The
Ultimate Deception
In
the quiet rural suburb of Fair Oaks, California, there lived
an all American family with a charmed life. A big extended
family that embraced and celebrated life and every event
with big gatherings, arabesques, and parties. Rob, the father
and LaVerne, the mother, provided a safe and loving home
for their children.
United
this family stood, but divided it fell.
 During
their lifetime, Rob and LaVerne had taken in other relatives'
children to help raise them. Both had siblings as young as
their children. When the grandparents died or became unable
to care for the late-life children, Rob and LaVerne took the
children in and made them part of the family. Kathy Fox was
one of those children. She belonged to one
of LaVerne's sisters.
Rob
and LaVerne's son, Kirk, says that it still puzzles him
what Fox did to his family. Clyde, one of the
many children brought into the family agrees.
"Even
though Rob was my older brother, he was old enough to be
my dad and was the only dad Alan (other brother) and I
knew because our dad died when were tots," Clyde
said. "We trusted Kathy and loved her and considered
her family. We feel betrayed and sick from what she and
her family did to the folks."
The Foxes
in the Hen House
A devastating
stroke struck LaVerne down, leaving her unable to protect
herself, or her family, from predators. Her husband, Rob,
had beginning Alzheimer's. The children say the Foxes took
over and cut the family off from the elderly couple.
When
they finally got access, the Foxes hovered and answered for
the parents before they could say a word. Experts warn that
cutting an elderly person off from their family
and friends is a common tactic predators use to gain and
keep control.
Before
the family could say 'what's going on?' Kathy Fox
and her husband, Paul Fox, had created homemade Power of
Attorney documents giving themselves control of the parents'
checking, stock, and other accounts. They also made homemade
codicils to undue the trusts and wills that their attorneys
had made.
The
Fox documents had no attorney, no notary, and no impartial
witnesses. One of the Power of Attorney documents had LaVerne’s
purported signature dated March 31, 1993, but the witnesses’ signatures
dated April 9, 1993, and they were Fox’s family and
friends.
The
Foxes liquidated the parents extensive assess and transferred
into the Foxes' accounts and in their children's' name to
hide the assets.
"I
was out of mind every time I called and heard Corky yelling
at my parents like a deranged animal," Kirk said. "I
lost count how many times I camped out Sally Liedholm's
office begging for her to help my parents. Her secretary
kept saying she wasn't in. One day I arrived at 8 a.m.
and stayed until 5 p.m. and the whole time the secretary
kept saying she wasn't in. Maybe if Liedholm ever showed
up for work, she might actually have save some lives."
The
family says they are also upset with Dr. Robert DeBruin of
Folsom because they kept asking him for help and telling him
that Kathy Fox had a history of physical and emotional abuse
and that Kirk was witnessing Corky's abuse.
"He
lied to us," Kirk said. "DeBruin looked
me in the eye and said he was not my parents' doctor anymore.
Lie #1. Then he said he saw no signs of abuse. Lie #2. When
our attorney subpoenaed DeBruin's medical records, there
were pages of documents from the in-home health care workers
sounding the alarms about the abuse inflicted my parents.
Then there was my father's broken pelvis and DeBruin ordering
him to be put in the hospital. Man DeBruin was so busy covering
his phony baloney ass, that he forgot to be human."
The "Not
Our Jurisdiction" Game
Years
of beating on the doors of district attorney's offices, the
cops, adult protective services, the doctor, netted the children
being accused of being greedy or having committed some scam.
The
children say they endured the worst character attacks by
Foxes attorneys and they were dumb struck that there is no
penalty against attorneys misconduct.
"We
talked to everyone at every level right up to the governor," Kirk
said. "Always, it's not our jurisdiction."
Marianne,
Rob's aunt, says it was a cold and bitter lesson, especially
when investigator Brad Williams from the Sacramento County
DA's Office came to her home in early 1999 to meet with the
family and tell them that the DA Jan Scully doesn't do family-on-family
crimes.
"We
were stunned," Marianne said. "The evidence
showed the Foxes frauded the taxpayers, insurance companies,
LaVerne and Rob, and according to Al Seastrand, were accomplices
to his crime against my niece. Mr. Williams just kept saying
he was sorry but that was DA Scully's policy. We're talking
a nearly million dollar crime and physical violence, but
Scully says its none of her business."
The
Smoking Gun
Unbeknownst
to the parents or other family members, Kathy Fox filed a
chapter 7 bankruptcy in the parents' names without their
signatures or involvement. The bankruptcy trustee allowed
Fox to represent them. No attorney involved and none of the
family were notified, especially daughter who had shared
assets. The bankruptcy trustee, John Roberts, a-Placerville-based
attorney, administered the BK case and Judge Jane McKeag
approved it. Creditors and taxpayers were frauded out of
some $150,000.
