Lawyer/Pastor Accused of Felony Theft

Accused of taking money from the trust fund accounts of residents with disabilities in his group homes, Ernest M. Beal Jr. stood trial in Allen Superior Court.

Beal, 56, is chief operating officer of Your Friends and Neighbors, a company that runs group homes in Indiana and Georgia for adults with developmental impairments. Last June, he was charged with felony theft, accused of ordering company officials to take money from the clients’ trust funds to make payroll and other operating expenses.

The trust fund holds money from clients’ Social Security benefit checks, paychecks and other income and is meant to pay for the expenses and care of the residents, according to court documents.

Beal, a lawyer, is also pastor of Faith United Church of Christ in Fort Wayne.

During opening statements, Allen County Deputy Prosecutor Tim McCaulay said Beal “borrowed” from the clients multiple times over a 3 1/2 -year period. Beal and his ex-wife, the company’s chief executive officer, each drew a salary of more than $300,000, he said.

McCaulay characterized the case as one of arrogance, greed and the avoidance of truth.

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Pastor-Lawyer Facing Theft Trial, Accused of Raids on Trust Funds for Group Homes

Terri Schiavo Life and Hope Concert

If I could have, I would have gone to the 1st annual “Terri Schiavo Life & Hope Concert.” But National Right to Life was more than ably represented last Sunday at the fundraising concert to benefit the Terri Schindler Schiavo Foundation, by Executive Director David N. O’Steen, Ph.D., and State Organization and Development Director Jacki Ragan.

Held at the Murat Center in Indianapolis, Indiana, the concert was life-affirming in the best sense of the term. Obviously, the reason there is a Terri Schindler Schiavo Foundation is grim: Terri died when she was unjustly denied food and fluids as the result of a titanic legal struggle that went on for years and years.

But forged in that battle is a foundation that is dedicated to battling the mentality that people who are imperfect are “better off dead.” And that love of life was on rich display.

Like almost everyone, I have enjoyed the music of Randy Travis and Collin Raye. Each is a music legend in his own right. Each performed for more than an hour. Each dedicated two autograph guitars, one of which was raffled off, the other auctioned to raise funds to help the foundation.

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Reflections on the Terri Schiavo ‘Life and Hope’ Concert

Judge Apologizes

Judge Jennifer Evans-Koethe apologized to La Porte County residents in press release and said she looks forward to resuming her duties after her court-ordered 60-day suspension.

The Indiana Supreme Court on Thursday accepted an agreement between Evans-Koethe and the Indiana Judicial Qualifications Commission and suspended the beleaguered judge for 60 days for misconduct and stipulated other provisions as well.

“I am truly sorry for those actions and apologize to the citizens of La Porte County for any conduct of mine that has not promoted the public’s confidence in the judiciary,” Evans-Koethe said in the statement.

Evans-Koethe’s troubles began in December 2008, shortly before she was to be sworn in as judge.

After a night of drinking, Evans-Koethe and her husband, Stephan Koethe, got into an argument.

She said she accidently shot herself after retrieving a gun to make her husband think she was contemplating suicide.

Later, at the hospital, she told an officials with La Porte County Sheriff’s Department that she had written a note to her husband and asked him to dispose of it because is was embarrassing.

Although a grand jury indicted her for attempted obstruction of justice, she was acquitted by a jury in January.

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Judge Apologizes

See Also:
Indicted County Judge Still Paid Salary

$18.5 Million Zyprexa Settlement

Arkansas Attorney General Dustin McDaniel on Tuesday announced an $18.5 million settlement of a lawsuit with Eli Lilly & Co. over off-label marketing of the anti-psychotic drug Zyprexa.

Zyprexa was approved to treat schizophrenia and certain types off bipolar disorder in adults. McDaniel’s lawsuit alleged that the company engaged in “illegal and fraudulent off-label marketing of Zyprexa,” pushing its use to treat dementia, aggression, depression and sleep disorders among adults.

The suit also alleged the company promoted the drug for unapproved use in children.

“They didn’t care what they were doing to taxpayers and to children,” McDaniel said at a news conference at the state Capitol.

Eli Lilly admitted no wrongdoing in the settlement.

Full Article and Source:
Arkansas Attorney General Announces $18.5 Million Drug Settlement

A Tale of Two Heiresses, Tax Loopholes and Tequila

At first blush, Casey Johnson and Ruth Lilly, who died within days of each other around the new year, could hardly have been more different. Johnson who died at 30, was a party animal who lived her life in the public eye, most recently as the fiancée of D-list celebrity Tila Tequila. Lilly, 94, made her biggest waves not with clubbing but philanthropy — most famously with her $200 million donation in 2002 to the Poetry Foundation, a bequest so eye-popping that the controversy surrounding it hasn’t yet died down.

