Jury Trial Set for ex-Police Sergeant Accused of Stealing from Mother (USA)
Posted by Poster on Tuesday, June 14, 2011 · Leave a Comment
Jury Trial Set for ex-Police Sergeant Accused of Stealing from Mother (USA)
Jury trial set for ex-Salinas police sergeant accused of stealing from mother
May. 12, 2011
A former Salinas police sergeant is set to undergo a jury trial in a couple of weeks on charges that he stole more than $40,000 from his mother.
Jay Malispina, a 19-year veteran of the force, is accused of taking $40,600 of his mother’s money and transferring it to his own bank account for personal expenses, including gifts to her grandchildren, San Jose Sharks tickets, a cruise and home improvement projects.
The defendant is accused of committing the crimes against Karolyn Malispina between 2004 and 2008.
A total of 11 checks — ranging from $300 to $5,000 — are believed to have been written, signed and transferred to Malispina’s bank account, which was also listed under his then ex-wife’s name.
Malispina, who was with the Salinas police at the time of his arrest, has since retired from the department.
Today, Juliet Peck, his attorney, told Monterey County Superior Court Judge Terrance Duncan that the trial remains set for May 23. The case is expected to return to court on May 18.
SOURCE: The Californian
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3 Cases Revealed, But Elder Abuse Largely Hidden (USA)
3 cases revealed, but elder abuse largely hidden
May 08, 2011
Donna Tower’s uncle told his family that someone was stealing his money, but the family didn’t believe him at first because he has Alzheimer’s.
In the end, the family learned that he was telling the truth – that the administrator of a Winterville nursing home was taking his money, and his brother’s, but no one would believe him.
“(She) had been taking their checks and we didn’t realize it,” Tower said. “My uncle with Alzheimer’s had said someone was stealing his money all along, but we just brushed it off because we thought it was just in his mind.”
Sherrye Dianne Huff, former administrator of the Winterville Retirement Center, was arrested Monday on five felony charges – three counts of theft and two counts of exploiting an elderly or disabled person – and one count of misdemeanor theft for stealing from the Alzheimer’s patient.
The investigator, Winterville police Sgt. Jimmy Fulcher, discovered while looking into the theft case that elder abuse is more widespread than people realize.
He arrested another Winterville Retirement Center employee on charges she punched another Alzheimer’s patient in the face for taking some butter off a food cart in the facility’s dining hall.
The 82-year-old resident died a few weeks later and authorities are investigating to see if her death was related to the assault.
Soon after, police say another employee of the Winterville Retirement Center stole drugs that had been prescribed for the patient who died, and police later found out the administrator was stealing money from other residents.
The three cases of abuse and financial exploitation happened in less than three months.
“More than likely, (elder abuse) it’s more widespread than we know,” said Fulcher, who last week launched a fourth investigation into the possible theft of money from another Winterville Retirement Center resident.
The first case Fulcher investigated at Winterville Retirement Center happened Feb. 22, when employee Cynthia Ann Barrow punched the Alzheimer’s patient, then told police that she only pushed the woman, who then slipped.
“Elder abuse is one of the most unrecognized and under-reported crimes,” said Ravae Graham, a deputy director with the state Department of Human Services. “Many abuse victims don’t realize it, don’t know what to do about it, or are too afraid to report their abuse or neglect.”
The National Center on Elder Abuse estimates that for each documented case of neglect or abuse, five cases go unreported.
Though people place trust in professionals to take care of their loved ones, relatives need to look for signs of abuse, according to an Athens woman, who took her mother out of an area nursing home after only a month when she discovered employees weren’t giving her mother the medication she needed.
Complaints about abuse or neglect can be made with the ORS online at https://services.georgia.gov/dhr/reportfiling/searchFacility.do?action=constituentComplaint.
Anyone who suspects that elder abuse is occurring should call Adult Protective Services at (888) 774-0152 or the state Department of Community Health’s Healthcare Facility Regulation Division at (800) 878-8442.
Abridged
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Woman ‘Bitten’ at Nursing Home (AUSTRALIA)
Woman ‘bitten’ at nursing home
By Peter Gardiner
21st April 2011
A GOVERNMENT watchdog has identified a “serious risk” to residents at a Tewantin nursing home.
It has ordered a number of sanctions, including the appointment of an independent nursing supervisor.
The Department of Health Care and Ageing has ordered that the Noosa Nursing Centre in Moorindil St cannot take new residents for six months.
Any breach of strict supervision conditions could result in the removal of its approved carer status.
The news comes as the daughter of an elderly resident claims her mother was assaulted with a serious bite on the hand by another resident.
The daughter claimed nursing management she had dealt with had been openly hostile when she raised a range of concerns.
