By Mary Frances Gurton Staff Writer
San Gabriel Valley Tribune

PASADENA - Tommie Brown said he worked hard, paid his bills on time and kept his credit clean all his life, only to fall victim this year to a $350,000 mortgage fraud scheme.

The longtime Pasadena resident said he became aware of the scam after a mortgage lender who had befriended him used his personal information to purchase two homes in Georgia unbeknownst to him.

“I went to purchase a used car in El Monte last July,” said Brown, 60, sitting in the dining room of his modest Pasadena home. “When they ran the credit check, I found out there are loans in my name on two houses in Georgia.”

Embarrassed and uninformed as to how to handle the problem, Brown said he has yet to contact police and avoids calls from creditors at Washington Mutual and other financial services corporations asking for payment on the notes.

“I told them I had no part in stealing the money,” said the retiree, who spent 27 years in the shipping and receiving department of a local Vons market. “I just want to get through this and come out the way I was before.”

Various types of identity fraud, ranging from bait-

and-switch scams, pyramid schemes, variable annuity sales, online escrow fraud and charity scams, are perpetrated against seniors each year - and are continually evolving, according to experts.

In 2005, there were 8.9 million identity theft cases reported nationally, with about 1 million of those in California, said Melanie Bedwell of the Department of Consumer Affairs.

Seniors are especially vulnerable, according to Petra Niles, director of the Elder Abuse Prevention Program at Wise Senior Services in Santa Monica.

“On a day-to-day basis, we get several calls on all kinds of cases,” said Niles. “This is happening all over the state.”

Niles said it is common for perpetrators to build relationships with numerous seniors, all the while testing for those who may be easy prey for a tried-and-true scam.

“When they see they are pliable,” she said, “then they move in.”

In Brown's case, a mortgage lender he says worked for a firm in Long Beach helped him with an earlier investment, he said.

When she later asked him to sign some loan documents, he did not know he would be at financial risk, he said. Representatives from the companies that issued the now-defaulted loans are calling him for payment.

“I feel stupid for trusting her,” said the bifocaled Brown, who said he has owned his current house on North Hudson Avenue since 1983. “I think she did it before and got away with it.”

Calls to the mortgage broker's telephone were not answered.

Niles also said that, although it is common for victims like Brown to feel ashamed and not want anyone to know what happened, it is important for them to “cross-report” to concerned agencies.

“He needs to report this so they can get an investigation going,” she said.

Public Outreach Specialist Jacqueline Wiley-Sistrunk of the California Department of Corporations agreed.

“He needs to file a complaint with our agency,” she said, “There are always problems with predatory lending, and it is especially an issue with seniors.”

Meanwhile, Brown said he did not know what to do.

“I just ignored it and hoped it would disappear,” he said, “but I want to do what's right.”

SACRAMENTO — With the enactment of SB 1018 (Simitian), which requires all bank employees to report all suspected cases of elder financial abuse going into effect today, the California Bankers Association has compiled a list of tips to help consumers be more vigilant in keeping seniors safe.

“More and more, California’s seniors have become the targets of unscrupulous fraudsters who want nothing more than to part seniors from their hard-earned money,” said CBA president and CEO Janet W. Lamkin. “While law enforcement, along with California’s financial institutions, work hard to make sure that suspected cases of elder financial abuse are reported and investigated, we want to remind all Californians that we all have a role to play in keeping our seniors safe.”

Elder financial abuse is a somewhat unique crime in that, oftentimes, it is a member of the family, close friend or caregiver who ends up perpetrating the crime, making it that much more difficult to detect.

commercial, industrial and community banks and savings associations

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January 06, 2007

NEW YORK (Reuters Health) - No available in-office test can reliably differentiate safe from unsafe drivers among individuals with dementia, Canadian researchers report. Currently available tests that assess cognitive ability, they say, cannot be used in a standardized fashion in doctor's offices.

