Elder abuse by Scott Phipps: Victim denied contact with advocate Diane Wilson

There is a 91-year old woman by the name of Elinor Frerichs who is currently locked away in Lakeside Park, a locked dementia facility in Oakland, California. She is under the abusive guardianship of Scott Phipps, a conservator who denies Elinor almost all visitation and phone calls. His website states that he “followed a spiritual path” and “entered McCormick Theological Seminary and graduated with a Masters of Divinity.” He then worked as a minister for six years. It is beyond my comprehension how a person who is supposedly “spiritual” becomes a member of the National Guardianship Association; he then goes on to become an abusive guardian.

Mary Giordano, the elder care attorney who kidnapped my mother from her beloved home and imprisoned her in a nursing home against her will is a member of the Catholic Charities Volunteer Lawyer Initiative and the Trustee of St. Peter of Alcantara Church, Port Washington, New York. She is also a commissioner of the Port Washington Garbage District.

It is painful to know that some of the same people who are abusing our elderly parents and loved ones are the same church-going members and ministers of our community churches, the same people pretending to be “spiritual” while they kidnap, abuse, isolate and drug the elderly against their will. Using religion as a cover while committing dastardly deeds is despicable.

Elder rights advocates across the country are watching the unfolding case of elder abuse by Oakland, California conservator Scott Phipps of Phisco Fiduciary. Phipps’ conservatee Elinor Frerichs (91) is unlawfully imprisoned and isolated at Lakeside Park, a locked dementia facility.

Phipps and Lakeside Park allow Elinor no visitors and no phone calls. Elinor is denied contact with family, friends, and elder rights advocates. She has no way to retain legal counsel to represent her interests. Elinor is alert, oriented, and despairs of having no one who can engage in intelligent conversation at the “booby hatch.”

Elder rights advocate Diane Wilson (daughter of elder abuse victim Dorothy Wilson) contacted Scott Phipps to ask for visits and phone calls with Elinor. Wilson identified herself as a member of the National Association to Stop Guardian Abuse (NASGA). Phipps’ response would indicate that he is in favor of guardian (conservator) abuse

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Meet Joan, Another Victim of the Legal System…One of Judge Asarch’s Last Abused Citizens—Part Five

Those of us whose family members or loved ones or friends are the victims of guardianship abuse know without a doubt that it is only about the money. Certain members of the legal profession, who believe they are above the law, found a vulnerable segment of society and figured out a way to exploit them.  Then they found judges who were equally corrupt and lo and behold, a very lucrative business was born.

But the elderly are not only exploited by the legal profession; others have also figured out ways to steal and abuse these innocent and helpless people. They want a piece of the action as well. In the case of Marilyn Ingrasani, it was Rachel Jones, an acquaintance of Joan Pezzollo’s nanny, who had a good thing going for a while. It wasn’t until she bought glasses for herself from Tiffany’s, charged on Marilyn’s credit card, that finally got her fired. Since she has not been able to get back into Marilyn’s house and bank accounts, she decided to confess and turn the lawyers in for their part in what she refers to as a “big scam.”            

By Joan Pezzollo

“After everyone ignored the report from the private investigator, I felt defeated. My friends and family didn’t believe that this was happening. People would tell me “Maybe the secretary didn’t give him the report” or “You need to write to the judge” or “Get a different lawyer, this isn’t right” or “If it was my mother I would just go to the house and take her home with me.” Then there were those people who did not really believe this whole sordid tale was even happening. Some thought I did something wrong because they were of the mindset that judges and lawyers would never intentionally hurt anyone. Well, they know now.

In the fall of 2012, my lawyer who had worked tirelessly on my case and became one of my dearest friends, became ill. In November of 2012, he passed away. Due to his illness, he was unable to work on my case for the last few months of his life. It was right after he passed that Rachel was fired for using my mother’s credit card for buying herself $800.00 worth of Tiffany glasses without getting George Esernio’s approval. It wasn’t the neglect of my mother; the private investigator’s damning report; the lies; the theft of my mother’s car; driving without a license and jeopardizing my mother’s safety; the theft of more than $500,000 worth of jewelry; the filth Mom was forced to live in. No, she was fired because George Esernio did not give her “permission” to use my mother’s credit card. So I am now aware that everything else was done with George Esernio’s permission.

