18 October 2013, North Yorkshire, England & Connecticut, US – Starjack Entertainment partners Deborah Louise Robinson and Pamela S. K. Glasner are about ready to get all dolled up to paint the town pink – yes, pink, not red! – ever since their distributor, SnagFilms Inc. of New York City, informed them that their documentary film, “Last Will and Embezzlement”, would be broadcast across the US via seven of the largest platforms, meaning as of this week, the movie is now available to an audience of approximately 200 million. 

The platforms are Comcast, iTunes, Verizon, Amazon, Google Play, Vudu, and xBox, all of which are available immediately, except xBox, which is coming in just a few weeks.

“If anyone had ever told me,” Glasner laughed, “just three short years ago, that I, along with a woman I met on Facebook, who lives 3000 miles away, in another country, on another continent, would make a movie and it would be broadcast by the largest cable company in the United States, let alone seven companies, I’d have told them they were nuts!”

But that’s precisely what happened.  “Last Will and Embezzlement”, which takes on the ever-burgeoning problem of elder financial exploitation, has been making waves nationwide since it was launched at the Quad Cinema on West 13th Street in Manhattan on April 13th, 2012.  It is being utilized as a teaching tool by such notable institutions and organizations as Penn State Law School, the Utah State Law Library, Wells Fargo Advisors, Area Agencies on Aging across the country, as well as banks, insurance companies, law offices … and the list goes on.

Robinson’s reaction was equally excited and animated:  “That this, our first film, should be accepted by America’s most prestigious networks is just amazing! Because of the importance of the subject matter, I could not be more delighted that millions upon millions of people will have the opportunity to see our film - and learn how to protect themselves and their loved ones.”

To learn more about Last Will and Embezzlement and Starjack Entertainment, please visit:

• Last Will and Embezzlement website: www.lastwillandembezzlement.com
  
• Starjack Entertainment website: www.starjackentertainment.com 
  

By JAMESON COOK, jameson.cook@macombdaily.com
Harry and Ethel Glasner’s retirement in Florida allowed them to enjoy sun and warmth for many years. But their golden years ended on a sour note for their children as the mentally deteriorated Harry was exploited out of the couple’s life savings of hundreds of thousands of dollars. The nefarious act was accomplished by a man who claimed to be his son.

Making recovery of the funds virtually impossible, “The police refused to do anything about it,” said their daughter, Pamela Glasner, 59, of Connecticut.

The experience inspired Glasner to write and produce a documentary film about the proliferation of elder abuse that includes an extensive interview with actor Mickey Rooney, who testified before Congress about his victimization by a younger perpetrator.

“After six weeks of banging my head against the wall, I called my business partner and said, ‘We need to do a documentary about it,’” Glasner told The Macomb Daily. “It was at the same time Mickey Rooney was testifying about his experience, so I called his agent, and he called me back a couple of days later and said he would do it.”

The film, “Last Will and Embezzlement,” will be the subject of a Sept. 25 seminar, “Safeguarding The Golden Generation,” at the Italian American Cultural Center in Clinton Township. It will feature Macomb County Prosecutor Eric Smith, senior crime Assistant Prosecutor Suzanne Faunce, Wayne State Law School Associate Professor Susan E. Cancelosi, Natalie Pearce of the Area Agency on Aging 1–B, and elder law attorney Terri Giampetroni.  The moderator will be Catherine Emerson, elder law assistant prosecutor for the Prosecuting Attorneys Association of Michigan.

A second event will take place Sept. 30 at the Berman Center for the Performing Arts at the Jewish Cultural Center in West Bloomfield Township.

Rooney, now 92, says in the fiilm, “Don’t worry, I’m taking care of you, that’s what (his perpetrator said). And he was taking care of himself.

“Gosh, if it can happen to Mickey Rooney, it can happen to anybody.”

Glasner said there needs to be more effort by the legal system and law enforcement into protecting the elderly against abusers, who typically are not strangers but someone close to the victim, sometimes a family member who may have initial good intentions but may be having financial troubles and takes advantage of an opportunity for exploitation.

“We’re going to have the biggest shift in wealth in our history” over the next 20 years, she said. “We had better put something in place now or we’re going to have the same risk of elderly abuse that we’re having now.”

Glasner said her late father, who had Alzheimer’s Disease and died in 2012 at 90, was persuaded to sign away his power of attorney by a man who developed a relationship with both Glasners and was able to visit him in his nursing home by telling authorities he was Harry Glasner’s son.

“He didn’t know what he was signing. It could have been the Magna Carta,” Glasner said. “After my mother died (in April 2011), my brother (Corey) called the nursing home to tell them he would be now taking care of him. The nursing home said, ‘Don’t worry about it. Your brother is taking care of it.’ My brother said, ‘I don’t have a brother.’”

Glasner said she was naïve that her parents could be exploited. She believes the perpetrator, a man in his 60s, began ingratiating himself into her parents’ lives in 2008, when her parents suddenly changed their tax status, a move that surprised her but failed to raise suspicions.

