Elder Abuse for Art and Profit

Elder abuse is usually either physical (neglect and mistreatment) or financial (emptied bank accounts, purloined securities).

In the case of creative artists, there's a third possibility. Reports regarding two celebrated names in the art world, both of whom gained celebrity in the age of Make Love Not War, suggest that abuse may consist of seeking to profit from an artist's name and reputation – his brand.

Robert Indiana's "Love" first appeared on a 1962 Museum of Modern Art holiday card. Recreated  in paintings and sculpture, it became an immensely popular icon of the 1960's. Indiana, however, found celebrity uncomfortable. Eventually the artist fled from the pressures to commercialize his work by retreating to Vinelhaven, an island off the coast of Maine. There he died in May of last year, frail and isolated at the age of 89.  

In his final years Indiana appeared to lose his distaste for commercialism. A new work

resembling his Love sculpture appeared on the cover of a wine magazine. A giant sculpture of the letters BRAT showed up in front of sausage factory.

Last winter the NY Times reported that a company owning rights to sell designs based on "Love" has gone to court, accusing the artist's caregiver and an associate of "taking advantage of Mr. Indiana’s advanced age and isolation on a remote island off the coast of Maine to produce a bunch of inauthentic works that they sold under Mr. Indiana’s name."

In August, the executor of Indiana's estate, his former lawyer, charged the caretaker had stolen many artworks and more than $l million from Indiana while allowing the wealthy artist to live in squalor and filth.

Peter Max created trendy psychedelic posters for the Make Love Not War generation.
His works seemed to be everywhere, partly because his style was widely imitated. Although Max is now an octogenarian suffering from Alzheimer's, his artistic output appears undiminished. His studio, run by his estranged son and associates, produces Peter Max works that sell briskly on cruise ships – so briskly that one cruise ship is itself adorned with a Peter Max design.

But cruise passengers may be buying works that are Peter Max in name only, according to the Times:

The scene played out for years. Twice a week, in the late afternoon, above the Shun Lee Chinese restaurant on the Upper West Side of Manhattan, a creaky elevator would open, and out would step an elderly man. Thin as a rail, with a sparse mustache, he would sometimes have little idea about where or who he was. A pair of security doors would buzz unlocked once surveillance cameras identified him as the artist Peter Max.

Inside, he would see painters — some of them recruited off the street and paid minimum wage — churning out art in the Max aesthetic: cheery, polychrome, wide-brushstroke kaleidoscopes on canvas. Mr. Max would be instructed to hold out his hand, and for hours, he would sign the art as if it were his own, grasping a brush and scrawling Max.

Nevertheless, sales of works signed Max continue, aboard ship and on land.

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Putting an ailing artist's name on works made by others and sold for profit certainly seems abusive. Yet in today's art world, who knows? 

Artist Damian Hirst (remember his shark in a tank?) happily admits that only a couple of dozen versions of his "Dot" paintings were created by him. To meet perceived demand, he had his assistants turn out more than a thousand more.

A Corporate Executor and Trustee is Worth Fighting For

Real estate bigwig and philanthropist George Kaufman changed his will shortly before his death, removing his longtime lawyer as executor and trustee. Now the lawyer has gone to court, claiming the changes are the result of elder abuse by Kaufman's wife.

Kaufman's will divides his estate among various individuals and creates a charitable foundation. The final amendment designates Bessemer Trust as executor and trustee.

The choice of a trust company, The Wall Street Journal reports, has drawn the approval of New York State officials:

The office of New York’s attorney general, which supervises charities in the state, has supported Bessemer, calling it a “disinterested, neutral corporate fiduciary.” The attorney general’s office accused [the lawyer] of being motivated by his own financial interest and holding up the creation of the charity.

Phone Scamming: “This is Your Government Calling”

Since 2014, Michelle Singletary writes in The Washington Post, the FTC has received almost 1.3 million reports of scam phone calls from government imposters. Many, many more calls have gone unreported.

Popular current scam, judging from how often I receive the message: "Due to suspicious activity, your Social Security account has been suspended." Correcting the "problem" of course involves cleaning out the individual's bank account.

Singletary's column includes precautionary tips that wealth managers should pass along to their elderly clients.

Habits of Highly Unsuccessful Investors

Why do some older investors lose big while others prosper? An AARP survey suggests a few reasons.

Those who get fleeced tend to be risk takers. They crave home runs, not singles.

Often they trade more frequently.

They're more likely to be drawn to unregulated alternative investments. "Nearly half of fraud victims," the survey finds, "compared with less than a third of general investors, agreed that 'the most profitable financial returns are often found in investments that are not regulated by the government.'”

They're more susceptible to sales pitches.

The losers surveyed were 70 or older, but the same traits can separate anyone from his or her money.

