Tonight on T.S. Radio: Al Katz: Holocaust Survivor Nearly Killed by Florida Public Guardian

Join us Sunday evening November 18th, 2012 at 7:00 CST! 5:00 …PST …6:00 MST … 7:00 CST … 8:00 EST

Al Katz survived the Holocaust in a Nazi prison camp. As a youth, he spent seven years in forced labor, nearly starved, and saw four Jewish boys shot through the head. Katz survived the Holocaust only to again experience the horrors of imprisonment and torture in the final year of his life. The Manatee County Public Guardian’s abuse of Katz reminded Katz of Nazi cruelty and sadism. For six weeks in 2009, Katz was kept in locked units and denied the companionship of his family and friends and decent medical care. Retreating into teenage memories, Katz believed he was once again a prisoner of the Nazis and subject to their torture. In just two months of guardianship, Katz was nearly dead.

Unlike many victims of Public Guardians, Katz escaped before he died. Katz’s daughter, Dr. Beverly Newman, fought Manatee County’s abuse of her father. With Katz nearly dead and his estate seriously depleted, the Public Guardian was replaced by a professional guardian of the property. Katz’s daughter took him home and cared for him day and night for the last eight months of his life.

Beverly Newman has a Doctor of Education and Child Psychology. She dedicated much of 2010 to caring for her father, after rescuing him from an abusive guardianship. Dr. Newman is now an active advocate for rights of guardianship victims.

LISTEN LIVE tonight or listen to the archive later!
See Also:
NASGA: Al Katz, IN/FL Victim

Silicon Valley Tax Dollars Fund Elder Abuse: Part II

In 2010, Santa Clara County Public Guardian Donald Moody petitioned for conservatorship of Gisela Riordan. Based on false allegations by Court Reporter Herlinda Acevedo, Judge Thomas Cain approved the petition. With the stroke of a pen, Moody had complete control over Gisela’s life.

Moody immediately seized Gisela’s bank accounts. He evicted her son and sold their home the following year. Gisela languishes in isolation. For two and a half years, Moody has denied Gisela’s right to visitation, phone calls, and mail. Consistent with his wholesale violation of civil rights, Moody denied Gisela’s right to vote in 2012.

Moody imprisoned and isolated Gisela at Villa Fontana, a secured residential care facility that will violate the law in exchange for payment. Villa Fontana blatantly violates personal rights of residents. They refuse to discuss those violations with elder advocates.

April 27 – 30, 2012: Jennifer Lan; Violation of Resident’s Personal Rights

This reporter temporarily established contact with Gisela by arriving at Villa Fontana on a Friday evening, shortly after a visit by Deputy Public Guardian Rebecca Pisano-Torres. The Villa Fontana night staff assumed I was with the Public Guardian’s office, and they allowed me to enter.

When I first approached Gisela, she was bewildered that anyone would come to see her. She was horribly lonely and sobbed for over an hour, clutching my arm and begging me not to forget her. She demanded I promise that I would visit her again. Sadly, the Public Guardian has prevented my keeping that promise.

On Monday, Villa Fontana staff recognized me as an elder advocate. Employee Jennifer Lan, accompanied by four male staffers, entered Gisela’s room and ordered me to leave. I guided Lan to a poster of the residents’ rights located in the facility lobby.

I read Personal Right #11 aloud.

To have his/her visitors, including ombudspersons and advocacy representatives permitted to visit privately during reasonable ours and without prior notice, provided that the rights of other residents are not infringed upon.

Lan responded, “She doesn’t have the right to make decisions for herself.”

Full Article and Source:
Silicon Valley Tax Dollars Fund Elder Abuse

Linda Kincaid Reports: Silicon Valley Tax Dollars Fund Elder Abuse: Public Guardian Takes Control of Gisela Riordan

San Jose, California resident Gisela Riordan, 84, prays every night for God to take her. Imprisoned and isolated, she is denied visitors, phone calls, and mail. Her arms are boney, and her cheeks sunken. Her features stir memories of Holocaust survivors. Forbidden companionship of her loved ones, Gisela languishes in despair.