“There is a reason why (physicians) are struggling with the evaluation of fitness-to-drive in their patients,” Dr. Frank J. Molnar from University of Ottawa told Reuters Health. “There appears to be an unintentional gap between the analytic approaches that driving researchers are comfortable using and have been trained to do (e.g., multivariate analysis) and the needs of clinicians for short, rapidly interpretable assessment tools that the researchers analytic approaches will never yield.”

Molnar and colleagues performed a comprehensive literature search in an effort to review evidence regarding in-office cognitive tests that might identify dementia patients who can drive safely and those who cannot.

They found 16 studies that met their inclusion criteria, including six that used history of crash, four that used driving simulator test results, and six that used on-road assessments as measures of driving safety.

None of the studies reported cutoff scores, which is a real problem, the investigators explain. The researchers also found a great deal of inconsistency between the test results and driving outcome measures.

In his practice, Molnar said he uses screening tests recommended by medical associations like the American Medical Association and the Canadian Medical Association and then asks himself if he would want to be a passenger if this person was driving.

Next, he looks for other signs that may indicate the patient is unsafe to drive. For example, if a patient has difficulty with simple activities, such as shopping, banking, cooking or hobbies, there is cause for concern.

“If the person has dementia and I feel they are still safe to drive for a short period, I advise them to start planning for driving cessation in the future and then decide when I should retest them,” Molnar continued. “Generally, 6 months is felt to be the upper limit of time for reevaluation.”

“I advise family members to call me immediately if there are any concerning signs of significant cognitive change,” he continued. When it is still not clear if a person is safe to drive, Molnar refers then for specialized testing.

SOURCE: Journal of the American Geriatrics Society, December 2006.

“Pastor accused of killing man, 85, for his millions
Police say he plotted double car crash
A FORMER pastor in California has been arrested on suspicion of killing an 85-year-old man in a scheme to inherit his trust fund.
02 December 2006

A FORMER pastor in California has been arrested on suspicion of killing an 85-year-old man in a scheme to inherit his trust fund.

Doug Porter, 55, was detained at a checkpoint near San Diego on Monday as he tried to re-enter the US from Mexico. He was charged with attempted murder, elder abuse and theft.

Porter was the pastor at Hickman Community Church - located about 24km east of Modesto - when he met and befriended Mr Frank Craig.

Mr Craig had up to US$4 million ($6.2m) in stocks and real estate left to him after a brother, Mr JC Craig, died in in 1998.

The elderly man asked Porter to help him build an agriculture-themed museum to showcase farm equipment he had acquired over the years.

The Modesto Bee, a local newspaper, reported that Porter agreed and soon gained control of Mr Craig's finances.

In 1999, Mr Craig made changes to his trust fund. He excluded his two sisters and replaced them with Porter as the trustee and Hickman Community Church as the new heir.

The paper added that Porter set up a board to build the museum but Mr Craig soon became frustrated about the lack of progress.

TWO CAR CRASHES

Police investigators said they believe Porter had intended to kill Mr Craig in two car crashes in order to inherit the latter's trust.

In the first accident in March 2002, both men were in Porter's pickup when it veered off the road and struck an oak tree.

Porter, who was driving, escaped with minor injuries but Mr Craig was seriously injured.

In April, 2004, Mr Craig was again the passenger and Porter the driver when the latter's pickup veered into a canal.

This time, Mr Craig died. Again, Porter escaped death.

The sheriff's department began investigating after friends voiced their suspicions about Mr Craig's death.

They claimed that within days of Mr Craig's death, Porter began removing items from the latter's home.

Eight months later, Porter sold Mr Craig's 6.9-ha ranch for more than US$400,000.

He then used US$469,000 of Mr Craig's money to buy property for the church, including land where the museum was supposed to have been built.

Porter resigned from the church in Hickman last year 'to protect the church from further negative focus', according to an ad the church placed in a local newspaper. - AP.”

