The Passing of Guardianship Reform Advocate Debbie Berendt Trew

There are no words to effectively express our deep sorrow. This past week, the guardianship reform movement lost an exceptional advocate: Debbie Berendt Trew.

Long before NASGA was formed, Debbie was watching out and advocating for the elderly and disabled. She had been speaking up and standing tall for those mistreated or ignored for years. She understood how the system worked and didn’t work. When she met and joined NASGA, we were sure she was heaven sent.

Debbie worked mostly behind the scenes, heading up our Research Department and working with new members. She always did more than we asked of her. Her heart was full of an abundance of empathy and she had an uncanny sense of digging deep into her research.  She was absolutely committed to reform.

She was a person of great faith. She loved her God and her family and friends intensely. She often entertained us with stories about her grandchildren, whom she adored of course. They gave her joy and purpose and she felt so blessed to have them.

Likewise, all of us at NASGA felt blessed to have Debbie in our lives and working closely with us in this cause. She was a good friend and is missed beyond words.

 Godspeed, Debbie.

Man With Dementia Gifts His Wife A Song To Thank Her For Her Love & Sacrifices

By Ashley McCann

A lot of people take talking and being able to express themselves and their feelings for granted. For those with dementia or Alzheimer’s, this can become very challenging and sometimes impossible.

Jim Loane, of Las Vegas, has Lewy body dementia, and things as simple as communicating does not come easy for him.

Photo: YouTube/8 News

Although everyday life for him can be hard at times, his wife, Linda, helps him along the way. She always knows what he is trying to say and can help put together the sentences for him to help others understand him.

The couple has been married for more than 40 years, and together they have raised three children and grandchildren. They have always been very happy, but life has become a struggle while dealing with Jim’s dementia.

Jim began going to the Lou Ruvo Center for Brain Health to help him through his journey with dementia. He also began weekly music therapy, which has helped him express himself better.

Jim knows that he wouldn’t make it through each day without Linda, who is also his caregiver. He decided to thank her for all of her love and support in a very special way.  

“I was sitting home one day and I thought about Linda and what she does for me and I started writing words, not even thinking it would turn into a song,” he told 8 News Now.

Jim practiced the song for months with his therapist, Becky Wellman, and eventually sang it to Linda on her birthday.  

“This was just the man that I married 46 years ago that really had that kind of caring compassion that I know it’s in there, but I don’t always see it and it was nice to see it. It was nice to have him back for that amount of time,” she said.

Hear their story in the video below:

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Man With Dementia Gifts His Wife A Song To Thank Her For Her Love & Sacrifices

Serial Fraudster Sentenced to Nine Years in Federal Prison for Participating in Elder Fraud “Grandparent” Scheme and a COVID-19 CARES Act Unemployment Benefit Scheme

Department of Justice

U.S. Attorney’s Office

District of Maryland

---

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Thursday, January 19, 2023

Serial Fraudster Sentenced to Nine Years in Federal Prison for Participating in Elder Fraud “Grandparent” Scheme and a COVID-19 CARES Act Unemployment Benefit Scheme

The Defendant and His Co-Conspirators Submitted at least 143 Fraudulent Unemployment Applications in the Names of Identity Theft Victims and Defrauded at least 83 Elderly Victims Resulting in a Combined Loss of More than $3 Million

Baltimore, Maryland – U.S. District Judge Richard D. Bennett sentenced Medard Ulysse, age 38, most recently of Miami, Florida, today to nine years in federal prison, followed by three years of supervised release, for wire fraud and conspiracy to commit mail fraud in relation to multiple fraud schemes, including an elder fraud “grandparent” scam and a COVID-19 CARES Act fraud related to unemployment benefits.  Judge Bennett also ordered Ulysse to pay restitution totaling $2,485,512.  Of that amount $1,866,745 is for the elder fraud scam and $618,767 is for the unemployment benefits scheme.

The sentence was announced by United States Attorney for the District of Maryland Erek L. Barron; Special Agent in Charge Thomas J. Sobocinski of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, Baltimore Field Office; and Acting Special Agent in Charge Troy W. Springer, of the National Capital Region, U.S. Department of Labor, Office of Inspector General.