That
bankruptcy is what the family calls the Smoking
Gun. It would be the basis for a retaliation against
the daughter after she blew the whistle about the fraud.
Fox's
M.O.
 Court
records show that Fox liquidated and then transferred all
of the parents' assets into her possession. Ran up some $50,000
in debt buying personal things for herself on the parents'
credit cards. The Foxes also lived off the parents' income
of about $4,000 per month. Fox then secretly filed the bogus
bankruptcy in the parents' names to eliminate the credit
card debt and $80,000 loan. Once Judge McKeag approved the
bankruptcy, Fox put the parents on the burden of the taxpayers
as paupers needing assistance.
"That
bankruptcy was the smoking gun that a crime had been committed
against my sister and my parents," Kirk said. "John
Roberts and the Foxes deliberately hid that from us. If
Fox revealed the bankruptcy to expose Seastrand as a criminal,
then it would expose her crime against my parents. I'm
telling you, the fix was in from day one."
The
Joker is Wild
Clyde
says the wild card in all this was then El Dorado County Public
Guardian Sally Liedholm.
In
late September 1994, Liedholm had the family meet her to discuss
her preliminary findings about the Foxes. The family says Liedholm
told them the Fox fraud and abuses against the parents were
criminal and extensive and that she wanted to have the court
appoint her as guardian. She said once she was guardian, she
would have full authority to do a complete accounting of what
Fox had done to all the assets.
"I
was all for Liedholm stepping in because I agreed with her
that a third party would be affective to stop the enraging
until we figured out who did what crime," Kirk
said. "Seastrand kept claiming the Foxes were the
masterminds and the Foxes kept claiming they didn't know
Seastrand and they thought the DA should have investigated."
The
family didn't know that Liedholm was already up to her eyebrows
in scandal and allegations of fraud and being blamed for the
death of other elderly people from actions taken by Liedholm.
"I
get sick to my stomach when I think about Liedholm and what
she did to our family," Kirk said. "The
whole time she and her staff are telling us that their preliminary
investigation revealed massive fraud. The investigators were
saying it was bad, really bad."
The
day of the court hearing, Judge Mary Muse called the children
into her chamber and then she left. Liedholm then told the
family in front of Fox and her attorney Karen Guthrie, that
she didn't find any wrong doing by Fox and was therefore recommending
to the court to deny the petition. Liedholm then tried to convince
Kirk to voluntarily drop the petition and let the issue go.
"I
wanted to say, 'screw you bitch!'" said Kirk. "By
this time I was so fed up with the corruption within the
system. I just said no and walked out. We get back in court
and I told Judge Muse I wanted to withdraw my petition. Liedholm
interrupted me and told Judge Muse that she wanted the record
to show that her office thoroughly invested Fox and found
no fraud."
A
few years later, the family got a court order and had a forensic
expert examine the bank and tax records along with other important
documents. Those, in addition to fraudulent bankruptcy, show
the extensive fraud and then orchestrated scheme by the Foxes
to obstruct justice by lying to investigators, concealing evidence,
perjury, and the list goes on.
Why
would Liedholm lie to Judge Muse? Why was it important for
Liedholm that Kirk drop the petition that would gotten control
away from the criminals? Equally, why was the district attorneys
office turning a blind eye?
About
a week after the court day, the local newspaper's top headlines
were about allegations of Liedholm's extensive fraud against
the elderly whom she had control of their assets.
The
whistle blower found herself up to her eyebrows in alligators
and Liedholm accused her of abuse and sent staff in her home
to haul the elderly out. One of those people died in transit.
"Liedholm
was never held accountable for anything she did to any of
the families," said the daughter. "Instead
she gets a posh job in Solano County and El Dorado County
officials sweep the whole thing under the carpet. I had one
county supervisor say to me in frustration when I wanted
justice: 'we got rid of Liedholm isn't that enough?'"
"No
its not!. Giving Liedholm a better job in a bigger county
is not justice. Makes you wonder just how wide spread the
fraud was in El Dorado County that the officials there rushed
Liedhold off to Solano County.'"
Karen
Guthrie Conspiracy
In
El Dorado County Superior Court to undo the Foxes' home-made
power of attorney documents. EDC Superior Court Judge Eddie
T. Keller. Fox asked for and received that all matters pertaining
to the daughter's property be dismissed because Fox had nothing
to do with Al Seastrand, a stranger that filed a forged grant
deed giving himself ownership of her home.
Fox
told Judge Keller she thought "Seastrand's claim to
the victim's property was highly suspect and should be investigated." Judge
Keller dropped the ball. No one ever investigated.