A new aide was brought in to care for my mother. Rachel was very upset that she had “lost” her home and access to Mom’s money and valuables. She tried everything she could to get back in, including the claim that her “husband” was actually related to my mother and the new aide was physically abusing Marilyn. Since she could no longer get in the house to take the rest of the valuables, she didn’t want anyone else to have them either. So Rachel called Sal, who has power of attorney and pays all Mom’s bills, and decided to confess. According to Rachel, Joel Kaplan, of Kaplan Belsky Ross Bartell, LLP in Garden City, NY, was the “biggest crook of all and knew full well that Marilyn had no idea what she was doing when she revoked Joan’s power of attorney.” Rachel also said that “Kaplan, Belling and Esernio are all crooks and only care about Marilyn’s money” and that Judge Joel Asarch was corrupt. At that point Rachel proceeded to try to convince Sal that he should apply for guardianship” so they could get rid of George Esernio and she, Rachel, would be rehired as Marilyn’s aide.

So now we have the truth from the person who started it all, Rachel Jones. Of course, the reason I was kicked out of my mother’s life was because of all the lies she told these people in the beginning. They believed her then so why wouldn’t they believe her now? She worked in tandem with the judge and attorneys and care manager to embezzle funds from my mother’s estate.  And since they are still getting paid and she is not, she was perfectly willing to throw them all under the bus.

I now have a new attorney and have spent well over $100,000 fighting these crooks. My mother is in and out of the hospital a few times a month and I am not allowed to visit her when she is there nor am I allowed to know why she is even there. I was given four “supervised” visits with my mother until the next court date in August. And the person supervising me is Virginia Belling, the very woman who has endangered my mother’s life on every level for the past four years.

At times I feel like Alice in Wonderland when she fell down the rabbit hole. “It would be so nice if something made sense here.” So far, nothing has made sense; however the truth always rises to the top and with Rachel’s confession, the guilty parties have been exposed.”

“But I don’t want to go among mad people,” Alice remarked.
“Oh, you can’t help that,” said the Cat: “we’re all mad here. I’m mad. You’re mad.”
“How do you know I’m mad?” said Alice.
“You must be,” said the Cat, “or you wouldn’t have come here.”

Next—My family’s story

 

Related articles

• Meet Joan, Another Victim of the Legal System…One of Judge Asarch’s Last Abused Citizens – Part Four (judicialdestructionofdorothy.wordpress.com)
• Meet Joan, Another Victim of the Legal System…One of Judge Asarch’s Last Abused Citizens – Part Three (judicialdestructionofdorothy.wordpress.com)
• Meet Joan, Another Victim of the Legal System…One of Judge Asarch’s Last Abused Citizens-Part Two (judicialdestructionofdorothy.wordpress.com)

Meet Joan, Another Victim of the Legal System…One of Judge Asarch’s Last Abused Citizens—Part Three

This is Part Three of Joan Pezzollo’s story about the guardianship abuse of her mother, Marilyn Ingrasani, and the tragedy that befell her family.   

As of the last court hearing, overseen by Judge Knoebel of the Nassau County Supreme Court, Joan was given “permission” for a total of four “supervised” visits with her mother before the next hearing in August; this despite the protests of Virginia Belling, George Esernio and Joel Kaplan. These visits will be supervised by Virginia Belling, the geriatric care manager assigned by the late Judge Joel Asarch.  

As of yesterday, July 10, 2013, Marilyn lies dying in a hospital bed. Joan is forbidden to see her Mom.

By Joan Pezzollo

“Every day I try to wrap my head around this nightmare. I look back and wonder how I was made out to be the villain when my mother and I truly adored each other and I did everything I could to care for her. I ask myself and others over and over again, how can a woman, an uneducated illegal immigrant, posing as a home health care aide and medical student, manage to “fool” a litany of so-called “legal experts” with a combined total of over 150 years’ experience in the law? Did she really fool them or were they working together with her? According to experts that I have spoken with who are very familiar with the criminality of the court system, the judge and these attorneys knew exactly what was going on. The consensus of my family and friends and every other person whose loved ones are/were victims’ of guardianship/elder abuse, this case is simply about money and the looting of my mother’s estate.

The late Nassau County Supreme Court judge, Joel Asarch, who was the presiding judge over this case and at the helm of this abuse, had been practicing law since 1979; he was also a judge for the past 12 years up until his death.