Gisela has not been charged with a crime. She has not been sentenced to prison. No judge ordered her isolation. Gisela lost her freedom with the stroke of a pen, when Judge Thomas Cain approved a conservatorship petition submitted by Santa Clara County Public Guardian Donald Moody.

Moody seized Gisela’s bank accounts in 2010 and sold her home in 2011. Moody now uses Gisela’s own estate to keep her imprisoned at Villa Fontana, a residential care facility that will violate resident’s rights in exchange for payment. Taxpayer dollars, authorized by the Santa Clara County Board of Supervisors, fund the Public Guardian’s abusive activities.

Imprisoned and Isolated

In March 2010, control of Gisela Riordan’s life was given to the Public Guardian. The Public Guardian seized Gisela’s assets, imprisoned her in a facility, and denied her contact with the outside world.

As of October 2012, Gisela is still imprisoned at Villa Fontana. The Public Guardian still denies Gisela’s right to visitation. The Public Guardian refuses to allow friends, advocates, or clergy to establish contact with Gisela and check on her welfare.

Gisela’s liberty and property were taken from her with the stoke of a pen. Gisela was denied her right to a trial. Gisela was denied her right to a jury of her peers. Gisela was denied her right to face her accusers and to address the court. Gisela was denied her right to counsel representing her interests.

A quirk of the Probate Code denies Marcus Riordan standing to sue for elder abuse while Gisela lives. Standing to sue lies with the Public Guardian, who is Gisela’s abuser. Marcus will gain standing only after Gisela dies.

Full Article and Source:
Silicon Valley Tax Dollars Fund Elder Abuse

Former Jasper County Public Administrator Rita Hunter Pleads Guilty to Fraud!

Rita Hunter, former Jasper County public administrator, pleaded guilty to document fraud today [Nov 6] in U.S. Federal Court in Springfield.

Hunter, 60, who served a single term as administrator ending in 2008, entered a plea to the charge related to illegally obtaining federal benefits, that was contained in a Dec. 14, 2011 federal indictment.

By pleading guilty, Hunter admitted to a scheme involving a total fraud of $70,000 to $120,000, according to a release from the federal court. She directed her employees to submit materially false Medicaid applications for wards under the custody of the public administrator’s office. The applications falsely stated the wards had assets below the $1,000 threshold to be eligible to receive Medicaid benefits, when in fact the wards had assets of more than $1,000.

Under federal statutes, Hunter is subject to a sentence of up to five years in federal prison without parole, plus a fine up to $250,000 and an order or restitution.

Source:
Former Jasper County Public Administrator Pleads Guilty to Document Fraud

See Also:
Civil Suits Against Rita Hunter Pending

T.S. Radio Tonight: The Tragic Saga of Gary Harvey

In 2006, Vietnam era veteran Gary Harvey sustained a traumatic brain injury from a fall down the stairs in his home. The injury left Gary in a semi-vegetative state, requiring assistance with all activities of daily living. Gary’s wife Sara wishes to bring Gary home and care for him. Sara has the necessary training and equipment in her home to provide the care Gary needs.

Rather than allow Gary the best quality of life possible and the companionship of family and friends, Chemung County keeps Gary isolated.

Join Marti Oakley and Linda Kincaid tonight!
5:00 PST … 6:00 MST … 7:00 CST … 8:00 EST

Call-ins are welcome the last 30 minutes of the show: (917) 388-4520

Click here to LISTEN LIVE tonight or listen to the archive later

Repost: ABC7 Investigates the Santa Clara County Public Guardian

Note: We felt ABC did such a great job investigating the Santa Clara County Public Guardian, we wanted to post those excellent reports again:
Source:
Santa Clara County Public Guardian Under Fire for Isolating Elderly

Source:
I-Team Investigates Santa Clara County Public Guardian

SPECIAL THANKS AND APPRECIATION TO NASGA CALIFORNIA ADVOCACY LIAISON, LINDA KINCAID AND REPORTER DAN NOYES!

