Judge Bars Estate Recovery From Metro

By Walter F. Roche Jr.

A senior Nashville judge has dismissed a $515,907 claim against Metro Nashville government filed in behalf of the estate of a man whose assets were depleted by $771,009 thanks to the lawyer appointed to oversee his case.

In a three-page ruling Judge Ben H. Cantrell concluded that the claim filed in behalf of the estate of William Link had to be disallowed because it was not filed until long after a one-year statute of limitations had expired.

Cantrell concluded that the one-year limit did not only apply to wrongful death cases as the lawyers for Link had argued.

"The plaintiff's argument is appealing, especially in this case, but the court thinks the Supreme Court did not limit their decision to wrongful death cases," Cantrell wrote in the three page decision.

John E. Clemmons

The Link estate was one of four cases in which now jailed and disbarred attorney John E. Clemmons stole over $1 million from estates and conservatorships he was overseeing. Clemmons, 69, is now serving an 18-year prison sentence after pleading guilty in all four cases.

Lawyers for Link had argued that if Davidson Probate Court officials had done their job  and required Clemmons to file mandatory annual accountings, the thefts would have been prevented. According to court filings Clemmons, who was appointed administrator in March of 2003, filed one annual accounting on Sept. 15, 2004.

Cantrell did not dispute that conclusion and also pointed out that court officials approved a series of fee requests submitted by Clemmons up through 2012 "despite the lack of accounting."

Paul Gontarek, who replaced Clemmons as the administrator, said Monday they were reviewing the ruling to determine what if any further action to take.

Cantrell has yet to rule in a similar case in which Gontarek is seeking to recover $157,050 from Metro for Donald Griggs who had his conservatorship overseen by Clemmons.  Arguments in the Griggs case paralleled those on the Link case.

In his ruling Cantrell concluded "that the claims against Metro in this case are barred by the one-year statute of limitations."

Gontarek, meanwhile, is pursuing a claim against Clemmons' malpractice insurance carrier, but lawyers for the company have asked a federal judge to bar any claim because the policy does not apply to criminal conduct.

Probate Judge David "Randy" Kennedy, who appointed Gontarek to replace Clemmons, recently approved fees and expenses for Gontarek and Patrick Mason totaling a little over $35,000. Mason was hired to pursue the claims against Metro.

Contact: wfrochejr999@gmail.com

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Judge Bars Estate Recovery From Metro

State Health Dept. finds deficiencies at nursing home where woman, 82, died after beating

The Delaware Avenue nursing home where an 82-year-old woman suffered fatal injuries in a beating in late August has been cited for four deficiencies, and the operators’ plan to correct the problems has been rejected.

An inspection at Emerald South Nursing and Rehabilitation Center in the days following the death of Ruth Murray found “the facility failed to provide adequate supervision to prevent accidents and ensure resident safety,” according to the state Health Department.

That was one of four deficiencies for which Emerald South was cited on Sept. 16. The nursing home’s operators last week submitted a plan of correction to try to address the shortcomings, but the department rejected the plan.

The nursing home’s operators still must submit and win approval for a plan of correction. The Health Department declined to release information on the deficiencies identified in the inspection because the department’s probe into Murray’s death continues.

“State DOH’s investigation into allegations of resident-to-resident abuse at Emerald South Nursing and Rehabilitation is ongoing. Based on the seriousness of the matter, DOH will be reviewing all appropriate enforcement actions against the facility,” the department said in a statement.

“We are working closely with the Department of Health on the Plan of Corrections and expect they will be accepted soon,” A spokesman for the operators of the home said.

Murray was a resident of Emerald South, 1175 Delaware Ave. near West Ferry Street, in Buffalo. On the morning of Aug. 26, Murray mistakenly wandered into a man’s room in the dementia unit, where she also lived, officials previously told The News.

Murray suffered a broken neck, several broken ribs, a broken nose, facial fractures and a collapsed lung in the attack, according to a police report, which did not explain the nature of the altercation.
She died three days later in Erie County Medical Center.

Emerald South fares poorly on measures used by federal and state agencies to rate nursing homes. The federal government gave Emerald South the lowest possible score on its 2016 overall rating.