But scratch the surface, and similarities emerge. Johnson and Lilly were both heiresses to major corporate fortunes: Johnson & Johnson (JNJ) and Eli Lilly & Co. (LLY). Both had massive personal wealth tied up in trusts they couldn’t access directly. And both fortunes illustrate a yearlong Congress-induced quirk that could greatly benefit the heirs to anyone who dies this year, cost the U.S. billions of tax revenue, and drive estate-planning lawyers crazy.

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Casey Johnson and Ruth Lilly: A Tale of Two Heiresses, Tax Loopholes, and Tequila

Ruth Lilly Dies at 94

Ruth Lilly, a prolific philanthropist who was the last surviving great-grandchild of pharmaceutical magnate Eli Lilly, has died at age 94.

A family spokesman says Lilly died Wednesday in Indianapolis.

Over the course of her life, the Indianapolis native gave away much of her inheritance from the Eli Lilly & Co. fortune. Court documents showed in 2002 that Lilly had bequeathed nearly $500 million to charitable and arts-related groups.

That included an estimated $100 million to the influential literary magazine “Poetry,” which had rejected Lilly’s submissions for years. Lilly began writing poetry in the mid-1930’s.

The magazine has published the works of poets William Butler Yeats and Dylan Thomas. Lilly’s attorney said in 2002 she didn’t take rejections from the publication personally.

Lilly also established two fellowships for graduate students in poetry and an endowed chair of poetry at Indiana University.

The Indianapolis Museum of Art is located on the site of Lilly’s parents’ estate, which she and her brother donated in 1966, along with a trust income to maintain it.

Lilly’s wealth was valued at more than $1 billion in 2002. The family statement said she gave away “the vast bulk of her inheritance, largely to Indiana-based institutions.”

Her financial dealings have been handled by a court-appointed guardian since 1981, when she was declared incompetent.

Lilly battled depression for most of her life but was helped greatly by Eli Lilly & Co.’s blockbuster antidepressant Prozac, which came on the market in 1988, The Indianapolis Star reported.

Full Article and Source:
Eli Lilly & Co. Heiress Ruth Lilly Dies at 94

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Investigative Series: Guarding the Guardians
Excerpt: The name “Lilly” evokes all kinds of images in Indianapolis. The international pharmaceutical company. And the endowment that helped build the city is the largest in the country.

But there’s another Lilly story you probably don’t know that has nothing to do with those well-known institutions. It’s about Ruth Lilly, the sole surviving great-grandchild of the company founder – one of the world’s richest women whose own philanthropy has left its mark. And it’s about others controlling her fortune.

The Eyewitness News Investigators spent six months talking to sources and examining the extensive documents in Lilly’s court-ordered guardianship. They found a story about questionable spending by her guardians, a story that reaches into the city’s corridors of power – politicians, doctors, judges, a major bank, a prominent law firm.

The stories were reported by Amanda Rosseter and Jeremy Rogalski, photographed and edited by Bill Ditton, and produced by Kathleen Johnston and Gerry Lanosga. The series originally aired Nov. 23-25, 1998.

Two days after this report began airing, Probate Judge Charles Deiter appointed local attorney Greg Fehribach as guardian ad litem to independently review Ruth Lilly’s guardianship. His 16-month review resulted in a public acknowledgement of lax oversight by the bank – and reductions in bank and legal fees totaling more than $600,000.

See Also:
Ruth Lilly’s Niece and Nephew Become Her Guardians

Investigating "Serious Financial Irregularities"

Police are investigating the handling of $4 million during 18 years at a Lafayette agency that serves the mentally disabled.

One subject of the probe is the Wabash Center Inc.’s former chief financial officer, who died this fall during the audit.

Lafayette police Detective B.T. Brown said the name of Stephen McAninch “has come up during our investigation multiple times. We have not ruled out other suspects.”

Tippecanoe County Sheriff Tracy Brown said his department was called to investigate McAninch’s death Oct. 30. Police did not say how McAninch died.

A statement released by Wabash Center said he died “suddenly during the financial audit.”

McAninch had worked at the nonprofit center as CFO since 1986, the Journal & Courier of Lafayette reported.

The center said in its statement that “serious financial irregularities” involving improper payments to vendors had been detected during the facility’s annual audit in October. The improper payments totaling more than $4 million allegedly occurred between 1991 and 2009, the statement said.