Protecting the Elderly: Men Wanted!

Most often, helping the elderly deal with the financial or physical hazards of aging is women's work. Daughters or daughters-in-law pitch in; sons and sons-in-law gratefully stand aside.

One exception: Brooke Astor's grandson Philip Marshall. But if Marshall attended The White House Elder Justice Forum as scheduled, he probably found himself in the minority gender, judging by this photo from the occasion.

To be fair, another photo shows three males. But even on the federal level, protecting the elderly seems to be mainly women's work.

Shouldn't men be feeling guilty?

Brooke Astor's Defenders in the News

Brooke Astor's grandson Philip Marshall and a few friends like David Rockefeller helped rescue her from the clutches of Philip's father, Anthony Marshall. Both grandson and Rockefeller are in the news this month.

Philip was disinherited (no surprise) by his father.

 David Rockefeller this month celebrates his 100th birthday. The last surviving grandson of John D. led Chase Bank to global prominence and, despite a chronic case of philanthropy, still possesses a few billion.

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Inspired by his grandmother's difficulties, Philip Marshall has launched Beyond Brooke, dedicated to the cause of elder justice. Today, according to his calendar, Philip attended the 2015 White House Elder Justice Forum.

Wall Street Legend Sues Citigroup

Very old rich people stand a significant chance of being robbed or swindled by younger people. A recent example, as we noted last year, is Wall Street legend William Salomon:

Elder Abuse For The Man Who Once Ran Salomon Brothers?

In January Salomon's secretary, provided by Citigroup and accused of stealing over $l million, was found guilty of bank fraud, wire fraud, money laundering and tax evasion. She is to be sentenced June 5.

The 99-year-old Salomon puts his losses at $3 million. He isn't likely to get his money back from the unfaithful secretary, so he's suing Citigroup. 

Perhaps Sandy Weill should not have been so generous to Salomon. To understand why he was, see The Spectacular Rise And Fall of Salomon Brothers.

Elder Abuse for the Man Who Once Ran Salomon Brothers?

At 98, William Salomon still goes to the office provided him by Citigroup. (Sandy Weill acquired Salomon Brothers along with Travelers as he built his universal bank.)

With the office came a secretary who kept track of Mr. Salomon's appointments and paid his bills. Karen Febles is now accused of embezzling almost $2 million from her boss. Apparently the thefts began around 2008, the year that Salomon's wife of more than 70 years died.

Secretaries, it seems, aren't as faithful as they used to be. But then, Wall Street isn't what it used to be, as Mr. Salomon lamented in 1991:

“In my time, the customer was God and we would no more take advantage of him than we’d fly out the window."

Elder Abuse with Principal-Protected Notes?

You would never know it from the online version of the March/April issue of AARP's magazine, but the print edition contains a scathing article on structured products – principal-protected notes. Pick up a copy and read "The Time Bomb in Your Nest Egg."

Brokers at major banks and Wall Street firms sold over $51 billion of the derivatives last year, typically to elderly investors seeking more income. One commentator refers to the structured products as the consumer version of the toxic derivatives Wall Street used to sell to institutions.

Sold under such fancy names as reverse-convertible or return-optimization securities, the products are so profitable for banks that in-bank brokers can earn commissions of from 3 percent to 10 percent, according to the AARP article. Seniors tend to be easy marks because "elderly people are often more comfortable with brokers who work in their banks."

The in-bank brokers I've run into over the years have seemed pleasant enough. I hate to see their brethren getting more bad press. Come to think of it, though, our local bank branch (TD Bank) recently cleared away the marketing materials for in-bank investment sales. Now the brochures promote TD Ameritrade.

Are some banks deciding that in-bank sales of investment products are not worth risking charges of elder abuse?

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Today's poster child for elder abuse was Mickey Rooney. This article on Mickey's Senate appearance includes a troubling statistic:

About 7.3 million older Americans — or one of every five people over 65 — have been financially swindled, according to an Investor Protection Trust survey ….

Such statistics seem to vary widely, along with definitions of a swindle.

From "Scoop of the 20th Century" to Abused Elder

Clare Hollingworth went to work for The Daily Telegraph in 1939. Her career took off almost instantly:

She had been in the business for only a week in 1939 when she noticed, travelling towards the Polish border from Germany, that huge screens of hessian had been erected along the roadside, concealing the valley behind from passing traffic.

As she looked, the wind caught a loose piece of tarpaulin, revealing large numbers of troops, hundreds of tanks, armoured cars and field guns, lined up, battle ready - and facing Poland. She had stumbled across the beginning of World War Two.

