Opinion ID: 2598451
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: Vera Johnson

Text: Vera Johnson, the Respondent's paternal great aunt, is currently 95 years of age. Since the early 1980s, Mrs. Johnson has resided at Brewster Place Retirement Center, a licensed nursing facility, located in Topeka. Mrs. Johnson is disabled and requires 24-hour-a-day nursing care. On April 11, 1994, she executed a power of attorney which authorized the Respondent to handle her financial affairs. The Respondent agreed to serve his great aunt without payment. At that time, Mrs. Johnson was capable of handling her financial affairs. In 1997, however, she became disabled and was no longer able to accept those responsibilities. The Respondent then began to pay Mrs. Johnson's bills and handle her checking account. Beginning in 1999 and continuing until November 2002, the Respondent failed to timely pay Mrs. Johnson's bill at Brewster Place, although she became eligible for Medicaid during the summer of 2002 and ceased accruing additional charges at that time. Because the Respondent failed to timely pay her bill, she faced removal from her Brewster Place residence. On December 13, 2001, after trying to get the Respondent to pay Mrs. Johnson's bill continually for over 2 years, David Beck, Executive Director of Brewster Place, wrote a letter of complaint to the Disciplinary Administrator. Thereafter, a disciplinary investigation ensued. Topeka attorney John J. Ambrosio was appointed to investigate the complaint. On February 7, 2002, Mr. Ambrosio briefly interviewed the Respondent. Because the Respondent made several statements that troubled him, Mr. Ambrosio contacted the Disciplinary Administrator, Stanton A. Hazlett, and requested an audit of Mrs. Johnson's checking account. On February 20, 2002, Mr. Hazlett assigned Robert R. Straub to perform the audit. On March 1, 2002, Mr. Straub sent the Respondent a letter notifying him of the audit. During the course of Mr. Straub's investigation, he met with the Respondent on three occasions. On March 19, 2002, during the first meeting, the Respondent told Mr. Straub that he had borrowed money from Mrs. Johnson's checking account and had paid it back. The Respondent also told Mr. Straub that he maintained records for only 3 years. He provided Mr. Straub with a transaction report for Mrs. Johnson's checking account beginning January 4, 1999. Based upon the Respondent's statements, Mr. Straub believed that the Respondent did not have any records of Mrs. Johnson's account prior to January 1, 1999. Mr. Straub then asked the Respondent to provide a schedule of the loans and the payments made on the loans. On April 12, 2002, Mr. Straub and the Respondent met for the second time. During this meeting, the Respondent told Mr. Straub that he had borrowed from Mrs. Johnson's checking account beginning in 1999 and provided Mr. Straub with a short list of withdrawals and deposits for her account from 1999 forward. After reviewing this list, Mr. Straub asked the Respondent why he paid Mrs. Johnson $13,000 on February 10, 1999, and $16,000 on February 18, 1999, when he had only borrowed $1,250 from her by that date. Based upon the list, Mr. Straub concluded that the Respondent must have borrowed money from Mrs. Johnson prior to 1999. Consequently, Mr. Straub requested that the Respondent provide records from 1998, and the Respondent agreed. On May 10, 2002, Mr. Straub and the Respondent met for the third time. During this meeting, the Respondent provided Mr. Straub with a transaction report beginning January 2, 1998, and a list of checks that the Respondent had written for his personal benefit on Mrs. Johnson's checking account. The list included the payments that the Respondent had made to Mrs. Johnson. The documents reveal that on the following dates and in the following amounts, the Respondent took money from Mrs. Johnson's checking account without authorization and used it for his personal expenses and bills: Date Check No. Amount Total Amount 1. 