Patti's Blog - Advocate for Elders, People with Disabilities and Their Families

Don't fall for these Dirty Dozen tax scams of 2013

Excerpt from: Don't Mess with Taxes (click for full article)

 

It's tax-filing season, so you know what that means. It's also peak tax scam season.

In addition to collecting Americans' tax returns (and money) this time of year, the Internal Revenue Service also keeps an eye out for tax scams.

While con artists sometimes do get creative, most tax crooks tend to stick to tried-and-true scams. That's the case with IRS' annual list of tax skulduggery. All 12 scams cited this year made the agency's 2012 top 12 scam list.

The only change is that more fake charitable organizations have popped up, many in the wake of Hurricane Sandy.

After that super storm came ashore last October in New Jersey and New York, con artists took advantage of folks' goodwill to cheat them out of what they thought were much-needed, and tax deductible, charitable gifts.

Those despicable acts moved tax-related charity scams from 10th on the 2012 list to sixth on the 2013 Dirty Dozen tax scams.

Brooke Astor’s Son Has Fraud Conviction Upheld on Appeal

Excerpt from: Bloomberg Businessweek (click for full article)

 

The son of late New York philanthropist and socialite Brooke Astor faces as long as three years in prison for defrauding his mother after a state appeals court upheld his conviction.

Anthony Marshall, 88, was convicted in October 2009 of grand larceny and other charges for changing his mother’s will while she was incompetent. He was sentenced to one to three years in prison for acts that included giving himself a $1 million raise for managing his mother’s money.

Chafee: Fraud found in RI assistance programs

Excerpt from: San Francisco Chronicle (click for full article)

 

Gov. Lincoln Chafee's administration is reviewing a report that found waste and fraud in Rhode Island's Medicaid and food stamp programs but is withholding the report from the public because it could prompt a criminal investigation, the independent governor said Monday.

He said that it was premature to release the report, which was conducted by former gubernatorial candidate Ken Block, and that his administration will take action to ensure the integrity of the two programs. Chafee said no criminal investigations are under way, but any evidence of criminal misconduct would be handed over to authorities.

The decision to keep the report secret prompted criticism from open government advocates, including Common Cause and the Rhode Island chapter of the ACLU, who said they were deeply troubled and called it "a clear violation of the law."

The report is now under review by department heads and staffers who regularly review Medicaid and food stamp compliance, Chafee told reporters Monday.

Disability Impostor Claims He Makes $100K

Excerpt from: Disability Scoop (click for full article)

 

He’s in a wheelchair and appears to have a mental impairment, but police say that a Kentucky panhandler is faking his disability in a scheme to score cash.

Gary Hank Thompson, 30, is a common sight on the streets near Lexington, Ky. Sitting in a wheelchair, Thompson’s speech is slurred and he appears to have limited use of his hand.

While Thompson does have trouble walking, police say that everything else is just an act, one they called “very offensive and almost mocking of people who have legitimate disabilities.”

Acknowledging his con, Thompson told a local television reporter that he pulls in $60,000 to $100,000 annually from people on the street, reports The Lexington Herald-Leader.

Homeowner Can't Reopen Voluntarily Dismissed Foreclosure Case, Despite Claims Bank Falsified Docs: Court

Excerpt from: Huffington Post (click for full article)

 

Florida's highest court has ruled a homeowner cannot re-open a voluntarily dismissed foreclosure case despite allegations that the bank falsified documents, giving a win to banks in a closely watched ruling that could have affected thousands of cases in a state hit hard by the foreclosure crisis.

The Florida Supreme Court had been asked to decide whether banks accused of using fraudulent documents to file foreclosure lawsuits could dismiss the cases, and then later re-file them with different paperwork.

On Thursday, the Florida Supreme Court decided that it could not, unless the plaintiff - in this case, the bank - had obtained some kind of affirmative relief, and the dismissal had kept the fraud from being remedied by the court.

However, the court acknowledged the "multiple abuses that can occur from fraudulent pleadings," and asked Florida's bar association to review civil litigation rules to determine if changes should be made to address the issue.

A lawyer for Pino, Amanda Lundergan of the Ice Firm, said she believed the ruling "will have the unintended effect of encouraging underhanded tactics" by plaintiffs in foreclosure and other cases.