The woman said a complaint which she considers to be baseless was made to the state authorities over her adult guardianship of her mother’s affairs and an interim guardian had been appointed.
A resident told the Daily that standover tactics were used on staff and residents by a management officer, who had recently ceased employment there.
The department’s website reports that the agency audit identified serious risk in relation to:
“The home’s registered and care staff do not have sufficient and/or accurate information to ensure care is provided in accordance with residents’ individual needs or changes to care needs.
“Information systems and communication in relation to clinical care are ineffective.
“Not all registered staff had appropriate skills and knowledge to perform their roles and responsibilities. Management are not monitoring and evaluating staff performance.”
The sanctions are in force until October 8, when the department spokeswoman said there will be a further review.
Noosa Nursing Centre spokesman Jamie Profke said the sanctions related to mostly administrative shortcomings that had occurred there in the “recent past”.
He said “no one’s been harmed, no one’s been injured” because of these identified shortcomings.
Mr Profke said the senior staff who had overseen these system inadequacies had recently chosen to leave the centre and the centre was working with a fully qualified person appointed last Sunday to oversee the necessary improvements in keeping records and paperwork.
In relation to the alleged attack on the resident, Mr Profke said that no nursing centre can provide one-on-one care to residents at all times and that the real issue was Queensland Health sending out people with mental illnesses to residential care centres.
He said the Noosa Nursing Centre had received strong support from the relatives of the residents in care at a meeting held last week to discuss the sanctions, as well as support from a senior state palliative care bureaucrat.
Mr Profke said the nursing centre, which has spaces for 130 high care residents and 100 low care, offered some of the best care facilities in the state
SOURCE: The Sunshine Coast Daily
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Funeral Home Director Accused of Stealing Thousands of Dollars (KY. USA)
A local funeral home director has been arrested and is facing several felony charges. Metro Police arrested Maureen Purcell on Thursday.
She’s a funeral director at Ratterman Brothers Funeral Home. Police say she stole thousands of dollars from an elderly woman whose husband died.
Detectives with Crimes Against Seniors say Purcell was able to steal the money by becoming the woman’s power of attorney.
Det. John Fogle of LMPD Crimes against Seniors says, “She admitted that she basically had some bad credit, had gotten herself into some civil lawsuits, and was basically taking advantage of a situation. She also used the term that she robbed Peter to pay Paul.”
Purcell was taken to Metro Corrections, but she has already been released on bail. Meanwhile, police suspect there could be other victims.
SOURCE: Fox41
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Newport Carer Stole from Elderly to Fund Ex’s Drink Habit (UK)
Newport carer stole from elderly to fund ex’s drink habit
19th April 2011
A GWENT carer admitted stealing almost £1,700 from the homes of five elderly people.
Janet Forrester, 40, of Stamford Court, Newport, appeared in Newport Crown Court yesterday having pleaded guilty to nine counts of theft.
The court heard how Forrester worked as a carer for Greenbanks Homecare since July 2009 and had access to clients’ details and combinations for entry into their homes.
Forrester admitted stealing £712 from the home of Margaret Harding between August and September 2009.
On one occasion, Ms Harding’s daughter took out £100 for her mother to pay bills but later noticed £35 was missing from her purse. Forrester returned on another date returning Ms Harding’s walking stick and was invited in. Ms Harding, who was partially sighted, had mobility problems and arthritis, later realised another £10 was missing from her handbag.
Christian Jowett, prosecuting, said Ms Harding believed Forrester took the money because it always went missing when she was present.
Forrester also stole £425 from Frank Maras who had a pacemaker and suffered kidney problems. The cash was taken from a drawer and metal box in his house.
Forrester was suspended from Greenbanks and later started work for Crystal Cleaning Solutions and went on to steal £315 from 82-year-old Joyce Gardner, who had terminal cancer, in September 2009.
Ms Gardener’s niece gave her £300 in cash to add to the £40 already in her purse but £315 of this was missing after Forrester had been to Ms Gardner’s home.
On September 29, 2009, Forrester was working at a sheltered housing complex where she met Olive Thomas who was feeling unwell.
Mr Jowett said Forrester went to their home in what appeared to Mrs Thomas’ husband to be a nurse’s uniform.
He asked her to take a look at his wife and gave her £25 to get her some food supplements and £100 for cigarettes which they never received.
Forrester returned the following day and the couple realised £50 had gone missing.
The court heard Forrester also stole £26 and a £14 British Home Stores voucher from the home of 87-year-old Enid Taylor on October 1, 2009. The purse was found in a police car – dropped by Forrester when she was arrested.
Tracy Lloyd-Nesling said Forrester had been a victim of domestic violence and was expected to fund her former husband’s drinking and gambling habits.
