>Caretaker Convicted

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Sheryl Harris was convicted of elder abuse, the first such case in the county courts.

Harris manipulated the woman she was supposed to be taking care of, getting into her bank accounts, taking money and opening credit card accounts.

The jury convicted Harris and gave her five years in prison and five more on probation.

Source:
Woman convicted of elder abuse

More information:
Elder abuse victim speaks out

Wolves in caregivers clothing

Class Action Against Lawyer

Five people have filed a class action lawsuit against a Marietta lawyer, claiming he defrauded them of millions of dollars in an elaborate Ponzi scheme.

Last month, Robert Price Copeland pleaded guilty in U.S. District Court in Atlanta to one count of wire fraud. The suit also names five financial planners and five businesses.

Prosecutors say Copeland’s five-year scam defrauded more than 125 people out of $40 million, including some senior citizens who gave him their life savings.

Full Article and Source:
Marietta lawyer faces class-action suit for Ponzi scheme

See also:
Elder Law Attorney Ponzi Scheme

>Class Action Against Lawyer

>

Five people have filed a class action lawsuit against a Marietta lawyer, claiming he defrauded them of millions of dollars in an elaborate Ponzi scheme.

Last month, Robert Price Copeland pleaded guilty in U.S. District Court in Atlanta to one count of wire fraud. The suit also names five financial planners and five businesses.

Prosecutors say Copeland’s five-year scam defrauded more than 125 people out of $40 million, including some senior citizens who gave him their life savings.

Full Article and Source:
Marietta lawyer faces class-action suit for Ponzi scheme

See also:
Elder Law Attorney Ponzi Scheme

Elder Law Attorney Ponzi Scheme

For five years, an attorney who specialized in elder law arranged community workshops where he sought investors for a bogus financial scheme that would siphon more than $40 million from his unsuspecting clientele, according to a federal prosecutor.

When the scheme collapsed earlier this year and investors began complaining to local police and the FBI, attorney Robert P. Copeland confessed to federal prosecutors in Atlanta, said his Decatur lawyer, Marcia G. Shein.

Shein said that Copeland surrendered to authorities because, “He didn’t want to do this any more. He needed to resolve the problem.”

In U.S. District Court, Copeland pleaded guilty to a criminal information (charges filed either prior to or in lieu of a grand jury indictment) charging him with a single count of wire fraud. He is free on $100,000 unsecured bond pending his July 10 sentencing.

Full Article and Source:
Ga. Lawyer Used Elder Law Practice to Snare Ponzi Victims

More information:
Georgia attorney pleads guilty to $28 million investment fraud scheme

>Elder Law Attorney Ponzi Scheme

>

For five years, an attorney who specialized in elder law arranged community workshops where he sought investors for a bogus financial scheme that would siphon more than $40 million from his unsuspecting clientele, according to a federal prosecutor.

When the scheme collapsed earlier this year and investors began complaining to local police and the FBI, attorney Robert P. Copeland confessed to federal prosecutors in Atlanta, said his Decatur lawyer, Marcia G. Shein.

Shein said that Copeland surrendered to authorities because, “He didn’t want to do this any more. He needed to resolve the problem.”

In U.S. District Court, Copeland pleaded guilty to a criminal information (charges filed either prior to or in lieu of a grand jury indictment) charging him with a single count of wire fraud. He is free on $100,000 unsecured bond pending his July 10 sentencing.

Full Article and Source:
Ga. Lawyer Used Elder Law Practice to Snare Ponzi Victims

More information:
Georgia attorney pleads guilty to $28 million investment fraud scheme

Fierce Fight Over Multimillionaire Will

Harvey Strother was a multimillionaire with a small empire of car dealerships, but when his mistress wheeled him into his lawyer’s office to change his will one last time, he was a wine-soaked shell of his former self.

Less than a month from death, he was chugging a gallon and a half of wine each day, court records say. But his mistress, Anne Melican, contends he knew what he was doing when he changed his will in December 2003 to guarantee her about $6 million of his $37 million estate, including a condo in Cape Cod, Mass., and boat slip in Marco Island, Fla.

