Catching the Financial Elder Abuser: The Gold Standard

Youngest adult daughter, youngest daughter’s husband and their five children five move in to take care of 90-year old, mildly impaired father. For five years, youngest daughter and her family systematically spend half a million dollars using father’s credit cards. The other adult children and impaired father have no idea about the financial elder abuse.

When the other adult children finally get wind that the youngest daughter may be taking advantage of their father, they seek the Court’s help to hold youngest daughter accountable as Trustee of father’s Trust. Youngest daughter disregards the Court’s rulings to turn over information to other children. The other adult children hire Carico Glowacki Macdonald Kil & Benz LLP (“CJT”) to protect their father and recover the Trust funds badly need for their father’s care. CJT petitions the court for issuance of citation to compel youngest daughter’s appearance before the Court. Youngest daughter disregards the citation. CJT obtains information that youngest daughter has liquidated approximately $650,000 of father’s money, his entire life savings, and hid the proceeds in Nicaraguan real estate and gold bullion stashed somewhere in Canada or California. CJT traces the wire transfer transactions through a series of bank accounts. CJT then successfully petitions the Court to freeze bank accounts. The financial institutions, with funds frozen, provide full cooperation to CJT and the accountholders, unknowing participants in the embezzlement, turn over tapes of phone conversations and provide affidavits confirming the elder abuse committed by youngest daughter. .

CJT persuades Probate Court to issue bench warrant for youngest daughter’s arrest for violation Court’s order to freeze funds. The bail is initially set at $25,000 but then CJT is able to convince the Court to increase it to $1,000,000.

CJT also convinces Court to issue Order freezing the Nicaraguan property and placing a “constructive trust” over the foreign real property in favor of father’s Trust. CJT also convinces the Court to freeze the youngest daughter’s home in Lake Arrowhead. Court removes youngest daughter as Trustee without the need for trial.

CJT attorneys meet in person with a special FBI agent and an Assistant U.S. Attorney, and by phone with a U.S. Customs agent, in effort to coordinate seizure of foreign assets. CJT brings in Canadian counsel in an effort to cut off access to safety deposit boxes where gold may be hidden in Canada and brings in Nicaraguan counsel in an effort to re-transfer the Nicaraguan property.

With all escape roots cut off and jail time eminent, the youngest daughter returns $450,000 in gold bullion directly to CJT and consents to full cooperation in the return of the Nicaraguan property. CJT forces the youngest daughter to an “asset examination” under Probate Code 2616, which reveals the account numbers for the credit cards being used by youngest daughter to defraud the impaired father. While youngest daughter attempts to take the 5th Amendment to avoid answering CJT questions, she is successful in doing so on only a few occasions. CJT does not stop until every stone is unturned and all foreign assets are returned.