CPA Disbarred for Stealing from Daughter’s Trust Fund

The Internal Revenue Service said Tuesday that its Office of Professional Responsibility has prevailed in seeking the disbarment of David O. Christensen after he was convicted of theft for misappropriating funds as the conservator of his daughter’s trust account.

Christensen’s CPA licenses in Washington and Oregon had been revoked previously as a result of his conviction.

In a final agency decision, the IRS administrative law judge declined to grant a request by Christensen to continue in a limited practice as a tax return preparer, and instead, disbarred him from all practice before the IRS. The judge found that Christensen’s conviction for theft, along with the revocation of his CPA licenses, constituted disreputable conduct under Circular 230.  Christensen had argued that he should be permitted to continue to prepare tax returns because his theft conviction resulted from a family matter that had nothing to do with his tax preparation practice before the IRS.

“OPR strives to protect the integrity of the tax system from unscrupulous and incompetent practitioners regardless of how those traits become known,” said OPR director Karen L. Hawkins in a statement.

Agreeing with OPR’s proposed sanction, the administrative law judge held that the seriousness of Christensen’s offense warranted disbarment from practicing before the IRS finding, that the “respondent has displayed a lack of integrity, including in his testimony at trial, in attempting to distinguish his professional actions from his ‘father-daughter’ relationship.”

Christensen is therefore prohibited from any practice, including tax preparation, before the IRS for a five-year period.

Full Article and Source:
CPA Disbarred for Stealing from Daughter’s Trust Fund

Assisted Suicide and the Affordable Care Act

The controversy over federally endorsed abortion and its hidden surcharges has been well documented in conservative media. But there hasn’t been much coverage of late about the legislation’s  support for physician-assisted suicide.

Currently, only four states in the country legally allow assisted suicide. Vermont, Washington, and Oregon have unrestricted laws, meaning that the administration of life ending drugs is up to the discretion of the patient and his doctor (also it’s covered by insurance). In Montana, assisted suicide is legal through a court order. In the other 46 states, the practice is illegal and has been for most of the last century.

Section 1553

The piece of legislation in question is Section 1553 of the Affordable Care Act, which reads as follows:

(a) In General – The Federal Government, and any State or local government or health care provider that receives Federal financial assistance under this Act (or under an amendment made by this Act) or any health plan created under this Act (or under an amendment made by this Act), may not subject an individual or institutional health care entity to discrimination on the basis that the entity does not provide any health care item or service furnished for the purpose of causing, or for the purpose of assisting in causing, the death of any individual, such as by assisted suicide, euthanasia, or mercy killing.

To break it down, if a terminally ill patient requests that his doctor help him end his life, and the doctor refuses for moral reasons or whatever the case may be, that doctor is protected by federal law against discrimination. This can be a saving grace for doctors who may subsequently be targeted by insurance companies because of their refusal to help patients end their lives.

Full Article and Source:
Obamacare’s covert support of assisted suicide

Phoenix woman sentenced to 30 days in jail for bilking elderly man

Phoenix resident Gail Louise Olson will spend 30 days in jail and pay restitution for taking financial advantage of an elderly man she befriended for four years, a Jackson County judge decided Thursday.

 

Judge Lorenzo Mejia also prohibited Olson from serving as a caregiver for anyone outside her immediate family.
 

A jury found Olson guilty Thursday of first-degree criminal mistreatment toward the late John A. Becker of Phoenix, who gave Olson more than $110,000 in cash payments, signed over his car to her and took out a life insurance policy naming her as the beneficiary before he died in May 2012.
 

The verdict followed three days of often emotional testimony in court.
 

Olson was silent, often stoic, during the trial, but denied the charges brought against her after her sentencing.
 

“I loved John a lot. He was my best friend. I only did things to help him because he asked me to. He loved me like a daughter,” Olson said, visibly distressed and wringing her hands behind her back.
 

“I don’t know what to say. I didn’t do anything wrong, I’m sorry. I can’t admit to something I didn’t do.”
 

Becker’s children John B. Becker and Sandy Becker both spoke to the courtroom through tears after the verdict was read. They said Olson’s actions caused a rift in the family when members became suspicious of Olson, but their father refused to believe their concerns.
 

Sandy Becker said she found some comfort that her father seemed to understand what had happened in his final days.
 

“Things were so stressful and he was so angry for the last six to eight months, but the day he died, he had been asking for me,” she said, wiping her eyes.

Full Article and Source:
Phoenix woman sentenced to 30 days in jail for bilking elderly man

Oregon NASGA Member Erna Boldt Writes to Her Congressman for Help…..