She said Forrester is ashamed of what she did and understands the effect the offences had on the victims and those close to them.
Sentencing was adjourned until May 4.
Greenbanks Homecare and Crystal Cleaning Solutions declined to comment.
SOURCE: SouthWalesArgus.co.uk
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Elderly Abuse rife Since Earthquake (NEW ZEALAND)
Elderly abuse rife since earthquake
30th May 2011
The elderly are taking the brunt of earthquake stress, with elder abuse rife in the suburbs.
Age Concern community nurse Kerry Howley estimated cases of reported elderly abuse had increased by 40 to 50 per cent since the earthquake.
“There’s a huge increase in stress and there has been some abuse related to financial issues. Some families in financial hardship treat an elderly person like a bank- using them for money.” she said.
Ms Howley knew of one case where a 91-year-old woman had been a targeted in an earthquake shelter by a 41-year-old man.
“A gentleman met an older lady at a shelter and took her home. He built up her trust and then took lots of her money. They didn’t know each other before the earthquake. He just saw the opportunity and moved on her,” she said.
Much of the abuse was verbal, but could also be physical or neglectful, Ms Howley said.
“I had one elderly couple in their 90s who were put into respite care because their home was so damaged in the earthquake. But their daughter wanted them to return home, even though they had no sewage or water, because she was in charge of their money. When they were in care their social worker wanted to know where all the money was going,” she said.
With thousands of houses ruined in February’s earthquake, many people have been forced to move in with their elderly relatives.
Police Inspector Dave Lawry said: “There’s been a lot of elder abuse going on. People’s houses are trashed so they’re moving in with mum and dad, or other family members, who they don’t necessarily get along with.”
Inspector Lawry said fights had been developing, with the elderly often being “pushed around.”
Some of the abuse had been “historic,” only coming to light after the earthquake as neighbours and friends checked on the usually isolated elderly.
“Sometimes the relationship with the family has always been abusive, but the elderly person just thought it was normal or that nothing could be done about it,” Ms Howley said.
SOURCE: starcanterbury.co.nz
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Lawsuits Target Oakley Pastor Over Fraud Allegations (USA)
By Roman Gokhman and Rowena Coetsee
Contra Costa Times
05/01/2011
Police investigations and lawsuits over accusations of fraudulent loans target an Oakley pastor whose financially troubled ministry includes a lavish estate that bears his name.
Rio Vista and Brentwood police have launched separate investigations of 61-year-old Jerry Hanoum, who founded Mountain View Christian Center and Trinity Christian Schools. The church and school operate on a vacant public school campus in Oakley, where they have failed to keep up with rent and tax payments.
A Rio Vista woman is suing Hanoum and Jerry Dellinger, an associate, alleging financial and psychological elder abuse stemming from loans she made totaling $230,000.
The suit claims that Hanoum and the church used properties as collateral that they didn’t own. One of the properties is the nearly 5-acre Hanoum Estate in Oakley that Mountain View advertises as a pastoral retreat and event center.
Abridged
SOURCE: The Mercury News
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Rochester Man Accused of Neglecting His Elderly Mother, 85 (UK)
By JOSH ROSENSON
April 20, 2011
DOVER —
A Strafford County Superior Court grand jury has indicted a Rochester man on felony and misdemeanor level offenses alleging he neglected his elderly mother.
Leo Gordon Carter, 55, of 12 Crockett St., was indicted on Class B felony charges of criminal neglect of an elderly, disabled or impaired adult and second-degree assault as well as a misdemeanor charge of endangering the welfare of an incompetent person.
According to a news release from the New Hampshire Attorney General’s Office, in July 2010, emergency medical services responded to Carter’s residence, where he was the sole caretaker of his 85-year-old, bedridden mother. The woman was found to be suffering from malnutrition, severe dehydration and infected bedsores.
The Attorney General’s Elder Abuse and Financial Exploitation Unit, headed by Assistant Attorney General Tracy Culberson, is prosecuting the case, which was originally investigated by the Rochester Police Department.
“We see anywhere from three to five cases a year come in, where there is an allegation of criminal neglect,” Culberson said. “Our goal is to investigate and prosecute cases of elder abuse, neglect and financial exploitation.”
Culberson said his unit also consults on similar cases being prosecuted by county attorneys across the state. He added that a grant has, over the past year, enabled the performance of statewide training for police and prosecutors aimed at increasing public awareness and “awareness among law enforcement and what to do when you see it.”
Culberson said Carter is not currently being detained, and no arrest was made, rather the case was a straight indictment. Carter is due to be arraigned on April 28 at 9 a.m. in Strafford County Superior Court.
An indictment is not an indication of guilt; rather, it means a grand jury has found sufficient evidence to warrant a trial.
SOURCE: Fosters.Com
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