And in July, the union for workers at Emerald South held an informational picket outside the facility to protest low staffing levels there and at other nursing homes controlled by the same owners.

The facility formerly was known as the Presbyterian Home, but Presbyterian Senior Care sold it in 2012. Benjamin Landa, founder of the state’s largest nursing home network, acquired the facility as an appointed receiver before transferring ownership to his wife, Judy, and a partner, Barry Jeremias, through an entity known as Opal Care LLC, according to Health Department records. Jeremias recently applied for permission to sell his ownership shares to Judy Landa.

Emerald South has a high number of complaints compared with other nursing homes in the state, and inspector visits prompted by those complaints led to the home being cited for a higher number of deficiencies, according to Health Department data.

For the four years between August 2012 and July 2016, Emerald South generated 151.8 complaints per 100 occupied beds, nearly four times the statewide average for nursing homes of 41 complaints per 100 occupied beds. The department visited Emerald South nine times in the last four years and issued 149 citations during those inspections, more than four times the state average over the same period.

Michael Scinta, a lawyer with the Brown Chiari law firm, represents the family of Murray. He has been gathering information about Murray’s care and the home’s operation since the attack, and said the Health Department’s finding of deficiencies demonstrates there were problems at the home.

“At the time of Ms. Murray’s death, they failed to meet the appropriate standard of care, relative to her needs as well as the needs of other residents at the facility,” Scinta said.

Scinta said the plan of correction is a chance for the home to make changes to ensure a similar incident doesn’t occur again.

By rejecting the submitted plan, he said, “the Department of Health must not believe that Emerald has done enough to right the wrongs.”

As for the male resident whose room Murray entered, Michael J. DeGeorge, a spokesman for the Buffalo Police Department, said the case is in the hands of the Erie County District Attorney’s Office.

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State Health Dept. finds deficiencies at nursing home where woman, 82, died after beating

Department of Public Health Approves Mass Evictions of Eureka Nursing Home Residents

On September 28, 2016, the Department of Public Health (DPH) gave unconditional written approval to Rockport Healthcare Services to implement its revised closure and relocation plans for Seaview, Pacific and Eureka Rehabilitation & Wellness Centers in Eureka. These three nursing homes contain nearly 60 percent of the nursing home beds in Humboldt County and house about 190 residents. Rockport Healthcare Services is affiliated with Brius Healthcare Services, a nursing home business operated by Shlomo Rechnitz.

On the same date, DPH wrote Joe Rodrigues, the State Long-Term Care Ombudsman, and Suzi Fregeau, the local ombudsman coordinator, to advise them it found no basis to impose receivership on the facilities as they had recommended.

Condemnation by public officials was swift.  Senator Mike McGuire issued a statement to the North Coast Journal expressing extreme disappointment and called the closure plans “devastating” and “completely irresponsible.” Local ombudsman Suzi Fregeau called the Department’s decisions “catastrophic.”

Contradicting the operator’s claims that it could not give away the facilities, the Eureka Times-Standard reported that the Partnership Health Plan of California had offered to buy and run one or more of the facilities from Rockport but that the asking price was “untenable.” The Lost Coast Outpost posted a statement from Assemblymember Jim Wood stating “Rockport remained steadfast in walking away from more than 200 vulnerable residents and their families” and describing the demand for an “unreasonably high” price as “unconscionable.”

These statements quickly triggered a very public exchange of criticism between Brius Healthcare Services and the Partnership Health Plan about who was to blame and subsequent media stories by the Lost Coast Outpost and Eureka Times-Standard on September 30, 2016.

The disgraceful actions by DPH continues its long history of aiding the interests of nursing home operators at the expense of the nursing home residents it is supposed to protect, even when residents’ lives are at stake. In authorizing the Eureka nursing homes to close and evict all of the residents, DPH is virtually condemning most of them to isolated lives far apart from their families and friends and to the likely trauma that often accompany this fate.

