Trial for ex-guardian Schend delayed for fourth time

APPLETON — The case against a former guardian who police say bilked hundreds of thousands of dollars from the disabled and elderly is now two years old — and in limbo.

Jeffrey M. Schend, 46, was scheduled to stand trial in August in Outagamie County court on 27 charges, including 15 felony theft counts. On Friday, Judge Gregory Gill took the trial off the calendar as attorneys continue to work through records of Schend’s financial dealings.

It was the fourth time Schend’s trial was postponed.

The defense is waiting to obtain Schend’s personal spreadsheets and compare them to the findings of a forensic accountant. Both sides said it’ll be a daunting task.

“You’re talking about thousands of transactions,” District Attorney Carrie Schneider said.
Ironically, Schend demanded a speedy trial in the earliest stages of the case.

His trial was first scheduled for September 2011, but a judge granted prosecutors a postponement to allow for accounting work. Trial dates were then scheduled in January, March and August of last year, but were delayed. The case also was set back when Schend changed attorneys.

His current attorney, Theresa Schmieder, said Friday that setting a new trial date is difficult because she doesn’t have all the evidence she needs to prepare. “From that point, I could be ready in 90 to 120 days,” she said.

Gill said he will hold a conference with attorneys in August to discuss the case.

Authorities say Schend took nearly $500,000 from his clients.

Guardians are appointed by courts to oversee assets when it is determined that individuals are unable to manage their finances. The investigation of Schend began after Outagamie County officials received complaints in late 2010 that bills weren’t being paid.

An accountant used banking records to piece together all of the money that came in and left Schend’s accounts through 2010.

Schend’s former business, JMS Guardianship Services, could have collected $51,000 in fees from his clients in 2010. His personal spending alone reached nearly $165,000 that year, records show. In addition to personal expenses in 2010, the accountant determined that Schend spent $84,000 on business-related expenses, or more than $33,000 in excess of his total possible business income.

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Trial for ex-guardian Schend delayed for fourth time

See Also:
More on Jeffrey Schend

Jeffrey Schend Revoked From Guardianship Practice

Civil and criminal penalties sought against Beaumont attorney

Beaumont attorney Alto Watson III is facing both criminal charges for burglary and possible disbarment for stealing from his former firm and client.

As previously reported, the Commission for Lawyer Discipline, an arm of the State Bar of Texas,

Alto Watson III

filed a disciplinary petition against Watson on May 31 in Jefferson County District Court.

According to the Beaumont Enterprise, on May 22 Watson was arrested for burglary of a habitation and family violence. He has since been indicted.

The commission’s petition says that from September 1998 through July 8, 2012, the Law Firm of

Gilbert T. Adams employed Watson. During his employment, the suit alleges Watson wrongfully billed clients separately for his services and personally accepted client funds meant for the firm, depositing the money in his personal accounts for his own use and benefit.

For example, the suit claims that on March 2, 2011, Mohd Ali hired the firm for representation in a suit styled Major League Grill Franchise vs. Azam Beaumont Enterprises. Ali agreed to pay the firm $10,000 — $5,000 of which Watson asked the client to pay directly to him. He deposited the funds into his personal account and failed to inform the firm, according to the lawsuit.


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Civil and criminal penalties sought against Beaumont attorney

Appellate justice is disciplined

Albany
For the first time in its 35-year history, the state Commission on Judicial Conduct has publicly disciplined an Appellate Division justice.

Nancy E. Smith, a justice of the Appellate Division, Fourth Department, in Rochester reportedly used her position to try to get an early release of a man in prison for vehicular manslaughter.

Smith was admonished for sending an unsolicited letter of support on behalf of an inmate she had never met who was applying for parole, said Commission Administrator Robert H. Tembeckjian.

Admonishment is the mildest form of judicial discipline.

Smith has 30 days to accept or appeal the decision.

In its ruling released Friday, the commission said Smith's actions were "inconsistent with well-established ethical standards prohibiting a judge from lending the prestige of judicial office to advance private interests," Tembeckjian said. "This marks the first time the Commission has publicly disciplined an Appellate Division Justice, whose high rank should have made her especially sensitive to setting an example and obeying the ethics rules."

The matter involved the case of Craig Cordes who was sentenced in May 2008 to up to 10 years in state prison after he was convicted of first-degree vehicular manslaughter. Cordes, who had just completed his second year in law school, was intoxicated when he smashed his boat into another on July 8, 2007, on Skaneateles Lake, killing two people.

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Appellate justice is disciplined

Supreme Court disbars Terri Ann Hauge

The Supreme Court disbarred attorney Terri Ann Hauge today.

Hauge’s law license was suspended in 1995 after clients complained to the attorney discipline board that she mishandled their cases and lied about it.

She could have reapplied for her license, but never did. Instead she went in to business overseeing the finances of vulnerable adults. In fact at 200 clients her firm had the fourth largest portfolio as guardians and conservators in the state.

You can probably guess what happened next. In 2010, she was charged with theft by swindle and ignoring the needs of the people she was supposed to be taking care of.  She stole $53,000 from an Edina man who died in 2003 and there were several other charges of theft and perjury.

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Supreme Court disbars Terri Ann Hauge

In Minnesota, death not a barrier to elder scam suits



Mary Crispin and Diane Restrepo

It was an old-fashioned swindle of a vulnerable adult with a new twist: Although the victim, who suffered from dementia, died 17 months ago, a new law will enable his family to seek restitution.

