Montclair banker guilty in client thefts



Linda Foss, the former branch manager at a
U.S. Bank on Mountain Boulevard,
was fired for taking funds out of an
elderly customer's account.

A banker who once led a merchant group in Oakland's upscale Montclair neighborhood pleaded guilty Thursday to stealing millions from clients, many of whom are elderly, and is expected to be sentenced to 12 years behind bars.

Linda Foss, 62, the former president of the Montclair Village Association, entered guilty pleas in Alameda County Superior Court to five counts of elder theft, two counts of grand theft and one count of money laundering.

She is expected to be sentenced Oct. 3 to 12 years in state prison and will be ordered to pay restitution to 15 victims in an amount to be determined, authorities said. Her attorney was not immediately available for comment.

Foss was fired as branch manager at a U.S. Bank on Mountain Boulevard in March. She then took the same position at a First Republic Bank. The investigation by the district attorney's office began after officials with both banks came forward to report suspicious activity, Inspector Ron Miller wrote in a court affidavit.

When confronted about missing funds from one alleged victim's account at U.S. Bank - which held $353,000 instead of an expected $972,000 - Foss "claimed that one elder was paying the other elder back for monies borrowed during the Oakland hills fire" in 1991, Miller wrote.

However, he wrote, the two account holders did not know each other. Investigators determined that the mailing address for both victims' bank statements had been changed to the address of U.S. Bank.

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Montclair banker guilty in client thefts

Lauderhill caregiver accused of exploiting elderly Fort Lauderdale woman

Caregiver Louise Simo was arrested
 and accused of stealing and pawning
… (Broward Sheriffs Office,…)

A Lauderhill woman was arrested Wednesday and accused of stealing and pawning up to $100,000 worth of jewelry and other valuables belonging to an elderly woman she was hired to care for, Fort Lauderdale Police said.

Louise Simo, 34, is charged with exploitation of the elderly, dealing in stolen property and false verification of ownership, arrest records show.

The elderly woman's daughter noticed the jewelry was missing and filed a police report on July 3. Detectives checked a list of all the health care providers who had contact with the woman and Simo's name popped up on the pawn shop database several times, the arrested report stated.

It showed Simo got $1,600 for a necklace on July 4, $800 for a bracelet on June 17, $345 for two more pieces of jewelry on May 24, and $590 for two pieces on May 20 that have been recovered, detectives said.

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Lauderhill caregiver accused of exploiting elderly Fort Lauderdale woman

Judge puts some Murray Center residents under court-appointed guardian

A judge in Clinton County issued an injunction Monday that puts some residents of the Warren G. Murray Development Center under the custody of a court-appointed guardian, rather than the state, which is closing the center.

Circuit Judge William Becker issued the order, which could put a wrinkle in the state's plan to close the state-operated center in Centralia. Becker's order covers Murray Center residents who do not have private guardians and are wards of the state. The court-appointed guardian will be Stuart Freeman, a local attorney.

The order was granted at the request of Friends of Murray Center, which is a group of employees and others who oppose the closing. Wylie Blair, an attorney for Friends of Murray Center, said the order does not prevent the center's closure.

"It just precludes the residents of Murray Center who are wards of the state from being transferred out of Murray Center, absent consent of the guardian," Blair said. "It's up to him to look into their situation and find out whether their best interests are being followed."

He added, "We're not seeking to prevent the place from closing, we're just seeking to make sure, whether Murray does or does not close, that the wards of the state have their best interests looked after."

Read more here: http://www.bnd.com/2013/08/08/2734305/judge-puts-some-murray-center.html#storylink=cpy

Read more here: http://www.bnd.com/2013/08/08/2734305/judge-puts-some-murray-center.html#storylink=cpy

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Judge puts some Murray Center residents under court-appointed guardian

Task Force will grant special wish to York County senior

ELIOT, Maine — The York County Elder Abuse Task Force was created to help all York County senior citizens, but this year, its new Wishing Well program will grant a lifelong wish for one lucky York County resident age 65 or older.

 

As the Wishing Well flier states, "Your life has been all about those that you care for. Your family, your friends, your co-workers, your community. You have set aside your dreams, your hopes, your goals and your wishes to care for those closest to you. We believe it is time for life to be about you."

"It's similar to the Make-A-Wish Foundation, but our program is not necessarily for someone who is ill," said Task Force Co-chairwoman Karen Connolly.

 

Eliot Police Department Community Resource Officer Candace Noble began YCEATF in 2007. She said she felt strongly that elder abuse victims needed to have voices supporting them. John Lizanecz of the York Police Department was also involved. Noble is now one of the task force's co-chairmen.

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Task Force will grant special wish to York County senior

Guardian angels make life better for disabled

Diane Ragsdale, left, looks over the award
 she received from Judge Claudia Laird
 for her service during the inaugural
 Guardian Angel Day
 reception honoring guardians,
 court visitors and attorneys ad litem
 who assist in cases concerning resident
s with special needs Wednesday.

The smile on Erica Sanchez’s face might have been the result of the punch and cake she was served Wednesday afternoon. But the child’s happy mood also could be traced to the first Guardian Angel Day Reception.

Nearly 200 guardians, court visitors and attorneys attended the ceremony in Commissioners Court in the Alan B. Sadler Building in Conroe.
 
The reception and the guardian program were the creation of Judge Claudia Laird and her County Court of Law 2 staff.

For the past year, Laird and her staff recruited approximately 15 volunteers to visit some 450 mentally disabled patients throughout the course of a year. The state of Texas requires mentally disabled residents to undergo an examination at least once a a year, Laird said.