“It never occurred to me that my parents could be at risk, and it never occurred to me after we found out that the police’s attitude would be so lackadaisical,” she said. “Most of the time they say, ‘Oh, this is a civil matter. Go get a lawyer.’

“The perpetrator even looked at me and boasted to me about it. He said we couldn’t do anything about it.”

The film – of which a shortened, 23-minute version will be shown at the event – and an accompanying guide can help the elderly and their adult children learn how to guard against abuse as the population ages and baby boomers enter their retirement years.

The most vulnerable are seniors who “feel alone and abandoned,” she said.

“That’s why perpetrators are easily able to work themselves in,” she added. “That’s why a smiling face at the front door can be so convincing. The perpetrator says to them, ‘Oh, your kids are 1,300 miles away? I can take you to the doctor. I can take you to the store.’”

To protect themselves, the elderly should remain in consistent communication about finances with a trusted loved one. If seniors don’t have a confidante, they should contact the Area Agency on Aging if they suspect anything unscrupulous, she said.

“One phone call to the (AAA), and they can send somebody over to the house,” she said. “They have specific training on what to do and on the right questions to ask.”

The AAA’s telephone numbers are 586-226-0309 in Macomb County and 248-357-2255 in Oakland County.

An adult child, meanwhile, should try to ask pointed questions about anything that may seem unusual about their parent’s finances, she said.

The best advice she can give to middle-aged people to prepare for their future in senior citizen-hood is to set up legal protection, such as wills, trusts and “advanced directives,” through an attorney, she said.

The film is directed by Deborah Louise Robinson.

The event, sponsored by Starjack Entertainment, takes place 6:30 to 9:30 p.m. at the hall, located at 43843 Romeo Plank Road. Tickets are $18-$29, some of which include the book, “Silver and Gold … Discussion Guide.” For tickets (for the Clinton Township Conference) or more details, call 586-806-9875. 

 

Announcing: Lynne McCollum – Michigan Office of Services to the Aging

Starjack Entertainment is delighted to announce that we have added a new panelist to our conference in West Bloomfield Township on September 30th :  Lynne McCollum – Elder Abuse Prevention Specialist, Michigan Office of Services to the Aging.  She will be speaking about the state’s initiatives for the safety, security, and dignity of the elderly, as well as enumerating the many resources available to those who wish to protect their senior citizen clients, patients, and/or loved ones before tragedy strikes.

Ms. McCollum’s participation is going to be fabulous !!
 
Pamela Glasner, Starjack Entertainment, Last Will and Embezzlement, Senior Citizens, Embezzlement, Harry Glasner, Victimization, Forgiveness, Financial Exploitation, Elderly, wills, advocacy, power of attorney, medical surrogacy, taking advantage, Elder Exploitation, Elder Abuse, Senility, Dementia, Alzheimer’s, Mickey Rooney, Artie Pasquale, Alan Rickman, Jane Fonda, The Butler, Rupert Grint, Harry Potter

Ever since 2011, when my 89- and 91-year-old parents were financially exploited and I became embroiled in the issue — and in the battle — I have been wracking brain to try and comprehend how.  After all these years of teachings, preachings, beseechings and rooftop proclamations, after congressional testimonies and reams of paper packed with pages and chapters of meticulously-researched statistics, heart-rending anecdotal evidence, and advice and counsel from some of the finest and most highly-educated minds on the planet — how in the world can the problem elder financial exploitation still be alive and well, thriving and spreading like a cancer all across the globe?

Then something happened this past Saturday.  An associate said something to me that came as such a surprise, I was, for a brief period of time, literally left speechless. 

To read the entire article, please visit Pamela S. K. Glasner’s Huffington Post blog at http://www.huffingtonpost.com/pamela-glasner/there-are-no-poor-elderly_b_3639581.html

Copyright by Pamela S. K. Glasner © 2013, All Rights Reserved

Pamela Glasner, Starjack Entertainment, Last Will and Embezzlement, Senior Citizens, Embezzlement, Harry Glasner, Victimization, Forgiveness, Financial Exploitation, Elderly, wills, advocacy, power of attorney, medical surrogacy, taking advantage, Elder Exploitation, Elder Abuse, Senility, Dementia, Alzheimer’s, Mickey Rooney, Artie Pasquale

“A friendly neighbor offers to go pick up an elderly couple’s license plates. He has them sign a specific power of attorney for that sole purpose, printed from an automobile-club website. He takes that to the bank and uses it to withdraw money from the couple’s account.”

“Power of attorney: It’s easily abused”
‘How to protect ailing relatives from fraud and abuse’

Excellent article by renowned journalist and prolific writer Elizabeth O’Brien (Wall Street Journal’s MarketWatch).
http://www.marketwatch.com/story/power-of-attorney-its-easily-abused-2013-03-19