“This is a despicable crime causing fear and emotional turmoil for some of the most vulnerable members of our society,” said Special Agent in Charge Thomas J. Sobocinski of the FBI's Baltimore field office.  “Ulysse used fraud and deceit to prey upon grandparents’ trust and love.  The FBI is committed to combatting elder fraud and financial exploitation and ensuring our seniors are protected.”

“As a part of multiple fraud schemes, Medard Ulysse conspired with others to use stolen identities to defraud pandemic Unemployment Insurance programs established under the CARES Act to unlawfully obtain over $618,000, which deprived those who were truly in need of assistance during the pandemic,” said Troy W. Springer, Acting Special Agent in Charge, National Capital Region, U.S. Department of Labor, Office of Inspector General. “I am grateful for the strong partnerships with the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Maryland, the FBI, and our state workforce agency partners, as we continue focused efforts to hold accountable those who undermine the integrity of unemployment assistance programs.”

According to his guilty plea, from January 2018 to November 2019, Ulysse and others executed an elder fraud scam, called a “grandparent scam,” in which they persuaded elderly victims to send thousands of dollars in cash by posing as a police officer, lawyer, or other person in law enforcement and convincing victims that their grandchild needed money for bail or legal fees.  If the victims sent money, conspirators asked for more cash claiming that additional funds were needed for legal expenses, fines, or damages.  Conspirators called the elderly victim pretending to be the victim’s grandchild or other troubled relative to convince the victims to send cash.  To conceal the scheme, the conspirators told the victims that a gag order had been placed on the case or that the situation was embarrassing for the grandchild, and that the victim should not share the information with others. 

The victims were directed to send cash to residential addresses, that were either vacant or for sale, so no one would be at those locations at the time of the deliveries.  Ulysse recruited people to assist in retrieving the packages.  Co-conspirators opened the packages, counted the cash inside and sent Ulysse video recordings of the packages being opened and counted, then delivered the fraud proceeds to Ulysse and to other people involved in the scheme.  Ulysse distributed, and directed co-conspirators to distribute, cash payments to other members of the conspiracy for their participation in the scheme. 

As a result of the execution of the elder fraud scheme, Ulysse and his co-conspirators convinced at least 83 different victims to send a total of at least $2,420,280.  Ulysse’s criminal actions resulted in substantial financial hardship to at least five victims.        

From April 2020 to November 2020, Ulysse conducted an COVID-19 CARES Act unemployment benefit scheme to fraudulently obtain unemployment funds, including Federal Pandemic Unemployment Compensation (FPUC) and Pandemic Unemployment Assistance (PUA) established under the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (“CARES”) Act.  As part of the scheme, Ulysse and his conspirators used the identities of numerous victims to submit fraudulent unemployment claims to multiple state workforce agencies, including the Maryland Department of Labor and the California Employment Development Department.  The fraudulent applications listed individual victims’ names, social security numbers, and dates of birth.  The Maryland Department of Labor and other state workforce agencies disbursed benefits through debit cards issued in the names of the applicants and mailed to addresses provided in the applications, which were locations accessible to Ulysse and other members of the conspiracy.  Once conspiracy members obtained the funds on state issued debit cards, they used the funds for their personal benefit. 

In total, between April 2020 and November 2020, Ulysse and his co-conspirators submitted at least 143 fraudulent applications in the names of identity theft victims and obtained approximately $618,767 in fraudulent funds. 

On May 17, 2021, the Attorney General established the COVID-19 Fraud Enforcement Task Force to marshal the resources of the Department of Justice in partnership with agencies across government to enhance efforts to combat and prevent pandemic-related fraud.  The Task Force bolsters efforts to investigate and prosecute the most culpable domestic and international criminal actors and assists agencies tasked with administering relief programs to prevent fraud by, among other methods, augmenting and incorporating existing coordination mechanisms, identifying resources and techniques to uncover fraudulent actors and their schemes, and sharing and harnessing information and insights gained from prior enforcement efforts.  For more information on the Department’s response to the pandemic, please visit https://www.justice.gov/coronavirus.