Dear Rep. Blumenauer:

Sometime in 2004/2005 Your Portland office was informed by the Oregon Justice Department, that I was not in the class of the “indigent”. That was a direct discrimination – and abuse against an elder citizen.

This has morphed into abuse under the American with Disabilities Act, ADA, Title II, in which the protection from Judicial Fundamental Attribution Error, “a type of abuse that occurs when exploitation, deception,mischaracterization, and intimidation are being used by an opponent for the strategic purpose of confusing the Trier of Fact and diminishing Ms. Boldt’s ability to function in court”, was ignored.

Not only have I been discriminated against, suffered the deprivation of my assets at my age, but this last matter has driven me to insolvency, because federal laws were not upheld in my 10 years of judicial tyranny in Oregon.

Someone needs to investigate, why federal law, including the federal Uniform trust code, and the American with Disabilities act (I was diagnosed under post stroke recovery, anxiety, depression, and post-traumatic stress disorder, translating into legal abuse, has been denied in Clackamas Circuit Court (5th judicial district). It is the duty of the Justice Department to investigate such complaint and disregard for my Constitutional rights.
Thank you,
Sincerely,
Erna Boldt

********************************************
In a message dated 3/5/2012 12:58:01 P.M. Pacific Standard Time, or03ebinbox@housemail.house.gov writes:
March 5, 2012
Erna Boldt

Ms. Boldt:
Thank you for taking the time to contact me.

I appreciate you bringing this issue to my attention. Since it is a legal issue, it is very difficult for me to get involved. As a Member of Congress, it would be inappropriate for me to give advice about legal matters. I don’t have jurisdiction over the legal system or civil lawsuits.

If you haven’t done so already, seeking legal counsel may be your best course of action. The office of the Oregon State Bar Association is a good resource for information on legal services and has a lawyer referral service.

Their phone number is 503-684-3763.

Thank you again for contacting me.
Sincerely, Earl Blumenauer
Member of Congress

Medical Groups Accuse Portsmouth Cop of Bilking Elderly Woman

Police Sgt. Aaron Goodwin “knowingly took advantage” of an elderly resident with dementia, and left a photo of himself at her home, in an effort to inherit about $1.8 million from her estate, according to a pair of court motions filed by the Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center and the Shriner’s Hospital for Children.

Through attorney David Eby, of the Devine Millimet law firm, the pair of medical organizations are asking a Superior Court judge to “set aside” the last will and trust signed by the late Geraldine Webber because, Eby alleges, Webber lacked the competency to endorse them and was under Goodwin’s undue influence.
 

The court motions allege Goodwin established a “confidential and fiduciary relationship” with Webber prior to her death on Dec. 11, 2012, at the age of 93. Webber was suffering from dementia when she executed a new will and trust transferring the “vast majority of Ms. Webber’s significant assets to Aaron Goodwin, a 34-year-old police officer” she’d only recently met, according to the court filings.

 

The Sloan-Kettering Center and Shriner’s Hospital for Children were beneficiaries of Webber’s previous will signed in 2009. That will, prepared by Portsmouth attorney James Ritzo, stated Webber’s assets would be sold and, after her bills were paid, one-fourth of the money would be given to Sloan Kettering of New York, one-fourth to the Shriners hospital in Boston, and the other half split between the Portsmouth police and fire departments.

 

The new and disputed will and trust, prepared by Hampton attorney Gary Holmes, gives those parties $25,000 each, about 90 percent less.

 

Full Article and Source:
Medical Groups Accuse Portsmouth Cop of Bilking Elderly Woman

Oregon’s HB2205 to Expland the List of Mandatory Elder Abuse Reporters

The Oregon House is scheduled to give final approval this morning to legislation expanding the list of people who must report incidents of elder abuse to authorities.

House Bill 2205 adds lawmakers, attorneys, dentists, optometrists and chiropractors to the list of mandatory reporters. The duty would apply around the clock, and not just when the person is working in his or her professional capacity. Lawyers and clergy would not have to report abuse if the information was learned through privileged communications.

Source:
Reporting Elder Abuse, Smoking With Kids in Cars, Family Leave: Oregon Legislature Today

See Also:
Read About HB2205

YouTube: Re-Evaluate Sue Lee

In 2008, Sue Lee suffered a severe stroke. Sue was declared permanently disabled and incapacitated by the state of Oregon. Eventually, a state-appointed Conservator took control of Sue’s business, home, and financial assets.

