Elder Exploitation is An Industry with a Wide Membership of Aligned White-collar Professionals.
Predatory Estate Planning Attorneys often work in crony-aligned collusion networks. Premeditated elder exploitation crimes & networks—Estate Planner’s often have professional accomplices in their elder exploitation rackets, this can include Doctor’s, Guardians, Conservators, Evaluating Psychologists, Law Enforcement, Wealth Managers, Accountants, Social Workers, other attorneys acting as third party officers of the court and even Judges. The cross-referring professionals conceal materiel facts and cover for one another so they are rarely caught. Unfortunately for the communities were elder exploitation is rampant the good professionals practices are tarnished by the bad actors. Below is just a small sampling of examples.
The Legal Issues Related to Elder Abuse A Pocket Guide for Law Enforcement (2014) by Department of Justices consultant Lori Stiegal, JD was endorsed by the American Bar Association & Commission on Law and Aging. The Guide lists the following as primary elder exploitation predators or abusers (Page 11):
• Caregivers, whether paid (such as staff of home care agencies or nursing homes) or volunteers,
• Fiduciaries, including agents under a power of attorney, court-appointed guardians or conservators, trustees of a trust, or other professionals who have an obligation to act in their clients’ best interests (e.g., financial advisers, lawyers, and real estate agents),
• Friends.
• Neighbors.
If the exploited elder has no family or friends in the area the predatory estate planning attorney can directly steal from thier client’s estate, even after their client has passed. This article from WHIO TV 7 provides a good example: Lawyer accused of stealing from probate estate trust could get 70 years in prison.
The money Wiggins is accused of stealing was spent on several things, he said, including houses, a car, a boat, gambling at casinos in Las Vegas and in Ohio and jewelry, … pay his child support obligations and cosmetic surgery for a family member, Hayes said., … the theft of $1.5 million or more and each count of money laundering are felonies. If Wiggins is found guilty on all of the charges alleged in the indictment, he could potentially be sentenced to 70 years in prison.
Listed below are more examples of predatory estate planning attorneys arrested for stealing from their clients estates and how they broke numerous laws to accomplish their document schemes.
Investigations into Predatory Estate Planners
TBI Investigation: Estate Planner Indicted in Rutherford County
FBI Financial Fraud Investigation. Lengthy Prison Term for Estate Planner Who Betrayed Clients. Julie Kronhaus was a well-regarded estate planner with impressive training and credentials.
https://www.fbi.gov/news/stories/florida-estate-planner-sentenced-in-financial-fraud-case
How a Seattle attorney with ‘heart of gold’ ended up fleecing her brain-damaged client.
Attorney and Co-conspirators Convicted in $2.2 Million Estate Fraud Case
https://www.wealthmanagement.com/estate-planning/attorney-and-co-conspirators-convicted-22-million-estate-fraud-case
Prominent New Jersey attorney sentenced for scamming elderly
ISOLATE, MEDICATE, LIQUIDATE: How To Fleece A Senior
Warn Others of Predatory Elder Estate Planning Abuse at NASGA’s Most Wanted
Citizen’s Public Safety Network Geo-intel Elder Abuse Repository (GEAR): Predatory Estate Planning Attorney Arrests and Ongoing News Article Tracking Map.
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Data aggregation sources and leads: regional newspapers, VP Taskforce, CPSN, Conservatorship Accountability Project | Elders and Courts & national GAO research, independent vulnerable person monitoring & grant projects. Key search terms: § 18-1505, § 39-5302, Adult Protective Services, Dept. of Health, Elder Abuse and Exploitation in Coeur d’alene, Sandpoint, Idaho, Spokane, Washington consisting of Corrupt, Estate Planning, Attorney, Doctor, Psychologist Evaluation, Conservator, Court Visitor, LSW, Guardian, Guardianship, IRPC, Idaho State Bar, CMS, Hospital Bureau of Occupational License Negligence, Exploitation & Abuse in Probate Processes, Toxic Conservatorship Senate Hearing, Congress related Elder Abuse & Vulnerable Person Legislation.