Dan Noyes is the chief investigative reporter for the ABC7 News I-Team. Dan joined the station in May 1994, bringing to local news 13 years of experience in network news and nationally syndicated news magazines. Dan was previously the co-anchor of the ABC7 Weekend News at 6 and 11 p.m.

Dan has been honored with numerous industry awards. The National Academy of Television Arts and Science (NATAS) has presented him with seven Emmy Awards for Outstanding Achievement: Investigative Reporting and Continuing Coverage. The Radio and Television News Directors Association (RTNDA) has honored Dan six times, for Best Investigative Reporting and Best News Reporting in Northern California. Dan also received the RTNDA Regional Edward R. Murrow Award for Investigative Reporting. The Associated Press Television and Radio Association (APTRA) has also honored Dan for Best Investigative Reporting. The Anti-Defamation League has given him the Pursuit of Justice Award.

FL: IG Probes Hiding of Records by Department of Elder Affairs

In September 2012, the State of Florida opened an investigation by the Inspector General’s Office, Department of Elder Affairs, into allegations that the State’s top official overseeing the nearly 1,000 registered professional guardians practicing in Florida conspired with public guardians to conceal hundreds of records in a guardianship abuse case.

What happens when a state turns its back on its own laws and on its most vulnerable citizens? The State of Florida can answer this query, based upon newly-revealed e-mails in which the State’s highest official overseeing thousands upon thousands of guardianships of incapacitated elders concealed from a Ward’s estate hundreds of documents from a public guardianship agency under her supervision.

Guardianship agencies are licensed by the State by submitting minimalistic corporate papers that require brief time to prepare. To become a public guardianship agency in Florida, the agency must sign contracts with the State, which contracts specifically require every agency to keep meticulous paper and electronic records on each of its Wards for at least six years, but what happens when all of an agency’s records on a Ward disappear well before the six-year period has ended?

Holocaust Survivor Al Katz’s family knows the answer to this question. In seeking the records from his public guardianship agency that controlled his life and assets for months, Al’s family was told all of his records had been shipped to the State capital, Tallahassee, and none (except for two pages) had been retained by the agency, Aging Safely of Bradenton, Florida. Likewise, the agency claimed that it never kept a single electronic communication concerning Al and his guardianship.

It is believed that Al Katz’s case is the first one in the nation to have indisputable evidence that high-level state officials actively obstructed justice and covered up crimes against a state Ward.

Full Article and Source:
IG Probes Hiding of Records by Department of Elder Affairs

See Also:
NASGA: Al Katz, IN/FL Victim

T.S. Radio: ABC7 News Reports on the Santa Clara County Public Guardian

Join Host Marti Oakley and Co-Host Linda Kincaid tonight to discuss the ongoing problems with the Santa Clara County Public Guardian and the two ABC7 News reports which aired this week, bringing the Pubic Guardian’s actions to the public’s attention and scrutiny.

5:00 PST … 6:00 MST … 7:00 CST … 8:00 EST

Call ins are welcome! 917-388-4520

T.S. Radio…Listen Live or Listen to the Archive of the Show

See Also:
ABC News I-Team Investigates Santa Clara County Public Guardian

Santa Clara County Public Guardian Under Fire for Isolating Elerly

Santa Clara County Public Guardian Under Fire for Isolating Elderly

Source:
Santa Clara County Public Guardian Under Fire for Isolating Elderly

See Also:
ABC News I-Team Investigates Santa Clara Public Guardian

ABC News: I-Team Investigates Santa Clara County Public Guardian

Source: I-Team Investigates Santa Clara County Public Guardian