4 years later, Sue Lee has shone great strides in recovery. While struggling to regain her speech, she is a fully capable person.

Despite her recovery, state appointed doctors as well as her conservator have continued to list Sue as INCOMPETENT.

Sue Lee IS competent and this film stands to show her ability to communicate her wishes and care for herself on a daily basis.

Source:
Re-Evaluate Sue Lee

See Also: “It’s Just a Lack of Concern for a Human Being”

Ben Alfano is Still Footing the Bill

While Ben Alfano will be much with his children this week, if only in memory, Thanksgiving eve would seem a callous time to render “final” judgment on the draining of the veteran’s estate.

But as Washington County Circuit Judge Rita Batz Cobb has scheduled the hearing for 11 a.m. Wednesday, let’s review the charade that has brought us this far.

Twenty-seven months ago, Cobb dismissed the pleas of Alfano, his four doctors, four of his five children and Cobb’s own court visitor, and awarded control of the veteran’s life to Chris Farley, a professional guardian.

Farley — like Alfano’s court-appointed attorney, Richard Pagnano — was enlisted by the Oregon Department of Veteran Affairs, the conservator of Alfano’s sizable estate.

Alfano, a 72-year-old amputee with full benefits, would survive only another six months.

As I wrote in a series of February columns, Farley moved the veteran out of the Raleigh Hills Assisted Living facility he loved and eventually into a locked-door dementia-care unit in Gresham, and strenuously isolated him from his children.

Alfano’s heart burst, literally, in February 2011, and he died at the VA Medical Center.

As Judy Bridges, the Raleigh Hills administrator, submitted in an affidavit, “I believe with all my heart that the move killed him.”

Full Article and Source:
Steve Duin: Ben Alfano is Still Footing the Bill

OR: A Lawyer’s Personal Touch at $600 an Hour

You can’t say attorney James Berrien wasn’t devoted to Geraldine and Ned McMurtry.

In December 2008 — a fairly typical month, best I can tell — Berrien tended to the elderly siblings’ affairs on 21 different occasions, including Christmas Eve. He frequently dropped by their 135-acre Newberg property, made arrangements to install a new furnace, bought Ned a shaver and signed checks for their caregivers.

Heck, according to his fastidious records, the Hillsboro attorney even lent his shoulder to “extracting” the McMurtrys’ car from a snow drift.

So, yes, Berrien was devoted to Geraldine — 92 at the time — and her 89-year-old brother.

And he billed them accordingly. The bill for December 2008 came to $24,415, including $1,200 for each “visit” with his clients, $720 to check-in on Ned at his rehab center and $25 each time Berrien signed a check.

Between 2003 and 2010, when Berrien had total control of the McMurtrys’ finances, he billed the siblings more than $1,084,000 in attorney fees at his austere hourly rate.

“We have multiple documented charges of $600 an hour,” said Kateri Walsh, spokeswoman for the Oregon State Bar.

Source:
Steve Duin: A Lawyer’s Personal Touch at $600 an Hour

Editorial: Assisted Suicide Make it Easier to Cover up Elder Abuse, Even Murder

Re: Assisted Suicide and Elder Abuse

This letter responds to your recent AP article about assisted-suicide (Associated Press, Nov. 16). I write to emphasize elder financial abuse as a reason to keep assisted suicide out of Montana.

The landmark 2009 report by MetLife Mature Market Institute describes elder financial abuse as a crime “growing in intensity.” (See www.metlife.com/assets/cao/mmi/publications/studies/mmi-study-broken-trust-elders-family-finances.pdf, p.16.) The perpetrators are often family members, some of whom feel themselves “entitled” to the elder’s assets (Id, pp. 13-14.) The report states that they start out with small crimes, such as stealing jewelry and blank checks, before moving on to larger items or coercing elders to sign over the deeds to their homes, change their wills or liquidate their assets (Id, p. 14.) The report states that victims “may even be murdered” by perpetrators (Id., p. 24.)

With legal assisted suicide in Oregon and Washington state, perpetrators are instead able to take a “legal” route by getting an elder to sign a lethal dose request. Once the prescription is filled, there is no supervision over administration. The elder could be cajoled or coerced into taking the lethal dose, for example, while under the influence of alcohol. The lethal dose could be administered while the elder slept. If he awoke and struggled, who would know?

Alex Schadenberg,
Euthanasia Prevention Coalition,
London, Ontario, Canada

Source:
Assisted Suicide Make it Easier to Cover up Elder Abuse, Even Murder