United States Attorney Erek L. Barron commended the FBI and the DOL-OIG for their work in the investigation, and thanked the Lowndes County Sheriff’s Department for its assistance.  Mr. Barron thanked Assistant U.S. Attorneys Sean R. Delaney and Christine Goo, who prosecuted the case.

For more information on the Maryland U.S. Attorney’s Office, its priorities, and resources available to help the community, please visit www.justice.gov/usao-md and https://www.justice.gov/usao-md/elder-justice-initiative.

Source:
Serial Fraudster Sentenced to Nine Years in Federal Prison for Participating in Elder Fraud “Grandparent” Scheme and a COVID-19 CARES Act Unemployment Benefit Scheme

Former judge is disbarred for sexually harassing police officer, court reporter and prosecutor

By Debra Cassens Weiss

A former judge in Chicago has been disbarred after he was accused of trying to kiss a police officer, asking a court reporter about the cost of sex, and making demeaning remarks about a prosecutor.

The former Cook County, Illinois, judge, Judge Mauricio Boris Andres Araujo, was disbarred by the Illinois Supreme Court in a Jan. 17 order.

Araujo did not participate in ethics proceedings initiated by the Illinois Attorney Registration and Disciplinary Commission. The allegations were deemed to be admitted.

A Sept. 30, 2022, report by the IARDC hearing board said these allegations were deemed admitted:

• Araujo tried to kiss a Chicago police officer on the lips in 2016 when she tried to obtain a signature on a warrant. He also grabbed her hand and said, “Touch my butt.” He also “made lewd comments” to the officer on another occasion.

• On two occasions in 2011, Araujo “approached a female court reporter in a suggestive manner when they were alone in a courthouse elevator and asked how much money it would take for the court reporter to have sex with him.”

• In 2018, Araujo made demeaning remarks about a prosecutor after she appeared before him in a first-degree murder case. He was unhappy that the prosecutor, a former law school classmate, had not congratulated him on his promotion to a new courtroom and had not said hello to him. He called a different prosecutor into his chambers and began to discuss the perceived slight. Araujo used the B-word when referring to the prosecutor and said, “Maybe it’s because I didn’t have sex with her. Or maybe it’s because I did have sex with her.”

The hearing board said Araujo’s interactions with the police officer and court reporter constituted battery and assault, and his inappropriate sexual remarks constituted conduct prejudicial to the administration of justice.

Araujo had no prior discipline, a mitigating factor. But the hearing panel cited several aggravating factors, including that Araujo abused his position of authority, demonstrated a pattern of misconduct, acted with selfish motives, showed no remorse, and failed to participate in the ethics proceeding.

Araujo had been transferred to administrative duties in September 2018 after a complaint by the Cook County state’s attorney’s office. The Illinois Courts Commission had also charged Araujo with ethics violations and concluded that he committed misconduct. He retired from the bench in 2020, a month before the Illinois Courts Commission entered written findings.

Araujo told the Chicago Tribune in 2018 that he didn’t think that he used the B-word to describe the prosecutor and didn’t think that he made the remark that implied they may have had sex. He also said the prosecutor’s failure to acknowledge him did not upset him.

The IARDC has no contact information for Araujo on its website. He did not immediately respond to an ABA Journal request for comment sent to an email address listed in an IARDC document.

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Former judge is disbarred for sexually harassing police officer, court reporter and prosecutor

Feds to investigate nursing home abuse of antipsychotics

By AMANDA SEITZ

FILE - Chiquita Brooks-LaSure, the Administrator for the Centers of Medicare and Medicaid Services, poses for a photograph in her office, Feb. 9, 2022, in Washington. The federal government is cracking down on nursing homes' abuse of antipsychotic drugs after an investigation in 2022 revealed an overwhelming majority of their residents are prescribed the medication. The Centers for Medicaid and Medicare Services will begin sending investigators to certain facilities in January 2023 to audit nursing homes' diagnoses of schizophrenia in patients.(AP Photo/Evan Vucci, File)

WASHINGTON (AP) — The federal government says it will begin a targeted crackdown on nursing homes’ abuse of antipsychotic drugs and misdiagnoses of schizophrenia in patients.

