The News

Nuts, Conservators and a Judge Gone Wild

Thursday, 26 May 2011 23:16 |

Written by Janet Phelan |

Hot on the heels of a groundbreaking decision by L. A. Superior Court Judge Reva Goetz to restrain an esteemed medical doctor from reporting elder abuse of conservatee Jean Tanaka, further evidence has surfaced suggesting negligence on the part of Tanaka’s conservator, Linda Cotterman.

Dr. Laura Moire’s courtroom testimony on March 3 in the conservatorship matter of Jean Tanaka detailed numerous issues where she deemed the care being given Tanaka by Cotterman to be negligent. Dr. Moire is considered an expert in elder abuse and is a founder of the Geriatric Division of the American College of Emergency Medicine, a founding member of the American College of Forensic Medicine as well as a member of the White House Conference on Aging, among numerous other honors and affiliations.

When the court ignored Moire’s testimony, the doctor then called Adult Protective Services and the police on March 30, 2011. This action incurred a swift and decisive response by Judge Reva Goetz, who then legally restrained Moire from further involvement in the matter of Jean Tanaka. As a physician, Moire is a mandated reporter of elder abuse. Attorney Robert Canny has called this action by Goetz as effectively overturning the First Amendment to the US Constitution and Article 1, Section 2 of the California Constitution. Canny is the lawyer for Jean Tanaka's daughter, Jeannie.

Public Guardian's office looting estates--with a little help from the Judge

Thursday, 12 May 2011 00:53 |

Written by Janet Phelan |

by Tim King Salem-news.com

(RIVERSIDE, Calif.) - The Public Guardian's office in Riverside has been caught red- handed embezzling funds, it appears. And it is apparently going to get away with it.

The Public Guardian's office is pledged with the task of acting as conservator over estates belonging to the elderly and/or disabled and also acts as Trustee in other estate matters. In a recent routine accounting in Riverside Superior Probate Court concerning the Amalie Phelan Trust, a notation appeared in the attorney's time records, indicating she had leached off funds without court approval and had apparently falsified the accountings to cover this up.

California Attorney Confesses Crime in Open Court

Saturday, 07 May 2011 12:42 |

Written by Janet Phelan |

Tim King & Michael Hjelmstad Salem-News.com

“The Probate Code strictly forbids specific commingling of funds.”

(RIVERSIDE, Calif.) - In a hearing this week in Riverside Superior Court, a local attorney, Toni Eggebraaten, cited a criminal act committed by her in conjunction with her client, The Riverside Public Guardian's office, as a reason for not having to abide by the law mandating she reveal accountings to a beneficiary of a Trust. In a statement worthy of Franz Kafka's absurdist classic novel, The Trial, Eggebraaten baldly stated that she pooled the funds in the Phelan Family Trust with "other estates" managed by the Public Guardian's office as a reason for not supplying the bank statements to a beneficiary. The Probate Code strictly forbids such commingling of funds.

Reports of elder abuse result in Restraining Orders...but not how you´d think

Thursday, 14 April 2011 17:51 |

Written by Janet Phelan |

April 14, 2011

Salem-news.com

In an unparalleled action in an ex parte hearing on April 1, Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Reva Goetz issued a Restraining Order against a local physician, Dr. Laura Moire, blocking her from taking further action or making more reports in regards to conservatee Jean Tanaka.

Dr. Moire, who is considered an expert in elder abuse, is a founder of the Geriatric Division of the American College of Emergency Medicine, a founding member of the American College of Forensic Medicine as well as a member of the White House Conference on Aging, among numerous other honors and affiliations. Dr. Moire took a sole action of calling both Adult Protective Services and the police on the evening of March 30, 2011, in an attempt to alert these agencies as to her concerns of abuse being inflicted upon Mrs. Tanaka through the auspices of conservator Linda Cotterman.

In an interview last week Dr. Moire stated that she had testified during the conservatorship trial of Tanaka on March 3 and was concerned to learn that no action had been taken to address her concerns as to Mrs. Tanaka's care.

California Professional Fiduciaries Bureau set to meet April 21

Saturday, 09 April 2011 15:52 |

Written by Janet Phelan |

The California Professional Fiduciaries Bureau will beholding a public meeting on April 21. The public may come and time is allotted for public comment. As the PFB and the California House Judiciary Committee have all ignored the report, below, which was submitted to them last year, I am requesting that this be put onto the record. The report shows intentional fraud and abuse of power by the PFB, in attending to their mandate to protect the vulnerable elderly of California from unscrupulous conservators.

I am going to try to arrange to appear at the meeting via skype, but I do not have much hope for this. It is important to get the report onto the record, as well as for all of you to show up and voice your concerns.

~~Janet

> Date: Fri, 8 Apr 2011 15:48:11 -0700
> From: This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it
> Subject: Advisory Committee Meeting
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> There will be an Advisory Committee Meeting for the Professional Fiduciaries
> Bureau, Thursday, April 21, 2011. Please see the link below for the meeting
> agenda.
>
> http://www.fiduciary.ca.gov/about_us/meetings.shtml
>
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REPORT TO ASSEMBLYMAN DAVE JONES :

PROFESSIONAL FIDUCIARIES BUREAU

HISTORY

The California Professional Fiduciaries Bureau was established by an Act of the California Legislature in 2006, following public outcry over the revelations in a Los Angeles Times investigative series. Entitled "Guardians for Profit--When a Family Matter Becomes a Business," the Times series detailed corrupt and abusive practices by California conservators for the elderly and disabled. The population impacted by conservatorships constitute some of the most vulnerable and at risk citizens of the State of California.
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