Laird introduced investigator Dina Hardwick for her contributions the past year.

“Whenever a red flag went up, she responded,” Laird said of Hardwick.

Attorneys ad litem is a term used in law to refer to the appointment by a court of one party to act in a lawsuit on behalf of another party — for instance, a child or an incapacitated adult — who is deemed incapable of representing him or herself.

“Life can be very hard,” Laird said. “Some of them have Downs Syndrome, or Alzheimer’s. We make certain these patients are receiving the appropriate assistance.”

An educator for many years before retiring, Guardian Angel Dorothy Woodall enjoys continuing to teach.

“I’m very blessed to be able to help,” she said.

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Guardian angels make life better for disabled

Disability Is No Excuse to Deprive One of Civil Liberties

The guardianship system in this country raises serious concerns. That's why the guardianship trial of Jenny Hatch, a vibrant and active 29-year-old in a battle over who controls her life, struck such a chord. Jenny spoke for many other people with disabilities when she said clearly in her trial: "I don't need guardianship. I don't want it."

On Friday a judge in Virginia denied guardianship to the parents of Jenny Hatch. Hatch will instead be able to live with her friends, couple Kelly Morris and Jim Talbert, as she had requested. This is a victory, but it should never have come to this.

If anyone else had been placed in an isolated location, against her will, with her cell phone and computer taken away, and not allowed to leave the building without permission, as Hatch was, she would either be able to lodge a charge of kidnapping, or be a prisoner convicted of a crime.

But, because Hatch is a person with a disability – and only because of that – it is completely legal, even though she has done nothing wrong.

Guardianship can, and often does, deprive a person of the ability to choose where she lives, who she sees, when she gets up in the morning, what she eats for breakfast, whether and where she works and whether she is allowed the right to vote.

Guardianship is typically created under two circumstances:

• When adults – often seniors – develop a disability, especially one that affects the ability to manage finances or make complex decisions, their spouse or child is often encouraged to become their guardian.
• And, when a child with developmental disabilities reaches 18, her parents are often encouraged to become the child's guardian – ostensibly so that they can continue to participate in medical and educational decisions for the child.

In both circumstances, other less restrictive options are available.

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Disability Is No Excuse to Deprive One of Civil Liberties

See Also:
Couple wins custody of Jenny Hatch

Jenny Hatch's courtroom battle continues

Jenny Hatch shouldn’t be treated as a prisoner

Dr. Mark Lachs: Addressing Capacity Assessment

Your elderly mother was just discharged from the hospital and needs a bevy of home care services if she's not to bounce back like a bad check: visiting nurses, physical therapists, delivery of assistive equipment like a shower chair to make bathing safe. Yet the day after discharge, she curtly tells each of these well-meaning visitors to "get lost" when they knock on the door. When you politely remind her how much she hated being in the hospital and that these folks would likely prevent her from being readmitted, she tells you she understands but, "I just don't like having strangers in my house and I'm willing to take that risk." So what's going on here?

On the one hand, Mom could have all her marbles and be making a decision consistent with the way she lived her life: as a rugged individualist who makes her own decisions and is willing to live with the consequences. She has capacity. It is also possible that because of any number of factors -- new medications, leftover confusion from the hospital, early dementia -- that she is incapacitated.

My good friend  Dr. Jason Karlawish is a pioneer in a field he calls neuroethics. He's a geriatrician at the University of Pennsylvania who works closely with neurologists who care for and study patients with various degrees of memory loss and dementias like Alzheimer's Disease. Last month, he gave a stunning presentation for attendees of the NYC Elder Abuse Confernce at the New School in New York City about the assessment of decision-making capacity of older adults with and without these disorders.

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Addressing Capacity Assessment

Daughter pleads not guilty to financial exploitation

A Byron woman has pleaded not guilty to charges that she financially exploited her mother.        

Kathleen Marion Studnicka, 46, was charged Dec. 5 in Olmsted County District Court with two felony counts of financial exploitation-vulnerable adult.

According to the criminal complaint, an investigation that began in August 2012 revealed that from July 2011 through March 2012, more than $23,000 had been deposited into the 86-year-old woman's bank account. During that time, she had accumulated a bill for housing and care that totaled nearly $15,000.

According to the complaint, Studnicka, who had power of attorney over her mother's finances, withdrew more than $22,000 from the account, with her mother's permission. None of the money was used for the older woman's expenses, the report says.

 
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Daughter pleads not guilty to financial exploitation

New laws mean changes for judges, elections

A public campaign financing program meant to limit special interest influence in judicial elections in the state met its death in the legislature during the final hours of the long session.

The bill repeals the public financing law that used certain fees attorneys paid to the bar, $3 checked-off funds on tax forms and state funds that gave judges an opportunity to agree to certain spending thresholds and rules to tap into public campaign funds.
The state was one of the first in the country to pass such legislation that will soon be history.  

The change comes despite pleas by all but one judge on the state’s Court of Appeals.

Other changes targeted at the state’s judicial system include a law that gives the Supreme Court the authority to discipline its own judges rather than six senior judges on the Court of Appeals. That measure also takes the public out of the know when it comes to judicial misconduct.

Currently, hearings before the state’s adjudicatory panel are open to the public. Under the new law they would not be.

Chief Justice Sarah Parker and John Martin, chief judge of the N.C. Court of Appeals and chairman of the Judicial Standards Commission, urged lawmakers not to adopt the new changes on the basis of conflicts in judges having to discipline their peers, no avenue for revealing public exoneration and leaving no public record of the process.

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New laws mean changes for judges, elections