Pastor accused of killing man, 85, for his millions - DEC 2, 2006

“Dementia Awareness Information

Several caregivers have shared with me their frustration with trying to get the person with Alzheimer's to bath. This is one of the more challenging activities of daily living that the care provider encounters as the disease progresses. Plan the bathing time when they used to take one, i.e. the first thing in the morning or just before going to bed.

Here are a few practical things to consider about preparing the bathroom: Have the bathroom at a comfortable temperature; Run the hot water so that when the person is ready for the bath he or she doesn't have to wait for the hot water; Have the towels and toiletries article ready; Unplug the electric razor, hair dryer, etc., and put them out of sight; Use a shower stall if possible instead of a tub for it is easier to get in and out of a

shower; Use a shower chair so that the person doesn't have to stand, for bathing and keeping one's balance can be a challenge. Also it is easier to assist them if necessary if they are seated; Turn the water on and have it adjusted because they may have forgotten how to do this; Purchase and install a hand held shower spray head - having the water hit you in the face can be scary for a person with dementia. They or you will have better control of the water if it is hand held; Have all the clean clothes in the bathroom beforehand have a towel for yourself, just incase you need an extra towel; Have the phone close by;

When everything is ready that is needed for bathing then gently approach the person and calmly take them into the bathroom. Assist them as needed to

remove their clothes and get them into the shower or tub. Assure them that you are they only to assist as needed. Don't take control of the bathing; let him or her do as much as they can for themselves. The elderly do not need to have a daily bath usually for this can dry out their skin. Plan two or three baths a week if bathing is a challenge for both of you. If you say "Let's go and take a bath," they understand that you are going to get into the shower with him or her, so if this is not your intention, don't say "Let's go and take a bath." Instead, say "It's time for your bath." You may not want to give them too much notice that this is the task at hand because they may resist taking a shower then.”

Dementia Awareness Information

“Mediterranian diet may reduce risk of dementia by up to 40 percent
Published: 21 April, 2006

EATING a "Mediterranean-style" healthy diet may significantly reduce the risk of developing Alzheimer's disease, a study has suggested. The BBC reported that US researchers looked at the diet and health of 2,200 people over four years, and the more people kept to a Mediterranean diet, the less likely they were to develop Alzheimer's, according to the Annals of Neurology study. Alzheimer's experts said the research added to evidence that a healthy diet could have a protective effect. The Mediterranean diet - rich in fruit, vegetables and cereals with some fish and alcohol and very little dairy and meat - has been cited as being generally good for health for some time. The researchers from the Columbia University Medical Center assessed participants' neurological health, and noted their dietary habits. Their food intake was given a "Mediterranean Diet score" of between zero and nine. During the course of the study, 262 people were diagnosed with Alzheimer's disease. The researchers accept their findings relied heavily on people's memories of what they ate, but said a tested dietary assessment technique had been used. Dr Nicholas Scarmeas, who led the research, reportedly said: "Higher adherence to the Mediterranean diet is associated with a reduction in risk for Alzheimer's disease." Professor Clive Ballard, director of research at the UK's Alzheimer's Society, reportedly said: "This large study in a leading journal adds to the growing weight of evidence that diet and lifestyle are very important risk factors for Alzheimer's disease.

"It makes an important contribution by suggesting that a strong adherence to a healthy diet can reduce the risk of developing Alzheimer's disease by as much as 40%, emphasising the importance of healthy eating."”

Fishupdate.com: Mediterranian diet may reduce risk of dementia by up to 40 percent

“Social contact guards against Alzheimer's
By Alex Cukan
Staying in contact with family members and friends offers a protective effect against the damaging effects of Alzheimer's disease, find Chicago researchers.

Physicians at Rush University Medical Center in Chicago say while other studies have shown people with more extensive social networks were at reduced risk of cognitive impairment, this study is the first to examine the relations between social networks and Alzheimer's disease pathology.

