>Seeking Whereabouts of Son

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Enne Currie is praying for a just result at a mental health court hearing. A paralegal, Currie has filed numerous legal documents trying to force the system to abide by its own principles. Among these are a demand for information on the whereabouts of her son, Dirul Lewis, a Writ of Habeas Corpus, and various objections to the outrageous abuses being committed for profit or retaliation.

Lewis has been a mental patient for many years. Enne says that Dirul’s doctors experimented on him with drugs known to cause lethal interactions, including Zyprexa and Loxapine. A recent combination of drugs given in the hospital drove Dirul into a temporary coma. This combination was one that Enne, as Dirul’s conservator, had expressly objected to, but which the doctors administered anyway.

Despite over 17 years of attempts to get her son the best care possible, the mental health community continually failed Dirul. Currie even filed a lawsuit seeking to protect her son’s rights and health, but the case was dismissed because she was representing Dirul on her own.

Dirul Lewis was moved by his captors in the mental institution to an undisclosed location, and Currie’s conservatorship was cancelled. No hearing or reason was given. When Currie objected, she says she was ignored or dismissed with comments like “He’s been in this system for a long time.”

Full Article and Source:
Prayer for Relief: California Mother Seeks Whereabouts of Mental Patient Son

Seeking Whereabouts of Son

Enne Currie is praying for a just result at a mental health court hearing. A paralegal, Currie has filed numerous legal documents trying to force the system to abide by its own principles. Among these are a demand for information on the whereabouts of her son, Dirul Lewis, a Writ of Habeas Corpus, and various objections to the outrageous abuses being committed for profit or retaliation.

Lewis has been a mental patient for many years. Enne says that Dirul’s doctors experimented on him with drugs known to cause lethal interactions, including Zyprexa and Loxapine. A recent combination of drugs given in the hospital drove Dirul into a temporary coma. This combination was one that Enne, as Dirul’s conservator, had expressly objected to, but which the doctors administered anyway.

Despite over 17 years of attempts to get her son the best care possible, the mental health community continually failed Dirul. Currie even filed a lawsuit seeking to protect her son’s rights and health, but the case was dismissed because she was representing Dirul on her own.

Dirul Lewis was moved by his captors in the mental institution to an undisclosed location, and Currie’s conservatorship was cancelled. No hearing or reason was given. When Currie objected, she says she was ignored or dismissed with comments like “He’s been in this system for a long time.”

Full Article and Source:
Prayer for Relief: California Mother Seeks Whereabouts of Mental Patient Son

>DA Relinquished Control

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The district attorney’s office officially relinquished control of the conservators office to the social services department at a board of supervisors meeting. It had run the agency since 2001, in the aftermath of dealing with the Mary Gray Marr scandal of the 1990s. Marr, a conservator hired in 1991, was found to have embezzled nearly $800,000 from clients who could no longer care for themselves, according to District Attorney Todd Riebe.

Riebe: “The sheriff’s office investigated for dozens of victims. Some $1.2 million was missing.”

The DA’s office has managed the once-floundering conservatorship back to stability, but has itself been hamstrung in some of its prosecutions by the nature of its dual role.

County Administrative Officer Terry Daly: “The DA’s office has a conflict of interest when a client of the conservatorship becomes a (defendant) for the district attorney.”

Transferring the conservatorship to social services eliminates the conflict of interest and the resulting costs, officials agreed.

Full Article and Source:
County transfers conservator’s office from auspices of the DA to social services

DA Relinquished Control

The district attorney’s office officially relinquished control of the conservators office to the social services department at a board of supervisors meeting. It had run the agency since 2001, in the aftermath of dealing with the Mary Gray Marr scandal of the 1990s. Marr, a conservator hired in 1991, was found to have embezzled nearly $800,000 from clients who could no longer care for themselves, according to District Attorney Todd Riebe.

Riebe: “The sheriff’s office investigated for dozens of victims. Some $1.2 million was missing.”

The DA’s office has managed the once-floundering conservatorship back to stability, but has itself been hamstrung in some of its prosecutions by the nature of its dual role.

County Administrative Officer Terry Daly: “The DA’s office has a conflict of interest when a client of the conservatorship becomes a (defendant) for the district attorney.”

Transferring the conservatorship to social services eliminates the conflict of interest and the resulting costs, officials agreed.

Full Article and Source:
County transfers conservator’s office from auspices of the DA to social services

>The Brando Wills

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A fraud suit filed by the ex-wife of Marlon Brando’s son Christian is the third attempt in the past 18 months to prove that the executors of Brando’s $22 million estate illegally obtained their power through a forged codicil to his will.