The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services is launching investigations this month into select nursing homes, aimed at verifying whether patients have been properly diagnosed with the psychiatric disorder.

Evidence has mounted over decades that some facilities wrongly diagnose residents with schizophrenia or administer antipsychotic drugs to sedate them, despite dangerous side effects that could include death, according to the agency.

“No nursing home resident should be improperly diagnosed with schizophrenia or given an inappropriate antipsychotic,” Health and Human Services Secretary Xavier Becerra said in a statement Wednesday. “The steps we are taking today will help prevent these errors and give families peace of mind.”

Some facilities may be dodging increased scrutiny around gratuitous use of antipsychotic medications by coding residents as having schizophrenia, even when they do not show signs of the extremely rare disorder, a government report last year found. Less than 1% of the population is believed to have schizophrenia, which is marked by delusions, hallucinations and disordered thinking.  

In 2012, the federal government began tracking when nursing homes use antipsychotics on residents — doing so can impact the facility’s quality rating in a public database — but only for those who have not been diagnosed with schizophrenia.

Antipsychotics for those nursing home residents has dropped to under 20% in recent years, according to federal data.

A November report from the HHS Office of the Inspector General, however, revealed that the number of residents reported as having schizophrenia without a corresponding diagnosis skyrocketed between 2015 and 2019, with 99 nursing homes in the country reporting that 20% or more of their residents have the disorder.

“The number of unsupported schizophrenia diagnoses increased and in 2019 was concentrated in relatively few nursing homes,” the report concluded.

Nursing homes have worked on other ways to treat residents, especially those with dementia, and trained staff to use alternative methods, said Katie Smith Sloan, the CEO of LeadingAge, an association of nonprofit aging service providers.

“Much has been achieved since the program’s start in 2012, and nursing homes deserve a lot of the credit for the progress,” she said in a statement.

CMS will start targeted audits to ask nursing homes for documentation of the diagnoses in the coming days, focusing on nursing homes with existing residents who have been recorded as having schizophrenia.

The rating scores for nursing homes that have a pattern of inaccurately coding residents as having schizophrenia will be negatively impacted, CMS said in a statement released Wednesday, stopping short of threatening to levy fines against facilities.

Dinging nursing homes’ public ratings will be effective in some cases, said Dr. Shekinah Fashaw-Walters, a researcher at the University of Minnesota who has found that schizophrenia diagnoses have risen in Black nursing home patients compared with their white counterparts in recent years.

She is hopeful that the CMS audits will help to narrow that racial disparity and said that it’s “about time” for CMS’ plan.

“It’s time to do this and really hold nursing homes accountable for providing high quality care,” she said. “I’m thrilled to see that they are taking these steps, and I think they’re very warranted.”

The agency does not have plans to immediately intervene in the patients’ care directly or notify relatives of residents who have been wrongly coded or given antipsychotics, according to senior HHS officials who insisted on anonymity to brief The Associated Press on the matter on Tuesday.

CMS will monitor the facilities to make sure the issues are corrected, officials said.

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Feds to investigate nursing home abuse of antipsychotics

'I'm Not Your Real Mom,' Paralyzed Lady Says to Son Who Tends to Her for 13 Years — Story of the Day

By Tsholofelo Phaho

When Jessica reveals a difficult truth to her son, Richard, she fears losing him forever. But he sticks by her side regardless, and their bond grows even tighter.

All Richard knew about his mother and father's relationship was that he treated her poorly. Beyond that, Richard only ever cared about his mother's well-being.

She always believed in tough love, and as a child, Richard felt that she could be mean at times. But he reached his teenage years, Richard realized that she only ever wanted the best for him. "You're not gonna end up being a deadbeat like your daddy," Jessica told him. 

As he got older, Richard realized that his mother had always dreamed of being a musician but decided to take a steady job so that she could take care of him. Jessica had always taken him to watch their town's local orchestra play. He made a choice to take care of her no matter what.

"Hey, mom. Can we watch that old video together? The one where you were teaching me how to walk?" Richard asked on his 16th birthday. "Sure thing, kid. Did you forget how?" Jessica joked.