Three
months later, Seastrand submitted to a federal judge, a signed
declaration from Kathy Fox stating she never told Keller anything
and that she was involved with Al Seastrand.
The
victim got the court transcripts and sent to Fox's attorney,
Karen Guthrie of the Cameron Park-based Guthrie & Guthrie
Law Firm, asking her how she was would resolve the situation.
Guthrie never responded.
A
week later, the family received from Guthrie, Fox's opposition
to Liedholm being appointed guardian. Fox once
again disavowed Seastrand.
The
victim, being rejected by DA Scully's office, again, went to
the California Department of Real Estate which launched an
investigation on Al Seastrand.
After
interviewing Fox and Seastrand, the DRE closed the case saying
Fox cleared Seastrand of wrong doing. The investigator said
he thought DA Scully should be investigating Fox and Seastrand.
They noted that they asked Kathy Fox about Seastrand but Guthrie
responded with a four-page letter, making false allegations
against the victim, impugning her character, and slamming other
family members and then provided Fox's third version how Seastrand
put himself on title to the daughter's home.
"The
investigator said he was galled that DA Scully was refusing
to investigate this case," Kirk said. "He
said he was real sorry but that he was powerless and that
we should camp out at Scully's office until she provides
justice. We'd been doing that for years. But we tried one
more time and got the same song and dance about it not being
their jurisdiction."
For
the full story on what Seastrand did to the daughter, see on
this web site, A
Case for Prosecuting Al Seastrand.
The
Fix Was In
The
victims filed a petition in probate court to compel the Foxes
to provide an accounting. Probate Judge Greg Emery allowed
Guthrie to step out as Fox's counsel less than a month from
the hearing. Emery then allowed Guthrie to file a motion in
the case to stop the victim's subpoena of state department
of real estate file on the criminal investigation of Al Seastrand.
Guthrie
had no standing and was using the probate court to conceal
her involvement in Fox's and Seastrand's obstruction of justice.
But Emery let her do it.
The
Foxes new attorney, none other than John Roberts of Placerville,
who was the bankruptcy trustee that processed and approved
the fraudulent bankruptcy Kathy Fox filed in 1994 in the parents'
name. Instead of pursuing Fox for the stolen assets, he protects
her from accountability, including concealing evidence.
The
petition hearing was heard December 1996. Typically a judge
will rule that same day or within a few weeks. Not Emery. Judge
Emery sat on his ruling for over seven months.
During
that delay, the Foxes sold their home, filed bankruptcy against
the children as heirs of Rob and LaVerne, and then fled the
state. Right after they left, Emery issued his ruling in 1997
that the Foxes must provide an accounting of what happened
to the parents' estate.
A
forensic accounting of the bank records, date books, tax records,
tax returns, etc. proved an extensive fraud and showed that
the accounting of the money Fox gave the bankruptcy court did
not match the bank records of how the money went to Fox.
Remember,
the year before, EDC Public Guardian Sally Liedholm swore to
the probate court that she thoroughly investigated the Foxes
and found no fraud.
"We'd
see Liedholm laughing and joking with Fox and Guthrie outside
the courthouse," Kirk said. "Even our
weasel of an attorney, Tom Phillips, whose wife was friends
with Guthrie, was convinced the fix was in and bailed on
us. He kept telling us to let go because he was getting pressure
from the other attorneys to not destroy Guthrie."
The
worst of Judge Emery's damage was still to come. His ruled
in favor Guthrie to stop the subpoena and then he forced the
victims to pay Guthrie money. Emery's ruling does not cite
law or reason for his ruling. He couldn't because there are
none.
The
victim's attorney said an appeal would blow it up in a second
for its outrageous and non legal action. He added that it would
be a moot point because the Foxes were washing their criminal
hands clean in the bankruptcy court.
Legal
experts say Judge Emory did not rule on the facts and law
of the case that was presented to him and he never should
have allowed Guthrie to stop being Fox's attorney so that
Guthrie could stop the victims from seeing what Guthrie told
the DRE investigators about Al Seastrand that circumvented
justice. The State Bar of California was inactive
at the time, so it was pointless to send the evidence to
them about Guthrie and Emery.
All
rights reserved 1999, Rivers Edge newspaper
|
Colonel
Farrel Hupp proudly served his country in World War II and
for decades thereafter. But his country failed him when he
had a bad day that turned into a life time of misery because
he got lost in the Probate Court system.
Don't
ever give up is WJFA's battle cry to victims. Take Action is
our help center. Everything from how to file a criminal complaint,
to an on-line group for emotional support. 
WJFA's
volunteers have a bevy of tips to help you navigate the legal
system. If you don't find it here, the 
