Coupled to be arraigned for financial elder abuse of 91-year-old mother

Posted by CotoBlogzz

Rancho Santa Margarita, CA  - . Peter Garcia, 70, and Virginia Kay Furr-Garcia former married couple are scheduled to be arraigned tomorrow for stealing $350,000 from the husband's 91-year-old mother.

Peter Garcia, 70, and Virginia Kay Furr-Garcia, 50, both of San Clemente, are each charged with one felony count each of grand theft, conspiracy to defraud another of property, conspiracy to commit forgery, and theft from an elder with sentencing enhancements for property loss over $200,000 and aggravated white collar crime over $100,000. They are being held on $500,000 bail and are scheduled to be arraigned tomorrow, Aug. 3, 2012, at 10:00 a.m.

According to the Orange County District Attorney’s (OCDA) office, at the time of the crime, Garcia and Furr-Garcia were married, but have since divorced. Between Jan. 1, 2009 and Sept. 27, 2010, Garcia and Furr-Garcia are accused of conspiring to close four annuity funds belonging to Garcia's mother worth approximately $350,000, without the victim's knowledge or consent. The defendants are accused of closing the accounts and transferring the money into an account held jointly by Garcia and the victim
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Garcia is accused of then moving the money from the joint account with his mother into an account held by the couple. The couple is accused of using the victim's stolen money for personal living expenses including groceries, gas, and utility bills. 

The victim discovered the theft when she could not afford to pay her bills at her senior living home for several months. The victim reported the theft on March 10, 2011, to Orange County Sheriff's Department who investigated this case and arrested the defendants yesterday, Aug. 1, 2012.

Senior Deputy District Attorney Doug Brannan of the Major Fraud Unit is prosecuting this case.

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According to the Orange County District Attorney’s (OCDA) office, your mother’s  care-giver, relative, best friend, attorney, doctors, fill in the blank,  announced the arrest of Joe Doe/Jane Doe. Your mother with Alzheimer’s disease entered a nursing home some eight months ago.  Somehow, Joe Doe/Jane Doe  acquired your mother’s power of attorney.

Elder Abuse Aided and Abetted by Parasitic Bureaucracies 

Posted By CotoBlogzz June 26, 2011

Rancho Santa Margarita, CA – If you want to get back at your elder parents for your own shortcoming, this is your day.  According to  Kathleen Wilber,  USC's. Mary Pickford Professor of Gerontology,  recent studies suggest that more than one in seven older adults is victimized each year. Unfortunately, such studies rarely take into account what we refer to as the parasitic bureaucracy effect – this is where a bureaucracy either to cover up its own incompetence and or to increase its sphere of influence, delays, denies and ore ignores reporters requests for transparency, as described in some of the pieces summarized below

Documented Elder Abuse, including examples of the parasitic effect.

“Elderly Abuse:  Parolees discovered living in nursing homes, residents not told of sex offenders, ex-cons”  Chris Fuscon and Lori Rackl describe how they investigated the high numbers of sex offenders and parolees living in Illinois’ nursing homes – Investigative Reporters and and Editors (IRE) September/October 2005

“Poor Regulation,” The Oregonian.  Brent Walth writes about and investigation that he and fellow reporter Erin Hoover Barnett did on the sudden collapse of the Oregon-based Assisted Living Concepts.  The company, which at some point acquired a new assisted-living center every week., “slashed budget, paid measly wages and hired inexperienced staff.”  The article points to some of the differences in regulations in assisted-living and nursing homes - – Investigative Reporters and and Editors (IRE) November/December  2002

“Agencies in New Mexico impeded fraud and elder care investigation,” The New Mexico Independent.  The series explored allegations that state agencies interfered with fraud and elder abuse investigations.  The Medical Fraud Division stated that the Human Services Department and the Health Department had withheld, filtered and sanitized information and documents requested by investigators – Government Health, February 23, 2011

“Edler Abuse investigations mishandled at state veteran homes.” The Dallas Morning News, James Drew of the Dallas Morning News found that a criminal investigation into alleged abuse by two workers at a state veteran’s home in West Texas languished for more than two years because of confusion who should investigate and conflicts among police, state officials and veteran’s home investigators – Justice, April 7, 2011

Helping California Crack Down on Elder Abuse

Elder abuse is a devastating but often overlooked problem that can cause emotional as well as physical pain and suffering, shattered trust, financial ruin and even an increased risk of dying. The tragedy of elder abuse was recently brought home by 90-year-old screen legend Mickey Rooney in his dramatic Congressional testimony describing his own experiences.

“Recent studies suggest that more than one in seven older adults is victimized each year,” said the USC Davis School of Gerontology’s Kathleen Wilber, who is the Mary Pickford Professor of Gerontology. “Sadly, a recent summary of elder abuse interventions found that there is little evidence that efforts to prevent or address abuse work.” – June 2011

“The Price of Living” series, The Post Courier, Chareslton, S.C.  The newspaper spent months going through individual case files at the Charleston County Probate Court to learn what was happening to the savings of the elderly incapacitated persons.  Reporter Doug Pardue discovered a court that was set up to protect vulnerable elderly persons but often helped drain their estates though court-approved fees to lawyers, guardians and conservators.  Health, Justice, Dec. 2010