Most of the residents are likely to be moved to nursing homes outside of Humboldt County if the facilities close because there are few available beds in the remaining two local nursing homes. The approved closure plans identifies nursing homes within a 200-mile radius beyond the greater Eureka area, including 24 nursing homes that reportedly have available beds. These 24 nursing homes have the following characteristics:

• All but one of them are more than 100 miles from Eureka;
• Some of them are nearly 200 miles from Eureka;
• Five of them are in Oregon;
• The remaining 19 facilities are spread across 10 different northern California counties including Butte, Colusa, Del Norte, Glenn, Lake, Mendocino, Shasta, Siskiyou, Sonoma and Tehama Counties;
• The 24 nursing homes had a total of 214 vacancies;
• Many of the nursing homes have deplorable records; and
• 15 of the 24 nursing homes – containing 138 of the 214 available beds – currently have 1 or 2-Star ratings on Nursing Home Compare’s Five Star quality rating system. (Click to Continue)

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Department of Public Health Approves Mass Evictions of Eureka Nursing Home Residents

New York Lawyer Gets Prison Time for Stealing $5 Million From Clients

Stuart A. Schlesinger, a disbarred lawyer

A lawyer who practiced for half a century in New York and built one of the city’s leading personal injury practices was sentenced to six and a half years in prison on Friday for stealing more than $5 million from clients.

The lawyer, Stuart A. Schlesinger, 76, misappropriated the funds from settlements he had negotiated in cases involving medical malpractice and other injuries, and then used the money to pay expenses including mortgage bills, the government had alleged.

“He converted his law license to a license to steal,” said Judge William H. Pauley III before imposing the sentence, which included an order that Mr. Schlesinger forfeit more than $5 million and pay restitution.

The proceeding was highly charged, with rows of victims observing from the spectator gallery. Some wept openly. Others made angry comments. More than a half-dozen victims addressed the judge personally, recounting the hardships Mr. Schlesinger had caused them, as well as his never-ending excuses, as one victim put it.

The victim, Margaret Last, rattled off some of Mr. Schlesinger’s excuses: “He was short-staffed. He was making sure everything was in order. He had a virus. He had problems with his back and his knee. The office was moving. He didn’t know how to work a fax machine.”

Ms. Last is still owed $660,000, her share of a settlement of a medical malpractice lawsuit that Mr. Schlesinger negotiated on her behalf, according to Christopher Cobb, a lawyer who now represents her.

Another victim, Kenneth Lawler, who is owed $900,000 from the settlement of a lawsuit alleging medical malpractice in the death of his son, said, “Every time I have to return to this matter, it brings back sad memories.”

Matthew J. Laroche, a prosecutor in the office of Preet Bharara, the United States attorney for the Southern District of New York, told the judge that Mr. Schlesinger did not care that his victims were plaintiffs who were already “suffering from life-altering injuries or the death of a loved one.

“He stole their money and lied to them and left them revictimized and broken,” Mr. Laroche said.

Murray Richman, Mr. Schlesinger’s lawyer, said his client’s actions had been reprehensible.

“I’m also angry at what he’s done to the legal community,” Mr. Richman said. “He’s made every lawyer’s word less meaningful.”

Mr. Schlesinger, who ran a firm called Julien & Schlesinger and who is now disbarred, made a rambling apology, facing the judge at times and also turning to the victims. “I know what I did,” he said. “I know the extent of what I did, and I know how terrible it is.”

He added: “I’ve lost everything that I’ve earned in 50 years. I lost my license. I lost my respect. I have terrible issues with family.”

Judge Pauley, of Federal District Court in Manhattan, observed that Mr. Schlesinger had become a prominent lawyer who was “at the apex” of the personal injury bar in New York. But the case revealed “that under the veneer of an accomplished and highly respected attorney, Mr. Schlesinger was really a predator — his conduct was long running and devastating to the individuals he victimized,” the judge said.

He also noted that Mr. Schlesinger had amassed a fortune in real estate, selling an elegant brownstone on the Upper East Side of Manhattan for more than $20 million about a decade ago, and earlier buying a property on Quogue, on Long Island, that is appraised for more than $11 million.

The Quogue property, which according to real estate listings is an eight-bedroom house on five and a half acres, with a pool and a hot tub overlooking the ocean, is for sale, currently priced at $10 million.

The judge also suggested that Mr. Schlesinger had been hiding assets, noting he had not disclosed that he had borrowed more than $2 million against the Quogue property. He said that Mr. Schlesinger had also “apparently been busy selling personal property, including artworks,” and after selling some, he had deposited more than $65,000 in his wife’s account.