"I just wanted to finally make her dream come true."

Together they sat and watched the video for what must have been the 100th time. Little did they know the significance it would have years later. Because of the way he grew up, Richard worked tooth and nail to make sure that he got himself and his mother into a better neighborhood.

He got straight As in school and managed to earn a scholarship to a great college just out of town. He ended up becoming a financial advisor and earned a steady salary. Everyone at his company respected his work ethic, but he always kept to himself at the office.

One day, Richard received a call from a number he didn't recognize."Hi, is this Jessica's son?" a woman asked him."Yes, this is Richard. What's wrong?" He replied.

"Your mother had a stroke at home. Once you can, please come to the hospital," the nurse told him. Richard immediately left the office to be at his mother's side. The doctor let him know that Jessica would need extensive treatment and constant attention to make a full recovery.

Richard immediately applied for leave from work and spent every day tending to his mother's needs. Her stroke had left her paralyzed from the waist down, and although he had the means, Richard refused to hire a stay-in nurse for his mother. He didn't want his mother to think that he would abandon her in her time of need.

"I'm gonna take care of you, whether you like it or not," he told his mother.

Richard's wife, Leah, became frustrated with his absence and threatened to leave him. "I have something to show you, Leah. I know I've spent a lot of time taking care of my mom, but just watch this," Richard pleaded.

He then showed her the video of his mother teaching him how to walk.

"I'm all she's got," Richard told her. He and Leah cried together as they watched the video. Richard explained that because his mother raised him alone, he felt that he owed her a debt.

He would always give everything to his family because of how hard his mother worked. Jessica gave up her dreams for Richard's sake, and he would do the same for her regardless of the cost. Leah realized that Richard was working himself to the bone to provide not only for her but his mother's medical bills as well.

"I don't know how long I have left, so it's time that you learned the truth."

"I'm with you no matter what, Richard. I just thought that I was losing you. But I see now that you're working for all of us," Leah told him. They decided to move into his mother's home so that they take care of her together. This allowed Richard to return to work as he could split time with Leah.

They had to teach Jessica how to walk again. Things became difficult when Leah fell pregnant, but they soldiered through. Jessica was always grateful for how hard her son worked. She knew that he didn't ever ask why it was so difficult for them growing up.

He never even asked about his father. The day after Richard and Leah's son, Freddy, turned one, Jessica suffered a second stroke. Fearing for her life, Jessica decided that she needed to reveal a secret that she had been keeping from Richard.

"I don't know how long I have left, so it's time that you learned the truth. I was always so hard on you, but you never complained. This is the hardest thing I've ever had to tell you, but I'm not your real mother," Jessica told Richard.

"What do you mean?" Richard replied.

"You won't remember this because you were still a child. But your nanny, Elizabeth, was actually your birth mother. Your father, Anthony, cheated on me with her. I decided to raise you as my own. After Elizabeth was killed in a car accident, I left your father. I'm sorry that I kept this from you for all of these years. I just didn't know if you would still love me," Jessica told him.

Richard began to cry as Jessica told her story. After a few minutes, Richard replied, "You're the only mother I've ever known. That hasn't changed at all. I'll always love you the same."

After they took her home from the hospital, the entire family watched the timeless video of Jessica teaching Richard how to walk. Years later, Richard saved up enough money to buy his mother a piano, but when he returned home, Leah told him that Jessica had passed away in her sleep.

Devastated, Richard told Leah, "I just wanted to finally make her dream come true."

When Freddy turned 6, he began to play the piano that Richard had purchased for Jessica. Freddy joined a youth orchestra and played at the same theatre that Jessica had always taken Richard to watch.

Full Article & Source:
'I'm Not Your Real Mom,' Paralyzed Lady Says to Son Who Tends to Her for 13 Years — Story of the Day

Investigation finds concerning link between guardianship lawyers, case workers and judges

By Kristin Thorne

NEW YORK CITY (WABC) -- Eyewitness News found in its six-months-long investigation of the guardianship system in New York City that guardianship lawyers, law firms or people who deal with guardianship cases who donated to judges' election campaigns were awarded guardianship appointments by those same judges in subsequent years.