Unlike the other estimated 30,000 exploitation cases reported each year in Minnesota involving vulnerable seniors, this is expected to be the first to test a groundbreaking state law sponsored by a legislator who is now the prosecutor in this case. Under the law, adopted last month, Donald Crispin’s family can legally ask for restitution for the financial hardship their father suffered when, authorities say, “professional scammers” persuaded him to withdraw $65,000 from his bank account and then took off with money, jewelry and a car they talked him into buying.

“The case doesn’t end with the death of the victim,” said Iris Freeman, associate director for the Center of Elder Justice and Policy at William Mitchell College of Law.

Crispin’s saga serves not only as a warning to felon Steven Miller and his alleged accomplice, Marina Lahara, who authorities say moved often and used many aliases to avoid police for nearly four years before her arrest this month. It offers a painful reminder to families of how vulnerable seniors can be.

Miller and Lahara didn’t hack into Crispin’s personal life through computers. They allegedly stole mail. They also met victims face to face, convinced them that the two knew them and then allegedly stole thousands of dollars from seniors in Hennepin and Anoka counties, authorities say.

Donald Crispin didn’t seem vulnerable. He was 82, an ex-Marine who kept in good shape and had worked well into his 70s. He lived alone in Fridley, handling his own finances while talking to his four daughters daily. Nobody suspected he had dementia.

“My dad passed his pilot’s license test in his 70s,” said one of his daughters, Diane Restrepo, of Chanhassen. “After he retired as a carpenter, he ran a liquor store in northeast Minneapolis for 10 years. He paid his own bills, and on time. He was driving.

“This dementia happened suddenly.”

In 2009, Crispin met Miller and Lahara, who claimed they were brother and sister, according to court records. Within weeks, the records say, Crispin proposed to Lahara, who was 35 but told Crispin she was 62 and that her name was Mary Miller. Between Oct. 7 and Nov. 30, a total of $65,807.88 was withdrawn from Crispin’s bank account — allegedly at the request of Miller and Lahara — for two engagement rings, a 2008 Hummer and property that Crispin was told he would partly own, but never saw, authorities say.

Days later, Miller and Lahara vanished.

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In Minnesota, death not a barrier to elder scam suits

Austin Pastor Charged with Financial Exploitation

AUSTIN, Minn. (AP) — An Austin pastor is charged with bilking more than $40,000 from an elderly woman with dementia.

Authorities say the Rev. David DeFor was the woman’s power of attorney. A criminal complaint, in part, says DeFor used a $5,000 check from the woman to replace his furnace and claimed a $3,000 bank transfer to his account for a bowling trip was a reward for his care.

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Austin Pastor Charged with Financial Exploitation

Tonight on T.S. Radio: Elder Abuse and Exploitation and Murder

Rosanne Miller: I am dealing with the cover up of the death of my Mother. The court system left my Dad with Dementia and mentally impaired, incompetent and in abuse: literally living like a pig for 6 yrs while I tried to get guardianship which the court refused me.

Now the corporate agents have stolen $250,000 from their estate. My Dad is now in a nursing home trying to kill himself so the agents loaded him up on drugs to subdue him which is abuse by chemical restraint. The agents have gutted their home throwing away any final evidence to link the suspect of Mom's death while it is still an "ongoing" investigation. The Corporate Agents have done everything they can to support the suspect and abuser cause they knew that is where they would make their money. The suspect walks free to this day.

This is nothing short of conspiracy and racketeering.

Great country we live in.

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Ex-Sidley lawyer accused of stealing almost $120,000 from firm

A former Sidley Austin LLP partner and global coordinator of its real estate practice was accused of stealing nearly $120,000 from the Chicago-based law firm by the Illinois Attorney Registration and Disciplinary Commission.

The complaint against Lee Smolen, 53, who left Sidley last fall and joined DLA Piper US LLP's Chicago office in February, requests that the matter be assigned to a panel for further investigation and possible discipline, according to Am Law Daily.

Sidley and a lawyer for Mr. Smolen declined to comment, the report said. Mr. Smolen was accused of submitting for reimbursement more than 800 false receipts totaling $69,000 for taxi rides he had not taken, plus thousands more in entertainment expenses "that had not been incurred for legitimate firm purposes.”

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Ex-Sidley lawyer accused of stealing almost $120,000 from firm

Recommended Website: Victims of Guardians

WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW ABOUT UNLAWFUL AND ABUSIVE GUARDIANSHIPS / CONSERVATORSHIPS:

Many lawyers write articles suggesting advance directives, including a Durable Power of Attorney ("durable," meaning it remains in effect after a person becomes incompetent). 

Question: But what if you wind up in front of a corrupt judge who ignores the grantor's wishes?
Answer: He can override any legal document executed by the AIP ("alleged incompetent person.") (Note: The person is only "alleged" to be incompetent until they are legally adjudged to be incapacitated; then they are described as the "ward." They are actually wards of the State.)

Question: Aren't there any safeguards against that?
Answer: That's up to your state legislators and prosecutors. An honest judge will hold a full evidentiary hearing to determine the validity of the prior Durable Power of Attorney - the issue being whether the AIP was incompetent at the time of execution. A corrupt judge will not hold any hearing; he/she will just ignore the Power, and sometimes invalidate (with a stroke of the pen) even a Last Will and Testament, putting all sorts of liberties in the hands of the fiduciaries.

Question: Why would a judge do that?
Answer: By unlawfully overriding the powers granted, he can then put his academic or political buddies into the guardianship, to make-work and feast on fees.

Question: What is the quid pro quo; i.e., what's in it for him/her?
Answer: That we will not know until the prosecutors start prosecuting judicial corruption in a meaningful way.

Source:
VictimsOfGuardians