Californias Public Guardians: Eager to Lock You Up and Steal Your MoneyRuth Hull In Orange County, California, we have had a changing of the guard. Thats because John Williams, the last Public Guardian and Peggy Buff, his second in command, lost their positions after they got caught ripping off Orange County residents. Since Peggy Buff was the District Attorneys fiance, seniors were powerless to protect themselves. Williams apparently thought his sole responsibility was to grab the assets of senior citizens to help with his departments budget shortfall. When this was exposed, the public thought they could do better. Williams already had been twice dinged by the Grand Jury for mismanagement of funds when the truth hit the media big time. For years, Williams had been confiscating assets from rich Orange County citizens whom he felt could not handle their own money. While he grabbed their estates, these seniors were often put into low-cost sub-human facilities, places that mostly facilitated early deaths. Sometimes seniors were not even properly notified that Williams had secretly put them into conservatorships and had ripped off their assets until their associates were arrested for kidnapping for just taking them to a nearby fast food restaurant. Adult Protective Services was reportedly in on the get-rich-quick scheme too. When APS comes calling, the Public Guardian isnt far behind. Its all about money. In San Bernardino County, the Public Guardian is picking people up off the street and warehousing them. I attended a Yucaipa town hall meeting a while back where citizens who expressed concerns about the disappearances and spoke about their fears regarding what had happened to those who hadnt resurfaced. Occasionally, the Public Guardian hits the jackpot by nabbing someone with enough money to assist with the offices budgetary desires. Often these individuals wind up dead, like Charlie Castle. He didnt just wind up dead. He was held for over a year against his will by the San Bernardino Public Guardian before his death. Here is a Facebook page that was started by people who were worried about him. Then there is the Riverside County Public Guardian. International journalist and popular author Janet Phelan is trying to get some answers regarding the depletion of her mothers trust fund. The Riverside Public Guardian Bill Vanderpoorten seems to be hiding out. He wont answer phone calls or see members of the press at his office. The Public Guardian is paid by the public but apparently doesnt answer to the public and doesnt want anything to do with the public unless maybe its grabbing their money. Their operations are hush hush kind of like the operations of drug dealers, hitmen, etc. you know, the people who have to operate in secret because theyre likely to be arrested if the public knows what they are really doing. Among the questionable acts the Riverside Public Guardian is alleged to have committed in the Amalie Phelan Trust are the improper depletion of trust assets in violation of the trust document and the law, an uneven distribution of trust assets in violation of the trust document and the law, the pawning off of taxes on one of the beneficiaries in violation of the trust document and the law, and falsification of documents, interstate mail fraud and misstatement of wire transfer fees, all in apparent violation of the trust document and the law. Among the issues are false charges to Ms. Phelans account for a wire transfer from the brokerage of UBS. Though UBS charged in-country transfer fees, Attorney Toni Eggebraaten on behalf of the Riverside Public Guardians office pretended that the fees were out-of country and charged double. Apparently, somebody in her office or that of the Public Guardian pocketed the rest of the overcharged fees. If the Public Guardians office were operating in accordance with the law, theyd have nothing to hide. But they seemed pretty frightened of public scrutiny the day I showed up. I had left numerous messages for Public Guardian Bill Vanderpoorten with no response before showing up at his office. In a booth was a woman who identified herself as Sharon but who didnt have a last name or at least not one she would give out. She spoke over a phone to a supervisor who reportedly told her to tell me that nobody in the office would speak with the press. However, that supervisors name was top secret and Sharon stated that she could not provide any part of the supervisors name. So this person who refused a media request didnt even have a first name. Since the only identifiable people working for the Riverside Public Guardians office are Bill Vanderpoorten and Sharon No-Last-Name, then theoretically that office should only receiving funding for one and a half salaries. If more has been paid, a refund should be demanded. This writer was referred to the above-mentioned outside attorneyToni Eggebraaten, who (like Bill Vanderpoorten) does not return phone calls and who was reportedly involved in much of the above-mentioned wrongdoing. Janets grievances with the system run much deeper than just the above issues. The Riverside Public Guardians office and the case are connected to Melodie Scott, the former conservator for Amalie Phelan. Melodie Scott has a particularly troublesome problem. It seems her wards too often drop dead, prematurely. Maybe conservatorships are not so healthy. Hint. Hint. If you want a long life and someone wants a conservatorship over you. Run. Run very fast. Melodie Scott can be particularly scary. I tried to interview her at her home and was threatened with arrest for just knocking on the door and asking for an interview. Her son Chris chased me down the street threatening me with arrest for simply asking to speak with her. She had reportedly also threatened Janet with arrest on apparently trumped up charges as well. Why would she be afraid of an interview? Well, when Janets mother Amalie was alive, Melodie reportedly withheld heart medication. Fortunately for Amalie, Janet rushed the mother to the hospital and saved her life. Unfortunately for Amalie, Melodie Scott reacted to Janets life-saving results by getting a restraining order to keep Janet from doing it again. Since when do conservators have the right to stop family members from saving a wards life? Oh, maybe it has something to do with dwindling trust funds. And surprise, surprise, while under Melodies care, the mother wound up dead. There should be lots of questions there. What needs to be grasped out of this is that the whole Public Guardian system is corrupt. Its not just corrupt in Orange, Riverside and San Bernardino Counties, but throughout the State of California. Whenever you have a non-family member taking charge of the funds of an individual, you have a system where corruption is at a high point. There have been lots of reports of judges being paid off in the system and of people being helpless to fight an overpowering and corrupt system that is out of control. A lot of money is flowing and changing hands in these conservatorships. At least, if a person blows their own money, they have nobody except themselves to blame. But what gives a public official or a court-appointed official the right to deplete the funds of someone who doesnt want them to control their funds? America was built on self-determination. Seniors and others need protection from the very people who claim to be protecting them. Its time to re-examine the whole process of conservatorships. The Public can do without Public Guardians and conservators grabbing their assets and leaving them to die in squalor. The state can do without the waste of funds going to various Public Guardians offices that terrorize the elderly without doing anything to protect their real interests. This isnt somebody elses problem. One day, if you earn enough money, the Public Guardian or a conservator could be after you. Is this the future you want for yourself? Ruth Hull is an activist and writer whose career has included work as a criminal defense attorney, a licensed private investigator, and an educator. linkwithin_text=Related Articles: 