 Miss Hollingworth went on to cover wars in Algeria and Vietnam. Now 98 and living in Hong Kong. she has been unfortunate enough, the Telegraph reports, to attract one of those creatures who believe the elderly and their money should live apart:

Sadly Miss Hollingworth, whose hearing and eyesight are not what they once were, has been subject to a mercurial acquaintance, who separated her from her money and has failed to repay it, even following a court case at the end of which he agreed to do so.

Brooke Astor's Son Guilty

You be the judge: What punishment fits these crimes, committed by a man now 85 years old?

Old People + Will Changes = Estate Battles

Daily news stories report on the trial of Anthony Marshall, charged with bullying his mother, Brooke Astor, into making will changes that could eventually benefit the daughter-in-law she disliked. Similar estate battles are not unknown, as John Eligon reports in this New York Times roundup.

Can or should more be done to protect people in their twilight years – to shield them from avaricious caregivers or greedy relatives? (The protection, in these cases, is really for the beneficiaries named when the elderly person was still functioning on all cylinders.)

Mrs. Astor's Staff Was Listening

The New York Post has published excerpts from Meryl Gordon's Mrs. Astor Regrets. The new book seems unlikely to gladden the heart of Mrs. Astor's son and daughter-in-law:

Secret journals kept by Brooke Russell Astor's staff reveal tragic scenes, including one in which the society doyenne was literally dragged into a meeting against her will to sign over $60 million to her only son after she slammed her cane against the floor shouting, "Do you hear me?"

When they weren't caring for her in person, Astor's maids, nurses and butlers were listening to her private meetings via a baby monitor. They filled 30 journals over four years…

Meanwhile, the estate struggles to dispose of Brooke Astor's homes in a down market. Her palatial New York apartment is now offered at $34 million, down from $46 million.

Perhaps a better buy is her beloved Holly Hill in Briarcliff Manor. Sotheby's has listed the stone home, on 64 acres, at a mere $12.9 million. Judging from the photo at right, Holly Hill was a bright and cheery place. Hope the late owner was able to comprehend and appreciate her last days there.

HOLLY HILL

The Battle for Mrs. Astor

British writer and art historian John Richardson mingled with New York's wealthy as head of Christie's U.S. operations in the 1960s and as vice president of the Knoedler gallery in the 1970s. That background allows him to enliven a detailed retelling of the Brooke Astor saga in Vanity Fair.

It's not a pretty story – but, given the circumstances, perhaps an almost inevitable one.

Astor Will Contest: a “Smoking Letter?”

From a New York Times report:

Mrs. Astor’s only son, Anthony D. Marshall, a principal beneficiary of [her presumed last] will, has said that she was competent and even witty at her 100th birthday party in March 2002, about two months after she signed the will. His lawyers have also said that Mrs. Astor was examined in 2004, a month after the last change to the will, and understood conversations without a problem.

But a letter written by Mr. Marshall on Dec. 26, 2000, paints a different picture, expressing serious concerns about his mother’s mental state. The letter was written to Dr. Howard M. Fillit of New York, an expert in geriatric medicine who is also a neuroscientist, and it appeared to respond to his diagnosis that Mrs. Astor may have been suffering from dementia or Alzheimer’s disease.

In the letter, Mr. Marshall shared graphic observations of Mrs. Astor at age 98.

“She is delusional at times, having asked me, ‘Are you my only child? Do you have another son?’ (I have two sons),” Mr. Marshall wrote.

In the letter, Mr. Marshall also explained that his mother had “a tendency to wander” and to get lost while at her estates in Briarcliff Manor in Westchester County and in Northeast Harbor, Me.

Brooke Astor gets a friend and corporate trustee as guardians

Brooke Astor's son Anthony Marshall was replaced as guardian of his mother's affairs by her friend Annette de la Renta and JPMorgan Chase & Co., settling a lawsuit that charged Marshall with neglecting his mother, according to this Bloomberg report.

A lawyer for the new, permanent, guardians says the settlement includes a court order that Anthony Marshall, Astor's son, and his wife will make "substantial immediate repayment of cash and other property, including jewelry and art, to Mrs. Astor's estate.''

Brooke Astor's Questionable Codicils

If a settlement can be reached before Oct. 13, when a potentially "sensational trial" is scheduled to start, the legal status of three amendments Brooke Astor made to her will late in life may not be determinated until her death. So reported The New York Times last week:

Mrs. Astor’s court-appointed lawyer, who is questioning whether Mrs. Astor was mentally competent to understand the changes to her will that she signed, is challenging the propriety of the three codicils.

The lawyer, Susan I. Robbins, plans to have a handwriting expert determine if the signature on the documents is really Mrs. Astor’s.

Ms. Robbins is particularly concerned about the signature on the third codicil.