The guardian attorney, George Esernio of Albanese and Albanese in Garden City, New York, has been practicing many different facets of the law for the past 45 years. His bio states that he is active in community and charitable organizations and has served as an officer, director and general counsel of the North Shore Boys & Girls Club among many other foundations. Shouldn’t a person involved with children be kind and compassionate and knowledgeable? George has refused to allow me to see my own mother for the past four years. In fact, I provided Mr. Esernio with a stack of pictures showing me, my mom, the twins and the rest of my family all together before she met Rachel. Before he wrote his report, that no one is allowed to see, he sent these back to me via courier. He was not remotely interested in the fact that Rachel Jones was lying, that she was the one committing elder abuse.

The lawyer who started this mess, Joel Kaplan, a partner in Kaplan Belsky Ross, LLP in Garden city, NY is also the guardian-ad-litem (GAL) for my mother and assigned by the court to “watch out for her needs.” His bio states that he is “an experienced litigator in all fields of law” and president of B’nai Brith International. Well, B’nai Brith International touts the fact that “advocating for seniors” is a prime agenda item.  If that is true, how has he allowed the abuse of my mother to go on for so long?

Judge Asarch, when I applied for guardianship of my mother to protect and save her from Rachel Jones, denied my application. But he did assign a geriatric care manager, Virginia Belling, of Virginia Belling Senior Placement Services, Inc., in Massapequa, NY to “oversee” my mother’s care. Virginia’s website states that she is “chair of the advisory board of the Long Island Alzheimer’s Foundation, and has worked with the foundation since 1987.  SENIOR PLACEMENT SERVICES specializes in assisting those affected by Alzheimer’s disease, and in improving the quality of life for Alzheimer’s patients and their families.” So here is a woman who supposedly knows about this disease and yet ignored my pleas for help and never investigated Rachel’s background. Virginia allowed a non-certified home health aide to live with and care for my mother, allowed her to give my mother medication and never checked on the conditions of the home or my mother’s hygiene.  She refused to do a mini-mental status on Mom from the beginning. It took two years of going to court before the judge finally ordered Virginia to obtain a safe return bracelet, which is crucial for patients with Alzheimer’s. The elaborate alarm system in my mother’s home, including cameras, was disabled by Rachel Jones. This system was installed for the protection of my mother after her home was burglarized. It also allowed anyone who was caring for her to know if she opened the door to leave which is very beneficial for the caregiver of an Alzheimer’s patient.

I hired private detectives, at my own expense, to investigate Rachel and what was truly going on in Mom’s home. It was discovered that she had no home health care training, no specialized training caring for an elderly person with Alzheimer’s, that she was not a medical student, had no driver’s license, and was in this country illegally, Once Virginia was notified about all of this, she simply ignored these facts and still allowed Rachel to stay on as Mom’s caretaker and drive my mother around. I was flabbergasted! Every one of the attorneys, including the judge, had a legal responsibility to report Rachel to immigration and to the police and not one of them filed any report or called any agency. Virginia also knew that Rachel took my mother to the DMV and had her sign over one of her cars to her, a Toyota Camry. And when the lease was up on her Mercedes, despite the fact that Judge Asarch denied my mother the right to drive, Rachel brought her to the dealership to buy the car out. I found that out when the salesman called me to find out what was going on and why this woman Rachel was arranging for this. This was done despite the fact that neither had a valid drivers’ license nor could legally drive. Virginia knew about that also.

Rachel was also paying herself weekly out of my mother’s checking account. Sal, my mother’s power of attorney, acknowledged that Rachel was doing this. She took whatever she wanted each week; no one cared or reported what Rachel did. When Rachel became pregnant, Virginia still allowed her to live there and raise her child. George Esernio was the guardian at that time and also allowed this to go on. Rachel and her son and her friends took over the entire house. Rachel hired one of her friends, Glynnis, to watch my mother while she was going to her prenatal visits and Lamaze classes. She paid Glynnis out of my mother’s checking account as well, without the approval or knowledge of any of the “legal team members”; and even when I made them all aware of this fact, they still did nothing. ”

Next—the report from the private investigator  

Related articles

• Meet Joan, Another Victim of the Legal System…One of Judge Asarch’s Last Abused Citizens (judicialdestructionofdorothy.wordpress.com)
• Meet Joan, Another Victim of the Legal System…One of Judge Asarch’s Last Abused Citizens-Part Two (judicialdestructionofdorothy.wordpress.com)
• Selected Memory: Is it Alzheimer or is it Mom? (judilevita.com)
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