Wednesday, November 16, 2011

Probate Court Audit Reveals Money Oversight Issues

MEMPHIS, TN - (WMC-TV) - Shelby County Probate Court is the subject of the county's most recent internal audit.

The scathing report revealed the court is suffering from a pervasive lack of money oversight, including losing track of funds, unlocked cash drawers and unsealed confidential records.

The court is charged with the task of distributing assets to people who can't manage their own estate - be they deceased, senior citizens or children. It was particularly daunting when internal auditors found a list of oversight problems at high risk for loss or misappropriation of court funds.

Paul Boyd became clerk last September and is now trying to clean up the mess.

"We're doing what we're supposed to do and I have no fear of anything," said Boyd.

Auditors did not accuse Boyd or anyone in his office of any wrongdoing, but they have serious changes in store, including account reconciliation.

In one case the audit found a $128,000 difference between the balance in one investment account and the balance the court had on record. The audit says the court also lost track of money in some of their 635 accounts, and they did not keep up with interest earned on some of their $21 million in holdings.

"Every year, we're going to make a call right before the end of the year and make sure we have statements from all 600-plus accounts," said Boyd.

Auditors also uncovered only four percent of the checks the court paid out had the clerk's signature and the charge and cash receipts drawer had no lock.

Boyd said he is now signing the checks, and the cash box never had more than $150 because they work mostly with checks.

"Previous to the audit, we just had a shoe box that we had in the desk drawer," said Boyd. "The auditors came and said, 'this is not acceptable,' so we went and bought a cash box with a lock."

The audit also found the court system had access weaknesses. Former administrators could still log in to the computer system and sealed cases and mental health records were left unattended at times.

Boyd said the documents are now locked away and past administrators are now locked out.

"What we do is we make them inactive, which says they can't get anything, and then we change their passwords," he said.

He said his office is using computers from the 90s, but upgrading to computers that would better safeguard the court's money would cost a quarter of a million dollars in taxpayer funds.

Boyd hopes the County Commission will grant the upgrade, but in the meantime said he looks forward to the follow-up audit.

"We need the audit to come in to provide assurance to the public that nothing is stolen and everybody's doing what they're supposed to be doing," said Boyd.

Unlike the honest errors in Probate Court, clerks across the Mid-South have made news for dishonest behavior in recent months. Shelby County Chancery Court Clerk Brandon Gunn pleaded guilty to stealing court funds in excess of $1 million. It is still unclear how the money will be recouped.

Germantown Municipal Court deputy clerk Janet Donnell confessed to theft of city funds, but Germantown will not say how much she stole. Auditors in Germantown are going through the records to get a better handle of the losses there.

General Sessions Court Clerk Otis Jackson is suing the judges who removed him, after he was indicted for allegedly coercing staff members to contribute to his re-election campaign.

To read the Shelby County Probate Court audit, click here.

Copyright 2011 WMC-TV. All rights reserved.

Read the full story and watch the video here.

Saturday, November 12, 2011

The New Scam: Professional Conservators for the Elderly

How an Attorney in Chicago Fooled a Judge and Got Away with Elder Fraud

by Carole Wade, Contributing Columnist

No one wants to hear it. Innocent elderly women and men being scammed by welcoming seemingly sweet, lovely, and well-versed swindlers disguised as conservators. These new so-called conservators are entrepreneurs who see an aging population with checkbooks. Some of the alleged caregivers cultivate aging people for their own financial gain and interest.

While they may promise to take care of their charges, the victims soon discover that their lifetime finances have ended up in the hands of their conservator.

It can happen to you. It happened to a close member in my family. In 1990, a bearded man full of charisma, lies, and charm began courting (not literally) a wealthy older woman. According to the woman's friend, she told me, “I remember the man entering her life that night. He seemed to be carefully scouting out each person.” At this particular art reception, he promptly set his sights on a distinguished smartly-dressed man of eighty and his small fragile wealthy wife in her advancing years. In a voice that was soft but humorous, the professional attorney conservator said, “You are the most beautiful woman in the room. Are you a model?” The woman -- suffering from onset Alzheimer's replied, “How did you know?”

Although the lawyer’s record clearly reflected a numerous string of bushwhacked victims, not to mention that he knew very little about elder care of any kind, he immediately said, “I am here to help you. I will sit down with you and my new ‘adopted dad’ (her husband) tomorrow morning.”

Despite multiple warnings from their son, the gregarious newcomer and confidence man entered his mother's life. The chatty man fabricated his lineage according to what the elderly woman wanted to hear. He spotted her husband's desire to know royalty so he swiftly modified his background to include connections to the royal family of Spain. Within a few short months, the husband died and this champion scam-master attorney conservator became the sole legal representative for the widow's millions of dollars, while coldly and deliberately isolating the parent from her grown children.