The Times notes that a settlement is far from certain. Anthony Marshall, Astor's 83-year-old son, would be required to step down as his mother's financial steward and designated executor.

Brooke Astor's Amazingly Lucky Lawyer

A few years ago, Brooke Astor, now age 104, decided to change lawyers, possibly at the suggestion of her son, Anthony Marshall. She discharged the august firm of Sullivan & Cromwell, who had handled her affairs for 40 years, and engaged Francis Morrissey.

Francis Morrissey has been a very, very lucky fellow. According to The New York Daily News, elderly people are dying to leave him significant shares of their estates.

Around the time Morrissey started advising Astor, he was left an apartment in Manhattan by one client. (After charges of undue influence, an undisclosed settlement was reached.) That was just one example of his extraordinary luck. The Daily News reports that several people wanted him on their list of beneficiaries.

Alexandra Gregersen, a psychiatrist, who died on Jan. 4, 2001, at age 90. Morrissey inherited two-fifths of her estate.

Elizabeth Von Knapitsch, a retired ladies apparel executive, who died at age 91 on Jan. 15, 2000. Morrissey inherited her Park Ave. apartment, two Renoir oil paintings, two other paintings, and an undisclosed amount of money.

Jay Lovestone, a labor leader who helped found the Communist Party of America, and worked with the CIA, died on March 7, 1990, at the age of 90. Morrissey inherited one-third of his estate.

Louise Morris, a housewife, who died on Oct. 22, 2002, at age 98. Morrissey received one-third of her estate.

Morrissey also serves as “primary contact” and, reportedly, a director for the Shepherd Community Foundation. Another director, a lawyer for Marshall told The New York Times, is Marshall's wife. As the Times puts it, An In-Law’s Charity Has One Donor, Astor, and Few Details.

From Kermit the frog we learned that it's not easy being green. From Brooke Astor we're learning that being very old and rich is no piece of cake, either.

Update: In Rich, Old, Unloved, Marketwatch points a moral: Wealthy oldsters need a system of checks and balances to protect them. How to meet that need? A trust institution:

“Impartiality no longer connotes uncaring. That, it seems, more and more, is left to relatives.

“Sadly, institutions may be better caretakers of money and health care than friends and family.”

Brooke Astor at 104: Does Wealth Invite Elder Abuse?

The New York Daily News broke the story yesterday, and papers here and abroad have been all over it today.

Brooke Astor, long-time socialite and philanthropist, is age 104. Her care and financial affairs had been turned over to a guardian, her only child, Anthony Marshall. He's her son by the first of her three marriages.

According to legal proceedings launched by Anthony Marshall's son Philip, that was a big mistake. Philip charges that his 82-year-old father has kept Mrs. Astor in her run-down NYC apartment without proper care, especially considering the standard of living that a reported net worth of $45 million should afford.

Pending a court hearing next month, a family friend and a corporate trustee, JPMorgan Chase, have been named to take over responsibility for Mrs. Astor's well-being.

Today's New York Times cites estimates that perhaps one out of every twenty old people suffer abuse or neglect.

“The greatest perpetrators of elder abuse are family members,” said Bob Blancato, national coordinator of the Elder Justice Coalition. “The rich and powerful are as helpless and vulnerable as anyone else.”

Professor Richard J. Bonnie [of the University of Virginia] described abuse of the elderly as “a kind of hidden problem, in all the settings in which it occurs, maybe even more so than child abuse is.”

He pointed out that institutional care had come under greater scrutiny in recent years, but that mistreatment of the elderly in the home presented a problem since it was not within regulatory oversight. Even well-intentioned relatives may be preoccupied with other burdens or not skilled in recognizing problems, he said. “And nobody’s looking over their shoulders.”

Financial exploitation, he said, “is most likely to occur when you have a sizable estate when the temptation for self-dealing may be greater because they’re concerned that the assets are going to be lost and not inherited.”

Another expert, Dr. Gregory J. Paveza of the University of South Florida, said that often when family members have been selected as legal guardians, “the court’s oversight is cursory at best.” The guardian, he said, “has absolute control over your life.”

You hear a lot about "The Sandwich Generation," Boomers with both kids to raise and elderly parents to worry about. As the Brooke Astor story shows, the sandwich is increasingly likely to be a double-decker.

Just yesterday, the Portsmouth, New Hampshire Herald published this story:

When Elaine Peverly, 82, walked into the Pines at Edgewood Center last October asking questions about whether the assisted-living home was a good fit for her mother, office manager Glenda Stewart thought she was crazy.

"I went over (to co-workers) and said, You guys won't believe it; a woman in her 80s thinks her mother is still alive," said Stewart. "Then, sure enough, in comes Mildred."

Mildred celebrated her 104th birthday this week. And, yes, "She's still touching her toes at age 104."