Judge Pauley said the court’s probation department reported that bank statements reflected other significant deposits for which the sources were unknown.

“So it really seems, Mr. Schlesinger, that the fraudulent conduct continues,” the judge said.

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New York Lawyer Gets Prison Time for Stealing $5 Million From Clients

Nevada court panel calls for state guardianship overhaul

LAS VEGAS (AP) — The Nevada Supreme Court has joined calls for lawmakers to overhaul the state's troubled guardianship program that critics say victimizes some of the disabled and elderly people it was set up to help.

Appointing lawyers to represent those whose assets and affairs are being managed tops a list of recommendations announced this week by a commission that spent 15 months studying the program.  Rules currently don't allow legal representation.

Other proposals included creating a "bill of rights" for wards of the program, allowing judges to enlist independent investigators and accountants to spot problems, and capping fees charged by private guardians.

A separate law would be created to cover children in the program, and mediation would be required for all contested guardianship proceedings. Guardians would be prohibited from selling assets, such as a ward's house or car, without court approval.

In a statement Thursday announcing the study's completion, Reno television reporter and commission member Terri Russell cited what she called heartbreaking stories of "abuse, fear and distrust" in the program.

The court created the commission in June 2015 to review issues raised following a series of Las Vegas Review-Journal reports about flaws and lack of oversight of the guardianship system in Las Vegas and Clark County.

Supreme Court Justice James Hardesty, who headed the panel, said the accounts "served as an important reminder for all of us of the sensitivity we all must show to the issues involved in the assessment of persons in need of protection."

The commission statement said it expected the recommendations would provide a template for new laws in the 2017 Legislature.

The panel called for courts to bring a backlog of guardian cases current; for officials to seek federal funding to improve administration of the program; and for criminal investigation and prosecution of guardianship abuse cases.

Nevada Attorney General Adam Laxalt created a task force in May that he said would aim to stop legal guardians from swindling disabled and elderly clients they're hired to protect.

He issued a joint statement Friday with Clark County Sheriff Joseph Lombardo and District Attorney Steve Wolfson in Las Vegas commending the Supreme Court commission's work.

The officials promised to review the recommendations and "continue to investigate and prosecute instances of guardianship and financial exploitation."

The panel also called for the Supreme Court to clarify rules of evidence and procedure in guardianship cases.

The guardian program handles the affairs of thousands of at-risk adults with mental or physical incapacities. Some cases are handled by publicly funded guardians. Others fall to private, third-party guardians whose work and fee structure is supposed to be monitored by a court.

"Some of the cases were just horrible to read," said Barbara Buckley, executive director of the Legal Aid Center of Southern Nevada and a former state lawmaker. The nonprofit began handling guardianship cases earlier this year.

Buckley wasn't a commission member but urged the panel to call for allowing attorneys into the guardianship process. Critics say it currently takes a family member or other outsider to report mismanagement of guardianship money and cases.

"Individuals in this situation are being stripped of their civil liberties, the right to run their life as they see fit, without anyone speaking to them or advocating on their behalf," Buckley told the Review-Journal. "There's no doubt that many of these recommendations, if enacted by the Legislature, will stop some of those abuses."

The commission report doesn't feature victim testimony but chronicles discussions about state laws by a 27-member panel that includes judges, advocates, attorneys and public officials.

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Nevada court panel calls for state guardianship overhaul

My sister hid my mom in a nursing home and cheated me out of my inheritance

Dear Moneyologist,

For years, my parents depended on me. But my father died and I believe I was cheated out of my inheritance by my sibling. My sister gave my part to her husband. I was told that our other two siblings were given $10,000 each. I know for a fact that there was $45,000 in his estate, not including the family home.

After my father’s death, my mother suddenly became a different person. I became the enemy. I was told my mother was afraid of me. I did not know where mom was for seven years. I eventually found her and she was put in a nursing home. It turned out she was suffering with dementia. My sister never went to see mother. (The staff said they had never met my sister.)