Researchers studied elderly people without known dementia participating in the Rush Memory and Aging Project, an epidemiological and clinicopathological study of aging and Alzheimer's disease that involves over 1,100 volunteers across northeastern Illinois. Brain autopsies were done at the time of death and post mortem data was available for analysis from the first 89 people, according to the study published online in The Lancet Neurology.

"Many elderly people who have the tangles and plaques associated with Alzheimer's disease don't clinically experience cognitive impairment or dementia," said Bennett. "Our findings suggest that social networks are related to something that offers a 'protective reserve' capacity that spares them the clinical manifestations of Alzheimer's disease."”

UPI.com: Social contact guards against Alzheimer's

Article by Steven D. Wasserman and Sunny S. Pucci

On August 29, 2005, Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger signed legislation holding California banks and other financial institutions liable if they fail to report suspicions of financial elder abuse, effective beginning January 1, 2007. The legislation is part of a nationwide trend to increase oversight of our country’s aging population by those who deal with elders.

A. California's Elder Abuse Protection Act

In 1982, California enacted the “Elder Abuse and Dependent Adult Civil Protection Act.” The objective was to put into effect a statutory framework that would institutionalize reporting obligations for those who are in a position to see, and therefore possibly prevent, various types of abuse to the state’s growing population of elders. The Act, as amended, required “health care practitioners, care custodians, clergy members, and employees of county adult protective services agencies and local law enforcement agencies to report known or suspected cases of abuse of elders and dependent adults. . . .” (California Welfare and Institutions Code § 15601(a).) Abuse of an elder was defined to include physical abuse, neglect, abandonment or other conduct causing physical or mental suffering, as well as financial abuse. (W&I Code 15610.07(a).)

Financial abuse was defined to occur when a person or entity “takes, secretes, appropriates, or retains real or personal property of an elder or dependent adult to a wrongful use or with intent to defraud, or both,” or assists any person in such conduct. (W&I Code § 15610.30(a)(1).)

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Figuring out how to plan your estate can be a big job. Here are some common questions and answer that may help you.

What is an estate plan?

An estate plan is a systematic plan for the accumulation, conservation and distribution of an estate. A good estate plan minimizes taxes and accomplishes the owner’s goals efficiently and effectively. When the owner dies, the estate plan distributes the estate with minimum administrative costs. The sooner an estate plan is made, the more effective it can be.

Should I have a will if I don’t have children?

Everyone should have a will, including you and your spouse. Believing that everything the two of you own will pass automatically to the surviving spouse when one of you dies is a risky proposition. Your property could be distributed according to the state’s inheritance laws instead of going directly to the surviving spouse.

Should I set up a trust, or do I even need one?

It depends on the size of your estate and the purpose of the trust. If your estate is under the current estate tax exemption amount ($2 million for 2006 through 2008, and $3.5 million for 2009) and small enough to qualify for quick and inexpensive probate in your state, you might not need one. However, a trust can help you avoid a court hearing if you become incompetent or unable to provide for yourself, or if you want to provide for grandchildren, minor children, or disabled relatives. What happens to my 401(k) account when I die? If you designated beneficiaries when you signed up for a 401(k) account, they receive the money in your account when you die. Otherwise, your estate automatically becomes the beneficiary. If your beneficiary is your spouse, he or she has most of the same options that you would have if you were leaving your company to take another job.

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Using a foundation as part of your wealth management strategy provides additional protection and peace of mind not available with trusts.

Foundations are one of the most overlooked and yet most effective forms of asset protection that you can put in place which, like all good investment vehicles, are designed to save you money without costing you the earth.

Trusts have a number of restrictions which limit their ability to provide you with comprehensive asset protection.

Time limits
Most trusts have time limits. If your intention is to secure your assets in perpetuity then using a foundation is your best choice. You have the option of creating a fixed lifetime for the foundation but you can also set up your foundation to continue indefinitely.

Management
Foundations and trusts have very different structures. Using the foundation structure means that trustees can be changed very easily and at little or no cost. Changing trustees of a trust can be a time consuming and expensive exercise.