The Los Angeles Times, “When a Family Matter Turns Into A Business” (November 13, 2005), paints a sad story about an elderly woman who now spends her time in the hands of a person she should not trust: A Conservator. Her new legal guardian.

The article quotes, “It was her (the conservator) responsibility to protect (the elderly woman) and conserve her nest egg. So far, (the conservator) has spent at least $200,000 of it. The money has gone to pay the conservator's fees and hire attendants to supervise the elderly woman around the clock, among other expenses.”

The Wall Street Journal's November 16, 2005, cover story relates this same experience to a beloved American: “Rosa Park's Death Stirs Up Bitter Feud Over Her Estate -- Family Fights Caregivers To Control the Legacy Of Civil-Rights Icon.”

Generally all this is unbeknownst to the children or to the elderly person's closest friends or even their physicians. First, they hear their parents mention a name. Second, his name is being built up into a “super hero.” Third, they discover he or she is in charge of their parents’ fortune and it is too late for them. And as The Los Angeles Times points out, professional conservator is a growing troubling new occupation.

After over a decade in court, the elderly man and woman in question in my life have passed away. Their son's lawsuit against the now disbarred attorney was lost. His parent's money is gone -- into the pocket of the marginal ex-lawyer who “got-away-with-it.”

I personally spoke with the District Attorney in Chicago on two different occasions in 1992 and 1993. He said to me, “This man is crafty and conniving. He is obviously unscrupulous and he cares noting about dividing, destroying, and alienating the family in question. This is how they flourish. File your case, but it can take twenty years.” The failed case took ten years and $ 360,000.00 in legal fees.

Was the Chicago legal system flawed? Yes. Did the Judge who handled the case understand professional conservators who are also attorneys? No. The Judge did not even read the case. He had his young inexperienced law clerk make the decision for him. Chicago's legal system failed to protect the elderly parents and the children in question -- permitting the hideous attorney to move thousands of miles west to start a new scam.

Today, the target age of people to swindle is over the age of sixty-five. When your parents are eighty and their wealth should pass on to their children, the new slimy conservators will pretend to “represent” both parties -- the parents and the children. But the only person winning is the scam-artist professional conservator attorney.

Professional conservators are skilled liars and experts at verbal camouflage. They know their success depends on it. Conservator/elder care is a new, growing and usually unregulated trade in the United States. The Los Angeles Times says it best, “...lawmakers and judges did not foresee that professionals would turn what had been a family matter into a business.”

About the Author: Ms. Wade is a writer who lives in Southern California. Her articles and comments appear frequently in The American Partisan, The Los Angeles Times (registration required free of charge), the Daily News, Internet newspapers, and monthly travel magazines. She also guests on the Al Rantel show. ***

© 2006 Carole Wade

Wednesday, November 9, 2011

Devon Bank Locations in Assisted Living Facilities

The Meadows of Glen Ellyn
60 N. Nicoll Ave.
Glen Ellyn , IL 60137
630-446-1600

The Devonshire of Lisle
1700 Robin Lane
Lisle, IL 60532
630-963-1880

The Seasons at Glenview Place
4501 Concord Lane
Northbrook, IL 60062
847-803-7100

The Heritage of Des Plaines
800 S. River Road
Des Plaines, IL 60016
847-294-0100

The Hallmark
2960 N. Lake Shore Drive
Chicago, IL 60657
773-880-2960

The Kenwood of Lakeview
3121 N. Sheridan Road
Chicago, IL 60657
773-404-9800

Hawthorn Lakes
10 E. Hawthorn Parkway
Vernon Hills, IL 60061
847-367-2516

Willows
10 East Hawthorn Parkway
Vernon Hills, IL 60061
847-367-2516

They have other branches but I have to drive over to them.  It "looks like" they're in Section 8 Housing and other facilities?  These facilities are owned by Brookdale Senior Living whom I believe took over Sunrise not too long ago.  A woman at one of these facilities had her account at Devon bank and she was moved by her niece to a nursing home.  "Somehow" Devon Bank got involved, trapped the woman in guardianship.  That was no coincidence.

Probate Court: The Largest Business in the World

(and the deepest, darkest, dirtiest, yet wealthiest secret of our government)

Consider this, the probate court is the largest business in the world, for through its portals pass the entire wealth of the world, sooner or later.