When I started asking questions about my mother’s money my sister hung up the phone on me. Of my mom’s three children, my sister’s husband makes over $100,000 a year. I am on disability and my other sibling earns $30,000 a year. It may sound like a small sum, but it would mean a great deal to us. Do I have any right to fight for my inheritance?

Linda in Oklahoma

Dear Linda,

I’m sorry that your sister appears to have cheated you out of your inheritance but I am more disturbed that your mother was spirited away for seven years. I’m curious to know how you found her after all this time and what efforts you made to locate her in the interim period, and whether you have reported any of this to the authorities. It seems to me that your inheritance should be the least important matter here and your mother’s well-being should be paramount.

Assuming your mother is still alive, then you would need to empower yourself legally to determine the financial status of an incapacitated individual, says Blake Harris, an attorney at Mile High Estate Planning in Denver. “If an individual is incapacitated, then their finances would either be managed by a court appointed conservator or their agent under their power of attorney,” he says.

A power of attorney is an inexpensive written legal document that gives an individual the right to make financial decisions on behalf of another person; an “attorney-in-fact” or agent is the person who is making those decisions. Ask the agent for the financial plan. If you can’t locate the agent or the agent is not willing to share that information, Harris says, you should petition the court to contest the power of attorney and request a copy of your mom’s financial plan.

Similarly, if no power of attorney exists, Harris says your mother would have a court appointed conservator and as you are an interested party — usually an immediate family member or other close relative — you could petition the court to review your mother’s financial plan. That said, if your mother’s estate was worth $45,000, it’s highly unlikely there’s much left after seven years.

Given that your mother has been left to end her days alone, this strikes me more of a case of elder abuse, something that is commonly under-reported, according to the nonprofit National Adult Protective Services Association. They include using a power of attorney to access a person’s finances or even taking advantage of joint bank accounts. Make your mother’s health and safety your priority, not the inheritance (if it even still exists).

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My sister hid my mom in a nursing home and cheated me out of my inheritance

NBC2 Investigators: Assisted living facility dogged by bed bugs

Concealed among single-family homes in Naples Park, there's a small residence where people who can't take care of themselves live.

Karen Federighi was one of them.

"I would not want anyone to stay at that facility," she said.

Shortly into her stay at the Vanderbilt Beach Assisted Living facility, Federighi awoke in the middle of the night.

"I was awakened by the little bites," she said. "So I turned on the lights. Sure enough, there they are."

"They" were bed bugs.

Federighi got to a doctor where she was treated for the bites. But she said the facility did nothing to get rid of the bugs.

"I never observed once anybody cleaning, or vacuuming, or dusting," she said.

So she called the state and filed a complaint with the Agency for Healthcare Administration, which came to inspect the Vanderbilt.

AHCA's report shows bed bugs are "a constant battle," according to the facility's administrator. That administrator told state inspectors that the parasites popped up eight months ago. She chose to treat them herself instead of hiring a professional exterminator.

AHCA required Vanderbilt to contract with a state-licensed pest control company by April 30.
Additionally, the facility was forced to seal all the air conditioner wall units where pests were getting inside.

Those deadlines passed, and AHCA has not performed a follow-up inspection to confirm whether Vanderbilt complied.

A Vanderbilt employee refused to answer questions.

"It's none of your concern," she said.

As it turned out, state inspectors found more than just bed bugs during their visit. There were missing medical records and staff was not properly trained to manage medications, and even a case where a resident wasn't receiving proper daily care.

"It really becomes kind of an issue of abuse at some point," said Eric Flusche, a senior care advocate. "Without staff who is properly trained, that can become a life-threatening situation. It doesn't sound like (a place) I would want to put someone that I loved into."

Federighi shared the sentiment.

"The residents at Vanderbilt deserve better," she said.

To find out about health care facilities in Florida, go to the Agency for Healthcare Administration's website.

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NBC2 Investigators: Assisted living facility dogged by bed bugs

Disbarred Longwood attorney arrested on federal fraud charges

Julie Kronhaus, a former Longwood attorney, was disbarred

A Longwood attorney accused of draining hundreds of thousands of dollars from the trust accounts and businesses of her clients was arrested Friday on federal charges.

Julie Kronhaus, 51, is accused of 11 counts of wire fraud and seven counts of bank fraud.

