for Deborah Thompson Because She Cannot Afford Restitution

The wife of Milton Supervisor Frank Thompson could face jail time if she does not satisfy the terms of her plea agreement by March, the case’s special prosecutor said Wednesday.

Deborah C. Thompson, 63, in August pleaded guilty to stealing nearly $30,000 from an elderly woman of whom she was the legal guardian over the course of a year and a half. Fulton County District Attorney Louise Sira said Deborah Thompson used the money to finance a gambling addiction and her lifestyle. Frank Thompson has been cleared of any wrongdoing in his wife’s misdeeds.

Deborah Thompson pleaded guilty to a lesser charge of attempted third-degree grand larceny in August to avoid jail time and was supposed to pay $29,259 in restitution to the victim by her sentencing date on Wednesday afternoon. That didn’t happen, however, and Judge Karen Drago issued Deborah Thompson an ultimatum before postponing the sentencing to March 13.

If Deborah Thompson does not pay at least $10,000 in restitution to the victim and have a plan to pay the remainder, pay $2,152 in back taxes and visit a state-licensed psychologist to evaluate her gambling addiction by that date, the plea agreement is off the table.

In addition, Sira said she will seek jail time on the original charge of third-degree grand larceny, a felony that carries a potential sentence of 2-1/3 to 7 years in state prison.

Full Article and Source:
Sentencing Postponed for Deborah Thompson, Who Pleaded Guilty to Bilking Elderly Woman, Because She Can't Afford Restitution

See Also:
Plea Deal in $30K Theft

At-Risk Adults Involved in Former-Sheriff Scandal

The ex-sheriff in the middle of a sex-for-meth scandal was charged with three felonies and a misdemeanor.

Former Arapahoe County Sheriff Patrick Sullivan has been charged with distribution of a controlled substance, attempt to influence a public servant, possession of methamphetamine, and prostitution.

Sources familiar with the case say that the ex-sheriff may also later be charged with assaulting and taking advantage of an at-risk adult. An at-risk adult is defined as anyone elderly or anyone who is physically or mentally disabled.

Records show Sullivan had lived with a 34-year-old man for whom he had power of attorney, William Hadley. Sullivan had access to Hadley's Social Security checks, which Hadley received for a disability.

Dillon Grilley, who lived with Hadley, called police on Sept. 20 to report that Sullivan was coming to the house regularly with drugs and trying to lure his roommates, who are recovering addicts, back into drugs.

"He had power of attorney for one of them and he was talking about (being) a guardian for all of them, which was a scary thought," Grilley said.

Full Article and Source:
Sullivan Hit With 4 Charges, Including Prostitution

The Slow Exodus From Nursing Homes

If you’ve helped an older relative move into a nursing home in the past year, you’ve likely heard a nurse or administrator pose The Question: “Do you want to talk to someone about the possibility of returning to the community?”

The resident will hear The Question again every three months, when her condition is reassessed. She’ll hear it if there’s a significant change in her condition. Whatever her health issues, whoever is paying the bill, Medicare regulations adopted in October 2010 mandate that she (or a family member or guardian, if she’s not mentally competent) be asked it.

A nursing home resident has always had the legal right to leave. In the past, though, “the question was asked, and nothing had to happen as a result of the answer,” said Barbara Edwards, director of disabled and elderly health programs for the federal Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services.

Now, The Question has been reworded to make its point — you can go home again — more explicit. As important, a resident’s “yes” now triggers contact with an outside agency that will explain how going home might work.

All this can startle or irritate a new resident’s unwitting relatives. “For most family members, it’s taken a long time to convince a loved one to move into a nursing home,” said Lori Smetanka, director of the National Long-Term Care Ombudsman Resource Center, who’s been hearing an earful about the change.

Full Article and Source;
A Slow Exodus From Nursing Homes