Control
When assets are placed into trust, the trustees legally own the assets, which is not something that everyone is comfortable with. Assets in a foundation are owned by the foundation which can be controlled entirely by you.

Asset protection
Unlike trusts, foundations are based on civil law and not common law so they are much harder to challenge and overturn than trusts, an important feature in planning for wealth preservation. Unlike trusts, foundations cannot be completely unwound for trivial reasons.

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Appleton, WI 54912-8002 June 5, 2006

There is almost nothing that makes life more enjoyable than family and friends, but don’t rely on them for tax advice. After the death of her husband, a widow learned this lesson the hard way.

In a recent court case (Anne C. Snyder, T.C. Memo 2006-92), a woman settling her financial affairs following the death of her husband paid a heavy price in tax penalties because she followed hearsay gained through informal discussions with her widowed friends, instead of consulting a tax professional. The friends’ good-intentioned counsel claimed that death benefits were not taxable. They were wrong. The widow received a notice of deficiency for her 2001 taxes.

When the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) issues a notice of deficiency and accuracy-related penalties upon a taxpayer, the burden of proof falls to the taxpayer. In a court determination, the court seeks (1) a taxpayer’s reasonable effort to do what’s right, (2) the knowledge and experience of the taxpayer, and (3) the reliance on the advice of a professional.

In this case, the widowed taxpayer conceded that she did not seek advice of a professional, only acted according to information casually gathered from friends. She also claimed to have not received Form 1099s from three respective distributions, which was rejected by the court as incredulous. In the end, the taxpayer had nothing to justify her action in not reporting income she inferred was “death benefits.” The court found that the taxpayer’s case was without merit and that the taxpayer did not act with reasonable cause and in good faith. She was thus liable for the accumulated tax and penalties.
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TO REPORT A PROBLEM

Consumers who think they or their loved ones have been involved in this or a similar scheme are encouraged to call their state's Attorney General. For California Residents, Click CA Resources

RALEIGH - N.C. Attorney General Roy Cooper has sued two California companies, accusing them of fleecing elderly residents out of their life savings by selling them living trusts and annuities they didn't need.

Cooper filed the lawsuit against American Family Prepaid Legal Corporation Inc. and Heritage Marketing and Insurance Services, both of Irvine, Calif., for using aggressive sales tactics on elderly consumers. Both companies were sued last month by the Pennsylvania attorney general for the same tactics.

“What they try to do is to scare seniors into buying these living trusts and then into buying these overpriced annuities,” Cooper said Monday.

In one case, the lawsuit says, a Heritage agent convinced an 84-year-old man to buy two annuities worth $547,000, using the proceeds of his stock portfolio and another annuity. The man ended up paying $175,000 in capital gains taxes, which was not disclosed to him. He had to pay fees for cashing in one annuity to make the investments, where if he had waited 12 days, he wouldn't have had to pay any fees, according to the lawsuit.

In another instance, the lawsuit says, a Heritage agent sold an annuity to a 70-year-old woman who had been diagnosed as bipolar and paranoid schizophrenic. The agent took the woman to the bank to withdraw $29,000 to pay for an annuity even though she needed the money for her medical care, the lawsuit says.

Mildred Honeycutt, 74, of Raleigh, thinks American Family Prepaid Legal preyed on her 80-year-old sister, who was shopping for a will. Instead, the company sold her a living trust for $1,995.

“They took advantage of her,” Honeycutt said.

In a statement issued Monday, the American Family Legal Plan expressed disappointment that a lawsuit was filed. “We stand behind the affordable, quality service we have provided for thousands of clients in North Carolina and throughout the U.S.,” the statement said.

The lawsuit explains how officials say the companies worked together to prey on the elderly:

American Family Prepaid Legal would solicit customers via mailings and phone calls encouraging people to buy legal services plans to create living trusts to avoid paying probate costs.