An Orlando federal grand jury indicted her on Wednesday.

The indictment, unsealed Friday, accuses her of wrongdoing dating back to 2009. She's charged with making eight illegal wire transfers totaling $526,000 between 2012 and 2014.

In addition, she's charged with defrauding Bank of America out of $425,000 in a separate series of transactions.

Clients, however, have filed lawsuits and complaints with the Florida Bar accusing her of misappropriating more than $2 million.

Kronhaus provided legal advice, did accounting, set up trust funds and managed them for several clients. It's those funds that she's accused of raiding.

Disbarred attorney embezzled money from disabled girl, records allege

One of those was Brittany Jones, who gave birth 10 years ago to a baby girl who suffered severe brain damage while in a Lake County hospital. Kronhaus was in charge of the child's trust account when $180,000 disappeared, Jones alleged in a complaint with the Florida Bar.

"I'm glad it's finally happened," she said Friday when told of Kronhaus' arrest. "I've never seen where she's ever denied any wrongdoing."

Kronhaus had an office on Howell Branch Road near Winter Park and also was a certified public accountant. She was disbarred in 2014 and stripped of her CPA license by state regulators last year.

She did not return phone calls Friday evening.

Her arrest came as no surprise. Former clients have clamored for it for more than two years, when they first discovered checks she wrote to them began to bounce.

The first agency to take action against her was the Florida Bar. About that time, the Seminole County Sheriff's Office began an investigation, then turned it over to the FBI.

As the investigation dragged on, clients grew angry that she had not been charged with a crime.

They include the widow and son of a Casselberry man who was killed in an automobile crash, at least two Orlando-area aviation businesses and a Baltimore lawyer.

Kronhaus ran something similar to a Ponzi scheme, according to the indictment, sometimes transferring client money into the accounts of other clients in an attempt to cover up earlier wrongdoing.

She also made $120,000 in fraudulent wire transfers to American Express to pay for personal travel, clothes and entertainment, according to the indictment.

Former clients accused her of living a lavish lifestyle. She and her cardiologist husband, Ken Kronhaus, live in Alaqua, a gated community outside Longwood, in a 6,500-square foot home that has a heated swimming pool and backs up to a golf course.

Julie Kronhaus wore designer clothes, drove a Lexus, sent her daughter to Lake Highland Preparatory School and took the girl to out-of-state-beauty pageants and shows on Broadway, photos show.

The bank-fraud victim, according to the indictment, was Bank of America. Kronhaus carried out a check kiting scheme in 2014, leaving the bank holding $425,000 worth of bad checks.

She also diverted money from client accounts that were supposed to go to the Internal Revenue Service to pay their tax bills, the indictment alleges.

Kronhaus was booked into the Seminole County Jail about 1:45 p.m. Friday. After being transferred to federal custody, she was released on her own recognizance, according to Amy Filjones, a spokeswoman for the U.S. Attorney's Office.

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Disbarred Longwood attorney arrested on federal fraud charges

Granny who ditched cancer treatment for cross-country road trip dies

MARIETTA, Ga. - Norma Jean Bauerschmidt, the grandmother who has embarked on the ultimate journey following a devastating loss and learning she has cancer, has died. She was 91.

Miss Norma, as she liked to be called, set out on her incredible journey in the summer of 2015.

Months earlier and within a two-week period, she learned her husband, Leo, was dying and she had a large, likely cancerous mass on her uterus. Two days after Leo passed away, Miss Norma was in a doctor's office learning about surgery, radiation and chemotherapy. Once the doctor finished telling Norma her options, he asked her how she'd like to proceed.

"I'm 90-years-old, I'm hitting the road," she told her doctor.

Driving Miss Norma

Along for the epic road trip was her son and daughter-in-law. Her goal was to love every minute of life she had, and she did just that. She got to see Mount Rushmore, Yellowstone, the Grand Canyon, Disney World and more recently the beaches along Georgia's coast. She visited New York, Atlanta and San Juan Island in Harbor, Washington. She wintered in Florida and cruised up the East Coast “chasing spring.”  (Continue Reading)


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Granny who ditched cancer treatment for cross-country road trip dies