The last-minute changes are the focus of a fierce legal fight involving some of Georgia’s most powerful attorneys. On Monday it landed before the Georgia Supreme Court for the second time.

A two-week trial in July 2008 satisfied no one. The jury sided with Melican on two of the three amendments and with Strother’s family on the third. Both sides appealed, leading to Monday’s return trip to the state’s top court, where they sparred over the finer points of Georgia estate law.

Full Article and Source:
Millionaire’s mistress battles his kin over estate

>Fierce Fight Over Multimillionaire Will

>

Harvey Strother was a multimillionaire with a small empire of car dealerships, but when his mistress wheeled him into his lawyer’s office to change his will one last time, he was a wine-soaked shell of his former self.

Less than a month from death, he was chugging a gallon and a half of wine each day, court records say. But his mistress, Anne Melican, contends he knew what he was doing when he changed his will in December 2003 to guarantee her about $6 million of his $37 million estate, including a condo in Cape Cod, Mass., and boat slip in Marco Island, Fla.

The last-minute changes are the focus of a fierce legal fight involving some of Georgia’s most powerful attorneys. On Monday it landed before the Georgia Supreme Court for the second time.

A two-week trial in July 2008 satisfied no one. The jury sided with Melican on two of the three amendments and with Strother’s family on the third. Both sides appealed, leading to Monday’s return trip to the state’s top court, where they sparred over the finer points of Georgia estate law.

Full Article and Source:
Millionaire’s mistress battles his kin over estate

Budget Cuts on Judicial Investigations

Georgia’s system for protecting its residents from rogue judges is in peril.

To balance this year’s budget, the General Assembly significantly cut public money for programs that administer judicial discipline and judicial training for the state’s 1,700 judges.

The cuts are impeding investigations of judges accused of corruption and limiting training for those who sit on the bench, including the hundreds of Georgia judges who are not attorneys.

Only after receiving a strongly worded letter last week from state Supreme Court Chief Justice Leah Ward Sears did the General Assembly decide against a Senate plan to wipe out virtually all state money for training judges.

The Judicial Qualifications Commission, which investigates complaints and punishes errant judges, is already one of the most slimly staffed in the nation. Commission members say they are now so short of money that they have halted some investigations.

Robert Ingram, a commission member “Right now, we have got judges who have serious charges against them that we can’t investigate.”

Full Article and Source:
Policing of judges gets less funding

>Budget Cuts on Judicial Investigations

>

Georgia’s system for protecting its residents from rogue judges is in peril.

To balance this year’s budget, the General Assembly significantly cut public money for programs that administer judicial discipline and judicial training for the state’s 1,700 judges.

The cuts are impeding investigations of judges accused of corruption and limiting training for those who sit on the bench, including the hundreds of Georgia judges who are not attorneys.

Only after receiving a strongly worded letter last week from state Supreme Court Chief Justice Leah Ward Sears did the General Assembly decide against a Senate plan to wipe out virtually all state money for training judges.

The Judicial Qualifications Commission, which investigates complaints and punishes errant judges, is already one of the most slimly staffed in the nation. Commission members say they are now so short of money that they have halted some investigations.

Robert Ingram, a commission member “Right now, we have got judges who have serious charges against them that we can’t investigate.”

Full Article and Source:
Policing of judges gets less funding

Grandparents Support Group

The Lowndes/Brooks County Grandparents Raising Grandchildren support group held its first meeting of the year, allowing grandparents to discuss the rigors of raising grandchildren and learn about legal and government aid available to them.

This month’s meeting featured paralegal Dawn Best from Georgia Legal Services’ Valdosta office and Carrie Hickman from the Division of Family and Children Services.

During the meeting, Best expounded on The Kinship Care Project and Senate Bill 88, which creates power of attorney for the care of a grandchild. Best also discussed the differences between legal custody, temporary guardianship and adoption, as well as the process for appealing denial of assistance by DFCS.

Hickman then informed the grandparents of available government assistance, such as Medicaid, food stamps and temporary assistance to needy families (TANF), and eligibility requirements.

The grandparents who attended discussed topics from financial hardship to disciplinary problems with their grandchildren.

Full Article and Source:
Grandparents raising grandchildren