Deborah Brando is following in the footsteps of the actor’s former caregiver Angela Borlaza, who alleged the codicil is a forgery in suits filed in June 2006 and August 2007, but has so far failed to get a judge to address the merits of her allegations.

The original will appointed longtime Brando retainers JoAn Corrales and Alice Marchak to administer his estate. The codicil –- dated less than two weeks before his death in July 2004 — replaced them with former Hollywood studio chief Mike Medavoy, accountant Larry Dressler, and Avra Douglas (a friend of Brando’s daughter Rebecca).

Christian Brando, who died Jan. 26, never challenged the authenticity of the codicil himself. But Deborah Brando claims she has standing to sue the executors because he assigned his inheritance rights to her in February 2007 as part of the settlement of a domestic violence case she filed against him.

Full Article and Source:
Third Fraud Suit Alleges Brando Will A Fake

The girlfriend of Marlon Brando’s oldest son filed a lawsuit asking that all assets of his estate be held in trust for her.

Leah Donna Geon filed her suit in Los Angeles Superior Court against Anna Kashfi, an actress who was married to Christian Brando’s father Marlon for several years in the 1950s.

Geon, who was Christian’s companion over a four-year period and also goes by the name Donna Brando, alleges breach of a contract by Christian because he did not leave a will or trust in her favor.

Kashfi is the named defendant in the suit because she is the administrator of Christian Brando’s estate.

She maintains Christian, who died last year of pneumonia at the age of 49, promised her that she would be provided for and receive all of his assets in the event of his death.

According to Geon’s court papers, Christian did not have a relationship with his mother and had not seen or spoken to her for at least 25 years.

Geon’s court papers also state that Kashfi, now 74, is believed to suffer from Alzheimer’s disease.

Full Article and Source:
Girlfriend of Marlon Brando’s deceased son files suit asking for son’s assets

The Brando Wills

A fraud suit filed by the ex-wife of Marlon Brando’s son Christian is the third attempt in the past 18 months to prove that the executors of Brando’s $22 million estate illegally obtained their power through a forged codicil to his will.

Deborah Brando is following in the footsteps of the actor’s former caregiver Angela Borlaza, who alleged the codicil is a forgery in suits filed in June 2006 and August 2007, but has so far failed to get a judge to address the merits of her allegations.

The original will appointed longtime Brando retainers JoAn Corrales and Alice Marchak to administer his estate. The codicil –- dated less than two weeks before his death in July 2004 — replaced them with former Hollywood studio chief Mike Medavoy, accountant Larry Dressler, and Avra Douglas (a friend of Brando’s daughter Rebecca).

Christian Brando, who died Jan. 26, never challenged the authenticity of the codicil himself. But Deborah Brando claims she has standing to sue the executors because he assigned his inheritance rights to her in February 2007 as part of the settlement of a domestic violence case she filed against him.

Full Article and Source:
Third Fraud Suit Alleges Brando Will A Fake

The girlfriend of Marlon Brando’s oldest son filed a lawsuit asking that all assets of his estate be held in trust for her.

Leah Donna Geon filed her suit in Los Angeles Superior Court against Anna Kashfi, an actress who was married to Christian Brando’s father Marlon for several years in the 1950s.

Geon, who was Christian’s companion over a four-year period and also goes by the name Donna Brando, alleges breach of a contract by Christian because he did not leave a will or trust in her favor.

Kashfi is the named defendant in the suit because she is the administrator of Christian Brando’s estate.

She maintains Christian, who died last year of pneumonia at the age of 49, promised her that she would be provided for and receive all of his assets in the event of his death.

According to Geon’s court papers, Christian did not have a relationship with his mother and had not seen or spoken to her for at least 25 years.

Geon’s court papers also state that Kashfi, now 74, is believed to suffer from Alzheimer’s disease.

Full Article and Source:
Girlfriend of Marlon Brando’s deceased son files suit asking for son’s assets

The Brando Wills

A fraud suit filed by the ex-wife of Marlon Brando’s son Christian is the third attempt in the past 18 months to prove that the executors of Brando’s $22 million estate illegally obtained their power through a forged codicil to his will.

Deborah Brando is following in the footsteps of the actor’s former caregiver Angela Borlaza, who alleged the codicil is a forgery in suits filed in June 2006 and August 2007, but has so far failed to get a judge to address the merits of her allegations.

The original will appointed longtime Brando retainers JoAn Corrales and Alice Marchak to administer his estate. The codicil –- dated less than two weeks before his death in July 2004 — replaced them with former Hollywood studio chief Mike Medavoy, accountant Larry Dressler, and Avra Douglas (a friend of Brando’s daughter Rebecca).

Christian Brando, who died Jan. 26, never challenged the authenticity of the codicil himself. But Deborah Brando claims she has standing to sue the executors because he assigned his inheritance rights to her in February 2007 as part of the settlement of a domestic violence case she filed against him.