Once a customer was interested, a sales agent would visit the person at home to make the pitch. The company billed its living trust, which cost $1,995, as a bargain in comparison to what someone would pay in probate costs, the lawsuit says. But for someone to pay almost $2,000 in probate costs, his estate would have to be worth more than $500,000, the suit says.

A living trust, Cooper says, “can be beneficial to people of means who are trying to avoid certain taxes.” But for the consumers these companies targeted, it was not a good decision, he said.

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Julius Tutinas received $61,154.48 in Medicaid services before his death in 1997. He left a surviving spouse, Beverly; because the couple's home and car were in joint names, she acquired ownership without the necessity of a probate proceeding. Beverly died, in turn, in 2001, leaving a will naming her two sisters as coexecutors. The coexecutors disallowed a claim filed by the state Medicaid agency for the cost of care provided to Mr. Tutinas, and then petitioned the court for instructions about whether to allow the claim. The trial judge found that the agency was permitted to assert its claim against the estate of a surviving spouse. The state Court of Appeals, with one judge dissenting, reversed and ruled that the Illinois law purporting to give the agency power to assert such a claim exceeded the authority granted under the federal Medicaid law. The state Supreme Court agrees with the Court of Appeals, ruling that while the federal law would permit an estate recovery action against the Medicaid recipient there is no authority for an action against the surviving spouse's estaate. "As we have just indicated, the Act provides three and only three exceptions for when the state may seek reimbursement for costs correctly expended on behalf of a Medicaid recipient. All are specifically directed to the etate of the recipient. No provision is made for collection from the estate of the recipient's spouse." Although Iowa, New Jersey, Nevada, Minnesota and Idaho cases cited in the opinion do permit recovery against a surviving spouse to the extent of assets received from the Medicaid beneficiary, those cases all appear to be based on state statutes expanding the definition of "estate" as permitted by federal law; since Illinois has not done so, no recovery is permissible against the surviving spouse's estate.

Full case: Hines v. The Deparment of Public Aid
Illinois Supreme Court, May 18, 2006

Husband and wife held a $451,791.50 account as joint tenants, and the signature card indicated that only one signature was required to withdraw the funds. Wife went to the bank alone, withdrew the entire balance, deposited it into a new account titled in her name with a POD designation to a third person, and died six months later. Husband brought a declaratory judgment action against the bank, seeking a determination that the bank wrongfully allowed his wife to "unilaterally divest" him of his property, and argued specifically that in the absence of clear disclaimer of a tenancy by the entirety the account should have been considered as marital property. The trial court granted summary judgment for the bank, and the state Court of Appeals agrees. The depositors contract in this case is clear and unambiguous, and although it imposes a difficult burden on the husband to make his claim against the POD beneficiary it is better to impose that burden on him than on the bnak, which would have no equitable claim to recovery.

Full case: Scott v. Union Planters Bank, N.A.
Missouri Court of Appeals, Southern District, May 15, 2006
http://www.courts.mo.gov/courts/pubopinions.nsf/8e937ac7ce0301288625661f004bc963/
8ae58930616b530f8625716f00734a48?OpenDocument

Only lowest of the low prey on OAPs
HELEN MARTIN

THIEVING is a despicable crime. Shoplifters may delude themselves that the only victim is a global retail chain, but we all suffer as a result.

Burglars convince themselves that their victims are insured anyway - or should be. Even bank robbers may see themselves as romantic Bonnies and Clydes, out to relieve the fat cat banks of just a small proportion of profit.

And, as long as no violence is involved, robberies don't usually rank highly in the public mind against murder, rape and terrorism. But one particular crime wave rippling across the Lothians should revolt and disgust us all even when the haul is relatively low.

Over the last fortnight, at least 14 elderly people between 70 and 93 years of age have been robbed in their homes by bogus workmen claiming to be from utility companies. In some cases, not surprisingly, there was no cash to be had. In others, there were small nest eggs carefully put by for emergencies.
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