Schuette Announces Guilty Plea for Former Mortgage Processor President Responsible for Fraudulent Robo-Signing Scandal

Excerpt from: Michigan.gov (click for full article)

 

Michigan Attorney General Bill Schuette today announced Lorraine Brown, former president of mortgage document processor DocX, pleaded guilty to racketeering for her alleged role in authorizing the fraudulent signing of mortgage documents filed in Michigan.  Brown pleaded guilty today to one count of Conducting Criminal Enterprises (Racketeering), a 20-year felony, before Kent County Circuit Court Judge Mark Trusock.  She will return for sentencing on May 2, 1:30 PM.  The guilty plea follows an Attorney General investigation into questionable mortgage documentation filed with Michigan's Register of Deeds offices during the foreclosure crisis. 

"Shortcuts like robo-signing are just one part of the mortgage foreclosure crisis," said Schuette.  "The message here is clear - if you break the law, there are consequences.  We will continue to prosecute criminals who target and exploit Michigan homeowners."

 

Feds Charge 18 People With Ringing Up $200 Million In Fraudulent Credit Card Charges

Excerpt from: The Consumerist (click for full article)

 

Here’s how the alleged thieves are said to have worked their con: First, just create thousands of fake identities. About 25,000 fake people should do. Then make a bunch of small purchases here and there, nothing splashy, to build up good credit card histories for these characters. And then go hog-wild buying luxury cars, electronics, spa treatments and millions of dollars worth of straight-up gold. Sounds so simple.

And $200 million is just the initial number — feds say the fraud is so wide-spread, it’s hard to know if the losses will grow.

Elder Defense Against Identity Theft

Excerpt from: Elder Law of Arizonza Blog (click for full article)

 

Elders are particularly prone to identity theft for a number of reasons. They are often not savvy about the risks involved, particularly when they involve online commerce. Elders are often overly trusting of telephone solicitors who use pretexts to obtain confidential personal information, and they often don’t check their bank and credit card statements for unauthorized transactions. As a result they or their families often discover months or years later that their assets have been subject to theft by criminals who were able to open bank or credit accounts in their names.

Many elders mistakenly believe that they are protected against identity theft because they never conduct on-line transactions, and use cash or checks in lieu of credit cards (both of these are still sensible measures for many elders). However, once a criminal obtains a name, address, phone number, date of birth and social security number they have everything needed to open a new financial account in the elder’s name, from which they can siphon off the elder’s savings, even though the elder has never authorized any credit accounts. Also, consider that the necessary personal information for identity theft is already in the possession of one of the most frequent types of criminal—other family members (it’s sad to say).

Maryland nabbing more Medicaid fraudsters

Excerpt from: Washington Examiner (click for full article)

 

Maryland has recovered more than $14 million in the last six months from companies trying to rip off Medicaid, marking a massive increase from the less than $2 million collected in all of fiscal 2012, and state officials expect that amount to grow.

Of the money collected from July through December, $12 million was pursued under the Maryland False Health Claims Act, a 2010 law that allows the state to go after fraudsters itself instead of waiting for the federal government to target them. State officials credit the law with a spike in Medicaid busts.

Shelly Martin, supervising attorney in the Medicaid Fraud Control Unit, said this is the first time the state's had that power.

"It's extremely important," she said. "The Medicaid program does not have unlimited resources, and it's very important to ensure that whatever money is being paid is used to provide services to people who need it."

Federal Charges Allege Captors Held Adults with Disabilities in Subhuman Conditions to Carry out Social Security Fraud

Excerpt from: U.S. Department of Justice (click for full article)

 

Linda Weston, her daughter and three co-defendants are charged in a 193-count indictment, unsealed today, with racketeering, murder in aid of racketeering, hate crimes, sex trafficking, forced labor, theft, fraud and other crimes.   The indictment alleges that Weston and her associates carried out a racketeering enterprise that targeted victims with mental disabilities as part of a scheme to steal disability payments from the victims and the Social Security system.   As part of the scheme, Weston persuaded each victim to make her the designated recipient of their Social Security disability payments in exchange for the promise of a comfortable place to live.   Once appointed as the designated recipient of disability payments, Weston, aided by the co-defendants, subjected the victims to subhuman conditions of captivity.  

According to the indictment, the defendants beat the victims, kept them captive in locked closets, basements and attics, deprived them of adequate food and medical care, and moved them between Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, Texas, Virginia and Florida in order to further the scheme and evade law enforcement.   According to the indictment, some of the victims endured this abuse for years, until Oct. 15, 2011, when Philadelphia Police Department officers rescued them from the sub-basement of an apartment building in the city’s Tacony section.