Conservator In California Pleads Not Guilty To Stealing $900,000
Jennifer Ann Wenger, 53, a court-appointed conservator accused of embezzling more than $900,000 from a 92-year-old woman’s estate says she is not guilty of the charges. Wenger was arrested last month on suspicion of stealing money from Goldie Carlova’s estate. Carlova is a former London fur designer whose husband wrote novels.
According to family members and probate documents, after her husband died in 2000, Carlova suffered from health problems and needed help handling her finances. A court appointed Wenger to help Carlova. Wenger was a private conservator who worked in Orange, San Bernardino, and Riverside counties.
After Carlova’s death in 2004, Wenger succeeded in petitioning the court to become the appointed administrator of the estate. Carlova's estate, which included her Lake Forest home, several bank accounts, annuities, and a 1982 Buick as assets, was valued at $1,064,700.
According to prosecutors, Wenger wrote 65 checks to herself from Carlova’s estate between 2004 and 2006. They are also accusing her of taking the eight annuity checks that were erroneously issued to Carlova after her death and placing them in her own account. Patricia DeRousie-Webb, Carlova’s niece, said she notified the Orange County Sheriff’s department after the bank had contacted her to let her know that there was suspicious activity taking place in her aunt’s account.
Documents show that more than $799,000 of Carlova’s money is unaccounted for. Wenger is also accused of lax bookkeeping and failing to tell Carlova’s heirs about expensive jewelry she owned (and are still not accounted for) as well as any major decisions Wenger had made regarding Carlova’s estate. In March, Wenger told a bond agent that she had taken funds from the conservatorship as if they were loans and that she intended to repay the funds. Wenger also reportedly said that she tried to make two deposits of $90,000 into Carlova’s account but that the bank had frozen Carlova’s account and wouldn’t let Wenger make the deposits.
A criminal investigation is underway, and Wenger remains in custody on $1 million bail. Wenger could face up to 56 years in prison if she is convicted. According to investigators, they believe Wenger spent most of the $900,000 that they are accusing her of embezzling on Internet gambling. The county public guardian and public administrator has already won a $1.8 million civil judgment against Wenger for her erroneous handling of Carlova’s finances.
New laws signed by California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger in September are geared toward preventing the abuse of disabled and elderly adults within California’s conservatorship system. Under the new laws, the judges who appoint a conservator to a conservatee will be allowed to supervise their work more closely.
The California Court’s Self-Help Center offers the following information about the roles that a person appointed a court-appointed conservator might play:
Conservator of the Person
When the court chooses you as the conservator of a person, this means you:
· Arrange for the conservatee's care and protection;
· Decide where the conservatee will live; and
· Are in charge of:
· health care,
· food,
· clothes, personal care,
· housekeeping, transportation, and
· recreation.
Conservator of the Estate
The money and property the conservatee owns are called the conservatee's "estate."
When the court chooses you to be the conservator of an estate, you will:
· Manage the conservatee's finances;
· Protect the conservatee's income and property;
· Make a list of everything in the estate;
· Make a plan to make sure the conservatee's needs are met;
· Make sure the conservatee's bills are paid;
· Invest the conservatee's money;
· Make sure the conservatee gets all the benefits he or she is eligible for;
· Make sure the conservatee's taxes are filed and paid on time;
· Keep exact financial records; and
· Make regular reports of the financial accounts to the court and other interested persons.
Sagaria Law, P.C. offers estate planning services to clients in Monterey County, Alameda County, and Santa Clara County. If you would like to speak with an estate planning attorney, contact Sagaria Law, P.C. today.
Conservator accused of embezzling $900,000 pleads not guilty, Los Angeles Times, January 3, 2007
Duties of a Conservator, California Courts: Self-Help Center
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