Full Article and Source:
Third Fraud Suit Alleges Brando Will A Fake

The girlfriend of Marlon Brando’s oldest son filed a lawsuit asking that all assets of his estate be held in trust for her.

Leah Donna Geon filed her suit in Los Angeles Superior Court against Anna Kashfi, an actress who was married to Christian Brando’s father Marlon for several years in the 1950s.

Geon, who was Christian’s companion over a four-year period and also goes by the name Donna Brando, alleges breach of a contract by Christian because he did not leave a will or trust in her favor.

Kashfi is the named defendant in the suit because she is the administrator of Christian Brando’s estate.

She maintains Christian, who died last year of pneumonia at the age of 49, promised her that she would be provided for and receive all of his assets in the event of his death.

According to Geon’s court papers, Christian did not have a relationship with his mother and had not seen or spoken to her for at least 25 years.

Geon’s court papers also state that Kashfi, now 74, is believed to suffer from Alzheimer’s disease.

Full Article and Source:
Girlfriend of Marlon Brando’s deceased son files suit asking for son’s assets

>Guardian and Realtors Sued

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A lawsuit claims that three adults placed under county guardianship were taken advantage of in questionable real estate deals.

Kenosha Human Development Services (KHDS) and employee guardian Jessica Cortez are named in the suit, along with Century 21 Savaglio & Cape Realty owner Frederick “Fritz” Cape, and real estate agents Charity Chiappetta and Sean Rosenmarkel. Two insurance companies also are named.

The alleged impropriety came to light after six lawyers, serving as legal guardians and advocate counsel, got notice of home sales involving their wards.

The suit alleges that Cortez conspired with Savaglio & Cape agents to fraudulently sell the homes of Rachel Anderson, Evelyn Crump and Steven Weston.

The homes reportedly were sold for between $20,000 and $32,000 under their assessed values, in one case within 24 hours of being listed for sale. At least one of the wards was in assisted living and set to return home when her house was sold.

The KHDS lawsuit also claims Cortez was negligent for disposing of the wards’ possessions without trying to sell them.

Negligence also is claimed against Chiappetta and her employer, and against KHDS for improperly training and supervising Cortez.

The suit seeks punitive damages, as well as double the value of the three properties, which is the state limit for real estate fraud liability.

Full Article and Source:
Trial date set in real estate fraud case

Guardian and Realtors Sued

A lawsuit claims that three adults placed under county guardianship were taken advantage of in questionable real estate deals.

Kenosha Human Development Services (KHDS) and employee guardian Jessica Cortez are named in the suit, along with Century 21 Savaglio & Cape Realty owner Frederick “Fritz” Cape, and real estate agents Charity Chiappetta and Sean Rosenmarkel. Two insurance companies also are named.

The alleged impropriety came to light after six lawyers, serving as legal guardians and advocate counsel, got notice of home sales involving their wards.

The suit alleges that Cortez conspired with Savaglio & Cape agents to fraudulently sell the homes of Rachel Anderson, Evelyn Crump and Steven Weston.

The homes reportedly were sold for between $20,000 and $32,000 under their assessed values, in one case within 24 hours of being listed for sale. At least one of the wards was in assisted living and set to return home when her house was sold.

The KHDS lawsuit also claims Cortez was negligent for disposing of the wards’ possessions without trying to sell them.

Negligence also is claimed against Chiappetta and her employer, and against KHDS for improperly training and supervising Cortez.

The suit seeks punitive damages, as well as double the value of the three properties, which is the state limit for real estate fraud liability.

Full Article and Source:
Trial date set in real estate fraud case

>"Inherent Flaws" in the System

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The former Brooklyn judge who appointed Steven T. Rondos to oversee at least seven of the guardianship accounts Rondos is charged with fleecing expressed dismay at the news in a phone interview.

Former Brooklyn Supreme Court Justice Leonard Scholnick: “I must say I am disappointed — I just thought he was really one of the good guys. Nothing shocks me anymore.”

A spokesman for the Office of Court Administration acknowledged that there had been some “inherent flaws” in the system for overseeing the work of guardians but said those flaws had now been corrected.

Rondos and the Brooklyn-based law firm Raia & Rondos have been indicted on charges of money laundering, grand larceny, a scheme to defraud and offering a false instrument for filing.

Rondos is accused of stealing from 23 victims, including mentally and physically impaired elderly people as well as children suffering from cerebral palsy due to medical malpractice at birth. On at least three occasions, when Rondos was confronted with the thefts, he stole funds from other victims to pay back his prior victim.

Full Article and Source:
Oversight Tightened After Guardian Thefts

See also:
Big-Shot Guardianship Attorney