"How To Cash In On Your Mom, In These Hard Times"

My mother needs help here in New York. She was "injured" in her home in March 2009. My sister "discovered" her, almost dead with a massive head injury.

After six months of recovery, mom had a choice to go home with assistance or try assisted living. When she didn't like it, she requested the facility to send her paperwork to her doctor who would submit it to Medicare for a home plan.

The Director and Social Worker refused, citing the POA and Health Proxy my sister obtained during mom's recovery, neither of which gave my sister the authority to force mom to stay at the facility.

My sister petitioned for Guardianship, in the wrong County, and The Supreme Court of Nassau County NY, Judge Joel K. Asarch accepted it. The Article 81 MHL, under which the hearing proceeded, clearly states it should have been in The Supreme Court of Suffolk County where the facility is located. No change of venue was requested.

The New York State Commission on Judicial Conduct is investigating, or so they say. My sister worked for a financial attorney for 27 years in Nassau County, until he suddenly retired in March 2009, when the Madoff Scandal became public, leaving my sister unemployed and broke. Hey, isn't that when mom got "injured"? Mom had a sizable diversified trust, one third Madoff, so she didn't lose everything like my sister did.

Mom is suffering everyday while at the facility . Her knee was hobbled in physical therapy there, she's received two more head injuries there, and I cannot get any county or state agencies to intervene. My sister tells mom she is doing everything she can to get mom out. I tell mom the truth and she doesn't know what to think.

The court granted personal needs guardianship, not property, citing the POA as sufficient. Mom has tried to go to the bank to revoke the power of attorney but the staff will not let her go out without my sister. She wants to get a lawyer. She wants to go home, and can well afford to, or maybe she can't. My sister refuses to give mom her credit cards, bank statements, bills, trust papers, deed, money, which she took from mom's house while she was recovering.

My mother and I are not permitted to see the Petition or the Court Evaluators Report which contains financial info and allegations made by my sister. Mom's court appointed attorney did not represent her, and even stated to the court that she believes mom should stay in the facility. The judge allowed it. Seems pointless to complain to The Nassau County Bar Association when the Judge is the vice-president. I've written to,called, and e-mailed so many agencies that are supposed to help, but they don't.They hang out a sign, collect a paycheck from county and state taxes, and don't do anything.

The next thing I write will be a parody titled "How to cash in on your mom, in these hard times" In which I will follow the steps my sister took and then, don't worry about any agency or court, they won't stop you. Including the tip that you don't have to pay a lawyer, the ward has to pay that, and all of the court proceeding. What have you got to lose? Seriously, I am suffering for and with my mother.

The court has kept her in the facility 7 months now, she's anxious, confused, overmedicated and desperate. My sister tells her if she doesn't stop complaining, she's going to turn her over to the state, and who knows what they'll do with her. Please help mom.

Maryann Destefano
(516)721-5586

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Dear Maryann;

After talking to you over the phone I could not get over how similar our stories were
The story of elder exploitation and abuse sounds eerily like my own here in Florida in the early stages, it seems that people who do this think alike.

My brother was having major financial problems, he was in foreclosure and had Federal Tax Warrants against him as well as other legal actions.

Other than Dementia, Alzheimer, and short term memory loss my mother rode a Trike 3x a week and was in perfect physical health. WE always asked for a handicapped room when we traveled and never left her alone.

Once Adalberto J. Fernandez a.k.a. Al and William A. Hart a.k.a. Bill started experiencing financial problems, they took Clara and left her alone in a Motel Room , according to emergency room records she was drugged and left alone, when Al and Bill found her with a serious head injury, and she was also not expected to live!But not before they had transferred all control of her finances over to themselves.

*They executed Quit Claim Deeds whose signature even to un trained eyes did not match hers.
*They executed a POA who the court later declared NOT to be valid.
*Using this POA the closed out all her accounts,Bonds,Stock, CD's and had the money sent to them with Clara as payee, but of course Clara was not aware of an of this, not was she in an condition to agree as she was fighting for her life.
*They tied her existing accounts to their own using Overdraft protection then overdrew their accounts until there was nothing left in hers.

I am publishing these photos to expose the inhumanity to which these elders were subjected to (Dr. A.J. Fernandez died Jan 9th 2005 because of the stress of the situation) for the sake of financial gain for a few who continue to ply their trade in human suffering in order to financially profit at any cost.

When all of these was happening Clara was drugged with the strongest cocktail of drugs known, drugs that would knock young healthy human being down, and the Florida Division of Children and Families was the only agency that could have protected her from serious injury, after several complaints that were made BEFORE Clara was injured they did nothing, the DCF in Bartow,Florida more specifically supervisor Roselynn Smith and Clay Kellam called us on December 24th,2004 to tell the worried family that they lacked police powers and there was nothing the could do to protect Clara from injury.

It is regrettable that I have to publish these pictures to show how the authorities fail to provide even a modicum of protection for elders and when siblings fight and the elders get caught in the crossfire and are seriously injured and killed how they will just look the other way!

WE can put men on the moon but we are not able to provide protection for our elders or when a sibling gone bad goes on a rampage, we can not be bothered to protect the lives of these elders!

Or could it be that more money is to be made if we look the other way , call it a civil matter and feed the courts and it's servants because the authorities in charge of protecting our elders do not have the intelligence or political will to investigate and separate the good guys from the bad guys?

Ray Fernandez
Editor