01/13/1998 792 1,500.00 1,500.00 2. 01/15/1998 793 3,000.00 4,500.00 3. 01/24/1998 794 1,000.00 5,500.00 4. 01/30/1998 795 5,000.00 10,500.00 5. 02/06/1998 796 1,000.00 11,500.00 6. 03/03/1998 797 1,100.00 12,600.00 7. 03/13/1998 798 2,500.00 15,100.00 8. 03/13/1998 799 2,500.00 17,600.00 7. 03/23/1998 800 11,500.00 29,100.00 8. 04/16/1998 1004 2,000.00 31,100.00 9. 04/17/1998 1006 500.00 31,600.00 10. 04/25/1998 1007 500.00 32,100.00 13. 05/01/1998 1008 1,000.00 33,100.00 14. 05/16/1998 1010 2,000.00 35,100.00 15. 05/22/1998 1011 1,000.00 36,100.00 16. 05/30/1998 1014 2,000.00 38,100.00 17. 05/30/1998 1015 2,000.00 40,100.00 18. 06/06/1998 1018 1,000.00 41,100.00 19. 06/17/1998 1019 2,500.00 43,600.00 20. 06/23/1998 1020 500.00 44,100.00 21. 06/23/1998 1021 1,000.00 45,100.00 22. 07/09/1998 1022 250.00 45,350.00 23. 07/09/1998 1024 150.00 45,500.00 24. 07/09/1998 1025 500.00 46,000.00 25. 08/05/1998 1028 600.00 46,600.00 26. 08/15/1998 1029 1,500.00 48,100.00 27. 08/15/1998 1030 1,500.00 49,600.00 28. 09/30/1998 1031 2,000.00 51,600.00 29. 09/30/1998 1032 500.00 52,100.00 30. 12/02/1998 1037 500.00 52,600.00 31. 12/22/1998 1040 2,000.00 54,600.00 32. 12/22/1998 1041 1,000.00 55,600.00 33. 12/22/1998 1042 1,000.00 56,600.00 34. 01/16/1999 1043 750.00 57,350.00 35. 02/01/1999 1044 1,000.00 58,350.00 36. 02/01/1999 1045 500.00 58,850.00 37. 08/31/1999 1054 23,000.00 81,850.00 38. 04/22/2000 1064 1,000.00 82,850.00 39. 12/14/2000 1068 1,000.00 83,850.00 40. 12/14/2000 1069 500.00 84,350.00 41. 02/23/2001 1062 100.00 84,450.00 42. 02/09/2002 1077 900.00 85,350.00 43. 02/20/2002 1078 900.00 86,250.00 Even though the Respondent did not perform any legal services for Mrs. Johnson and agreed to handle her financial affairs without payment, the memo section of 17 of the 43 checks indicated annual payment, fee, or legal fee. The payee for each of these 17 checks was the Respondent's professional corporation, Douglas S. Wright, P.A. At the hearing in this matter, the Respondent testified that the reason he included annual payment, fee, and legal fee in the memo section was for accounting purposes because each of these checks was made payable to his professional corporation. The Respondent was unable to explain, however, what accounting purpose was served by including those words. Additionally, the Respondent admitted that because he was not owed an annual payment, fee, or a legal fee, the statements in the memo lines were false. From time-to-time, the Respondent has repaid portions of the money taken. As of the date that the disciplinary investigation commenced, the repayments made by the Respondent were as follows: Date Payments Total Payments 1. 03/10/1998 11,244.23 11,244.23 2. 05/21/1998 10,000.00 21,244.23 3. 10/20/1998 7,001.14 28,245.37 4. 02/10/1999 13,000.00 41,245.37 5. 02/10/1999 16,000.00 57,245.37 At the time the formal complaint was filed, the Respondent owed Mrs. Johnson $27,204.63. At the subsequent disciplinary hearing he testified that in November 2002, he paid the amount owing into her account. However, Respondent has not paid any interest on the $86,250 principal. He also testified that, after depositing funds into Mrs. Johnson's checking account, he finally paid her outstanding balance at Brewster Place. Representatives of Brewster Place confirmed the account had been brought current. The Respondent testified that at the time he had taken Mrs. Johnson's money, he had intended to pay it back. Based upon the Respondent's testimony and his repayments prior to the commencement of the disciplinary investigations, the hearing panel found that the Respondent did intend to repay the money. Additionally, the Respondent testified that he had taken the money because he was having financial difficulties and needed the money to continue to meet his personal obligations. Moreover, he testified that he continued to hold Mrs. Johnson's power of attorney and remained in charge of her financial matters.