Now, pay close attention:

In this post, I will mathematically prove this allegation. Though this well-kept secret does not appear in the Fortune 500′s list, the probate court trumps them all, including Wal-Mart, Wall Street, Bill Gates, Warren Buffet. These businesses and individuals are all dwarves compared to the probate court.

Follow carefully, for this will help the reader understand and comprehend the magnitude of the “business of the court”, specifically the probate court.

Now, before I lay out a hypothetical (ball-park) figure of the gross annual income of the probate court, you must understand that the probate court is the most unaccounted for court; for there is typically no jury, no oversight and a judge vested with an authority that is typically void of credibility to adjudicate the matters before their court. If they are not in possession of mathematical credentials and certification that surpass those of its practitioners, then what credentials must they possess to be qualified for the probate bench? A superior knowledge of the law should be a given. Yet, with factoring in an almost unaccounted for court overseeing the largest business in the world, it invites corruption, and a subversion of the law becomes a rule as opposed to the exception.

Let me interject here that in Davidson County, TN, where the 7th Circuit Court’s bench is occupied by a man who, from inside information, graduated in the lower half of his class from Nashville School of Law, Judge Randy Kennedy is not a scholar, but a politician, and this further invites and suggests lack of interest in the citizenry and favor towards its practitioners and all state agencies that do business in the court, including our Attorney General, Robert E. Cooper, Jr. (we will present evidence in a future post that puts Cooper and Kennedy “in bed” together, thus no accountability from our highest state law enforcement public servant).

Judge Jim Everett, two probate judges back, committed suicide in the home of notorious organized corruption king-pin Jimmy Lewis’ home, when the TBI (Tennessee Bureau of Investigation) initiated investigations into his actions that are insignificant compared to the corruption Judge Randy Kennedy facilitates and cooperates in routinely. Judge Kennedy is tied directly to Jimmy Lewis, as is Paul Housch, Adam Dread, all one-time attorneys for Jimmy Lewis. There are other probate practitioners attached to this world of organized corruption.

Judge Jim Everett Suicide–Nashville Scene, January 18, 1996

http://www.nashvillescene.com/nashville/desperately-seeking-the-news/Content?oid=1180198

Now I present the mathematical equation that represents the probate court as being the largest business in the world:

In a discussion with respected journalist and probate blogger, Lou Ann Anderson, she represented the amount of money that passes through one probate court in Houston, TX, a county that has THREE probate courts, and this is from just ONE of those courts in one county. Lou Ann Anderson’s’ testimonial must start with her involuntarily thrust into the probate hell:
“At a point, I traded in the PTO and Junior League for political activism and a‘concealed carry’ license. Who knew that EstateofDenial.com and learning more about quiet, stodgy, seemingly boring probate venues would expose a corrupt system of which the American public is largely unaware despite it posing a growing, unbridled threat to both their individual liberties and property rights.”
She reports from Estate of Denial:
In October 2006, Harris County (Houston) Probate Judge Mike Wood – a controversial figure in his own right – testified before the Texas Senate Committee on Jurisprudence and offered interesting insight to the “probate business.” He told of a 1995 analysis indicating that assets and inventories filed for his approval (and not necessarily including all independently administered estate assets which also he supervises) were approximately $750 million per quarter. He said the $3 billion annual figure held true five years later. While this court was described as “probably one of the busiest probate courts in the nation,” that still is a staggering number and to extrapolate even a far-diminished dollar amount to the massive number of probate courts throughout this country helps illustrate the wealth controlled by this venue.
Now, consider that Judge Randy Kennedy brags often of his court having “more conservatorships than any probate court in the state”, while Shelby County has a population of 1 million, far more populated than Davidson County.

This approximate calculation of the wealth of the probate court was presented last year at Impeach Randy Kennedy, but in the light of recent activity, it’s important to bring this issue back up.

Let’s assume every county has one probate court, though the county referred to in Estate of Denial has three probate courts. One probate court, our of three, does 3 billion/year in this county, so we’ll underestimate in our hypotheses.

According to Wikipedia, here’s the definition of a “county”, though they may have a different title in different states such as Louisiana and Alaska:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/County_(United_States)

In the United States, a county is a geographic subdivision of a state (or federal territory), usually assigned some governmental authority. The term “county” is used in 48 of the 50 states; Louisiana is divided into parishes and Alaska into boroughs.[1] Parishes and boroughs are called “county-equivalents” by the U.S. Federal Government, as are certain independent cities which are not parts of counties. There are currently 3,143 counties and county-equivalents in the United States; 3,141 according to Wolfram
Alpha knowledgebase, 2011.