Eyewitness News used the state's public database of guardians to look up guardians or people involved in guardianship cases and compared their names to donations made to guardianship judges in New York City. The donations are listed on the New York State's Board of Elections public website.

For example, according to the databases, Judge Charles Troia on Staten Island received $17,091 in campaign donations in 2021 from 27 guardianship lawyers, guardianship law firms or people who serve as guardians and awarded those same people or law firms a total of 83 appointments in 2022.

Judge Charles Troia received $17,091 in campaign donations in 2021 from 27 people involved in guardianship cases & awarded them 83 appointments. Photo courtesy: Facebook.

In one instance, Troia received $500 from law firm Carasaniti & Andreo and subsequently awarded one of their attorneys Margaret Andreo nine guardianship appointments.

Eyewitness News contacted Carasaniti & Andreo to inquire if they believe the donation was a conflict of interest.

Before 7 On Your Side Investigative Reporter Kristin Thorne was even able to ask a question, a secretary at Carasaniti & Andreo hung up on her. Thorne called back again and left a message and then followed up with an email directly to Margaret Andreo. She did not get back to us.

According to the public databases, Judge Matthew Titone on Staten Island received $4,425 in campaign donations from 2018-2019 from nine guardianship lawyers, law firms or people involved in guardianship cases and subsequently awarded those same people or law firms a total of 11 appointments.

Queens judge Judge Wyatt Gibbons received $2,000 in campaign donations in 2019 from nine guardianship lawyers, law firms or people involved in guardianship cases and awarded those same people or law firms 22 appointments in 2022.

In 2021, Judge Rosemarie Montalbano in Brooklyn received $6,745 from six guardianship lawyers, law firms or people involved in guardianship cases and gave out 11 appointments to those same people or law firms in 2022.

Judge Rosemarie Montalbano in Brooklyn received $6,745 from people involved in guardianship cases and gave out 11 appointments to those same people. Photo courtesy: Facebook.

For example, attorney Daniel Antonelli donated $500 to Judge Montalbano's election campaign and received four guardianship appointments in 2022.

Eyewitness News contacted Antonelli to ask him if he considered the donation a conflict of interest. He did not get back to us.

Manhattan judge Judge Lisa Sokoloff received $5,720 in campaign donations from 2019-2022 from 20 guardianship lawyers, law firms or people who deal in guardianship cases and awarded those same people or law firms 62 appointments in 2022.

Judge Lisa Sokoloff received $5,720 in campaign donations from 20 people involved in guardianships & awarded those same people 62 appointments in 2022. Photo courtesy: Nycourts.gov

One of the lawyers who donated to her was Paul Mederos. In 2022, he donated $1,000 to Sokoloff's election campaign. Sokoloff gave Mederos seven guardianship appointments in 2022.

Mederos told Eyewitness News the donation was not a conflict of interest. He said he has known Sokoloff for 29 years and has always supported her career.

"I'm very proud of her," he said.

Judge Lisa Ottley in Brooklyn received $1,300 in donations from three guardianship lawyers in 2018 and each of those lawyers received appointments in 2022 totaling 10 appointments.

One of the donations came from lawyer Michael Benjamin who Ottley later appointed as the broker for the sale of a townhouse in Cobble Hill. The owner of the home was under a guardianship. Benjamin netted $210,000 in the $3.5 million sale of the home.

Benjamin and a spokesperson for the New York Court system told Eyewitness News the donation was not a conflict of interest.

Eyewitness News investigative reporter Kristin Thorne first started looking into the donations while researching Ottley's assignment of Benjamin to a guardianship case. She found Benjamin had donated $500 to Ottley's election campaign three years prior.

When Thorne contacted a spokesperson for the New York Court system about Benjamin's donation to Ottley and if the court believed it constituted a conflict of interest, Lucian Chalfen, a spokesperson for the court system replied, " Judges do not know what attorneys, lay persons, any individual for that matter may or may not have contributed to their campaign. Appointments are based on performance and availability."

However, if Eyewitness News was able to find who contributed to judges' campaigns, judges can as well.