The most recent audit, filed by an outside accounting firm approved by the State Board of Accounts, did not refer to missing money but noted a lack of documentation for certain billing and “significant deficiencies in internal control over financial reporting.”

Full Article and Source:
Police Review Handling of $4M at Lafayette Agency

Indicted County Judge Still Paid Salary

The LaPorte County judge suspended in May after being indicted has been getting paid ever since.

According to our reporting partners at the Herald Argus, the state has paid 34-year-old Jennifer Evans-Koethe almost $70,000 in salary since her suspension.

Evans-Koethe is facing criminal charges for obstruction of justice and judicial misconduct.

She’s accused of lying about a shooting in her home last year.

If convicted, Evans-Koethe could be removed from the bench by the state Supreme Court.

Her trial will start in Lake County in January.

Full Article and Source:
LaPorte County Judge Still Paid Salary After Being Indicted

Judge Sides With Daughter

An Indiana woman has been granted guardianship of her father after waging a two-month court battle against Manatee County’s public guardian. She hopes to have him home for Thanksgiving.

Manatee County Circuit Judge Paul E. Logan appointed Beverly R. Newman guardian of her father, 89-year-old Al Katz, in a ruling Monday.

Newman and her husband, Lawrence T. Newman, had petitioned the court for control of Katz’s health care decision-making since Sept. 18, when Bradenton’s Aging Safely was awarded emergency temporary guardianship after Katz was taken to the hospital with “confusion, agitation and bronchitis,” according to court documents.

The Newmans objected to Aging Safely’s emergency guardianship, saying the elder advocate failed to list Beverly Newman as Katz’s next of kin in court papers. They said they were Katz’s primary caretakers intermittently from 2002 to 2008.

An often contentious court battle ensued during which the Newmans accused Aging Safely and Katz’s court-appointed health care representative, Jackie Steuerwald of Indiana, of failing to provide adequate care. Aging Safely in turn testified that Katz did not want to see his daughter.

Logan awarded Beverly Newman the right to visit her father for three hours per day over objections from Aging Safely in an Oct. 16 ruling.

“As a guardian, we really had no choice but to do what Mr. Katz said he wanted,” Aging Safely representative Ashley Butler said Tuesday. “Everybody stepped up and did what they thought was best for Mr. Katz.”

Beverly Newman said she and her father get along well and that it was the influence of his girlfriend and caretakers that briefly strained their relationship.

While Logan appointed Beverly Newman guardian of Katz, he awarded control of Katz’s property to Herbert G. Schimmel, a Sarasota family counselor chosen by the Newmans. That’s because the Newmans sued Katz in 2008 over belongings that were locked in his home in Indianapolis.

Full Article and Source:
Judge Sides With Daughter in Guardianship Battle

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Judge Grants Visitation to Daughter

Judge Grants Visitation to Daughter

A circuit judge has granted temporary visitation rights to a daughter fighting a Bradenton public guardian for the right to care for her father.

Circuit Judge Paul E. Logan ruled Thursday that Beverly R. Newman may visit her father, 89-year-old Al Katz, for three hours per day, beginning today, at Casa Mora Rehabilitation Center.

“That’s what we asked for. Thank God,” Newman said. “I think in three hours my father can understand I haven’t ditched him. We can be able to stabilize Dad.”

Newman and her husband, Lawrence T. Newman, both of Indianapolis, are contesting the emergency guardianship of Katz granted to Aging Safely Inc., on Sept. 18. Beverly Newman hasn’t seen her father since Sept. 24, the day he was placed in the psychiatric ward at Manatee Memorial Hospital.

During a two-day hearing, Aging Safely said Newman should not be allowed visitation based on the wishes of Katz’s health care surrogate, Jackie Steuerwald, of Indiana, and because she might try to interfere with his care. Newman also has pending litigation against her father in a separate case.

Logan’s order said “during the visits Dr. Newman shall not interfere with her father’s care and she shall not discuss any pending litigation, including this guardianship proceeding, with her father.”

Aging Safely attorney Erika Dine did not return a message left for her Thursday.

Meanwhile, Katz’s girlfriend, Beverly Ervin, spoke for the first time about Newman’s battle for guardianship. She said Aging Safely is the right agency to take care of Katz. He does not want to see his daughter, she said.

“I went to visit with him yesterday and the day before,” Ervin said. “I think he’s in a wonderful place. I hope he stays right where he is.”

A hearing to determine permanent guardianship for Katz will be Oct. 26 in Logan’s court.

Full Article and Source:
Judge: Woman Can Visit Her Father Before Hearing

See Also:
Ward Isolated From Daughter

Indiana Family Challenging Father’s Guardianship