Now, if one of three courts has a gross annual income of 3 Billion, that would suggest 9 Billion in one county annually, and these figures come from 1995. Now, let’s multiply that times 3,143 counties or “county-equivalents“. This would gross 28,287,000,000,000.00. Let me simplify by letting you know this figure is well in excess of $28 TRILLION dollars. This figure dwarfs the GDP (Gross Domestic Product) $14.582 Trillion

http://www.google.com/publicdata/explore?ds=d5bncppjof8f9_&met_y=ny_gdp_mktp_cd&idim=country:USA&dl=en&hl=en&q=gross+domestic+product

Not to mention the USA National Debt which exceeds $14 Trillion:

http://www.usdebtclock.org/

According to this “ball-park” calculation based on numbers presented from one probate court in 1995, the gross annual income of the probate court equals the US National Debt and the Gross Domestic Product combined, approximately $28 Trillion. I believe we can assume this is a modest calculation, understating the fact.

Based upon this calculation, the probate court is not only the largest business in the United States, but this would probably hold true for any country in the world that uses the probate court to liquidate and divide the wealth of their nation.

Again, all the wealth of the world passes through probate, in a court virtually unaccounted for, benched by judges who are not certified accountants (typically), all bills are paid by the court, all attorneys are paid by the court, and the matters of the state in estate matters are adjudicated in the probate court.

Reader, are you grasping what this is telegraphing loud and clear? Do you think the “powers that be” are going to let go of these purse strings without slinging mud, ruining lives and protecting themselves by “hook or crook”? You are a fool, or just indifferent, if you think otherwise.

The probate court is the deep, dark, dirty secret of, not only our legal system, but our entire government, for in this unaccounted for court, passes the wealth of the world, houses the largest business in the world, and it can surely, and more often than not, invite corruption.

How can this “business of the court” be wrangled into accountability?

In my experience, here are the options: In Tennessee, apparently here is no hope for reform on a local or state level, for the agencies charged with investigating crimes are not inclined to take on the largest business in the world. Legislators are not going to bite the hand that feeds them. The Court of the Judiciary is not going to charge a judge for judicial misconduct when they’ve committed the same misconduct. Former Tennessee Governor Bredesen (refer to previous post) appointed Judge Randy Kennedy to run Davidson County’s largest business, so that suggests he might be in on the business of the court. Attorney General Robert E. Cooper does business in Judge Randy Kennedy’s Court (and they’ve got some side business we will reveal upcoming).

Is there federal intervention that would save us from on high?

I’m in Washington DC as I write, seeking federal intervention from the lack of integrity on a local and state level in Tennessee, but it’s hard for me to imagine that the feds are going to “bite the hand that feeds them”, though there has been traction here and I will return with a greater confidence that justice will be served.

With the constant bickering between the right and the left, which is nothing but an instrument to distract “we, the people”, from all internal atrocities, and from the fact the probate court is looting our estates before we are in the grave, my case being a prime example, “Court-Ordered Hell” , the only reasonable conclusion might be that we must overtake our government, for the voice of “we, the people” is not represented at any level, state or federal, and this MUST be of “grave” concern (pun intended). The probate purse strings will not be let go of without a fight. And the probate practitioners are the bottom feeders of the legal system, right behind ambulance chasers. These are the culprits stealing our money. WAKE UP!!! You do not want to wake up one day in this “court-ordered hell”, brought on by a protected, illegal, yet sanctioned ambush.

Our Constitution provides the right to raise a militia, used to rise up against tyranny, perfectly represented in the probate courts of America. It is truly taxation without representation, for once you are in probate, you ARE NOT represented, for all attorneys are on the probate gravy train, having their outrageous and exaggerated fees paid by the probate court, not by the client. Are you following this line of reasoning?

It may require a coup, a rising up of the patriotic spirit this nation was born from,

“Don’t tread on me”

“Give me liberty or give me death”.

In closing, the entire legal and political system has kept us in the dark as to the largest business in the world, the probate court, and in order for us to take back the power and take control of this probate industry that our leaders have not, and apparently will not, protect us from, it obviously will and must require extreme measures, by any means necessary.

I, for one, am ready to lead the charge. Who will follow? Are you an American of the patriotic spirit, or have you sold your soul to the era of thievery and greed spawned by our own “trusted” servants? Not me, not now, not ever.

You can sit on the sidelines and be a spectator, but that will not do, not now, not at this point in time in American history.

Now is the hour of truth.

I challenge you to rise up and exercise your Constitutional Rights, and lets strip our government of the tyranny that has taken over. Probate courts are Taxation Without Representation, the very movement that birthed our nation. Who will follow?

by Danny Tate

http://impeachrandykennedy.wordpress.com/2011/11/03/probate-court-the-largest-business-in-the-world/