When Eyewitness News sent the information we had gathered related to the six New York City guardianship judges and the donations they received from guardianship lawyers to Chalfen.

"It is incumbent on elected and appointed Judges to follow and comply with the rules governing judicial conduct," Chalfen said. "We hope and believe that they do, and if an instance of inappropriate conduct is brought to our attention, it can be referred to the proper authority for investigation."

Eyewitness News brought the donation data to New York State Senator Brad Hoylman (D-Manhattan), the chair of the senate's Judiciary Committee, who called the information "concerning."

"You can't draw a straight line between political donations and public policy - it's never that clear," he said. "But I will tell you this - it is concerning."

See the entire list of donations to New York City guardianship judges and the subsequent guardianship appointments that Eyewitness News uncovered.

Full Article & Source:
Investigation finds concerning link between guardianship lawyers, case workers and judges

See Also:
Eyewitness News investigation finds alarming issues in Tri-State's adult guardianship systems

Judge suspended for 1 week in disciplinary case

By The Princeton Clarion 

INDIANAPOLIS — The Indiana Supreme Court ordered a seven-day unpaid suspension from office from Jan. 30 to Feb. 6 for Gibson Circuit Judge Jeffrey Meade, after finding that he engaged in judicial misconduct.

The Indiana Supreme Court’s judicial discipline action published Thursday says Meade engaged in judicial misconduct by making intemperate comments from the bench; by conducting an off-the-record and unrecorded Child in Need of Services hearing where he ruled on substantive motions; and by failing to provide all parties in the CHINS case with sufficient notice in order to fairly participate in the hearing.

The finding stems from charges filed in December by the Indiana Commission on Judicial Qualifications, alleging misconduct related to the handling of specific paternity and Child in Need of Services cases from 2015 to February 2022.

According to the court, Judge Meade agreed that his conduct was prejudicial to the administration of justice, and in a conditional agreement, he accepted responsibility for conduct, expressed remorse, cooperated with the commission, completed an eight-session coaching intensive for judicial officers, and is engaged in counseling services.

Other mitigating factors, according to the finding, included the appointment of a new magistrate to serve Gibson County’s Circuit and Superior courts and to handle many family law matters. The local circuit court also has updated technology to better accommodate remote hearings on the record.

No aggravating factors were cited beyond previous caution letters in 2008 and 2019 and a deferred resolution in 2017 for “demeanor issues” and “non-judicious behavior,” according to the finding.

The full finding is published at https://public.courts.in.gov/Decisions

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Judge suspended for 1 week in disciplinary case

HB woman held for elder abuse

A HUNTINGTON BEACH woman has been arrested on charges of financial elder abuse (Shutterstock).

Sally Nava Kanarek, 76, of Huntington Beach, was arrested Thursday on multiple felony counts of financial elder abuse, grand theft of an elder, and forgery after a Department of Insurance investigation found she allegedly defrauded an elderly client, who did not have the capacity to consent to her actions, out of $90,995.

Kanarek worked as a licensed life insurance agent between 2018 and 2021. She moved into the victim’s home in 2020 as an alleged roommate. After learning of the victim’s medical condition, she gained control of their finances, while posing as their “health care manager.” Kanarek received more than $90,000 from the victim, including some checks which appear to have been forged.

Kanarek sold the elderly victim two annuities totaling more than $580,000. The sold annuities were against the victim’s financial interest and allowed Kanarek to collect more than $7,800 in commission. Kanarek also attempted to withdraw more than $110,000 from the victim’s IRA and to sell the victim’s home.

Orange County Adult Protective Services and the Orange County Public Guardian assisted in representing the victim’s interests and petitioned for a conservatorship of the victim and their estate in Orange County Superior Court. A conservator has been appointed by the court to better care for the victim.

Kanarek was arrested by the Newport Beach Police Department and booked into the Orange County Jail. Bail was set at $50,000. This case is being prosecuted by the Major Fraud Unit of the Orange County District Attorney’s Office.

The Department revoked Kanarek’s license on Dec. 29, 2022. The Department also imposed an industry ban against Kanarek.

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HB woman held for elder abuse