Facility Director in Jail for Elder Abuse (CA. USA)

 Facility director Nancy Totanes in jail for elder abuse
By Linda Kincaid
Senior Issues Examiner
 June 23, 2012

Nancy Totanes, director of two Escondido, California residential care facilities for the elderly (RCFE), was arrested on May 16, 2012, according to the San Diego County Sheriff’s Department. A victim’s family reports that Totanes was originally charged with seven felonies.
• PC 484-487: Theft/fraudulently appropriating property (2 counts)
• PC 236-368: Elder false imprisonment with violence (2 counts)
• PC 368(E): Financial elder abuse
• PC 484G(A): Credit card fraud
• PC 476(A): Make fictitious check
Consumer Advocates for RCFE Reform (CARR) reviewed documents filed with the Court. In a plea agreement, Totanes pleaded guilty to four counts of theft and one count of making a fictitious check.
Totanes’ RCFE license was revoked in 1990, according to CARR. Community Care Licensing issued a lifetime ban against Totanes owning or operating a RCFE.
The RCFEs operated by Totanes were not licensed. On January 14, 2011, CCL issued a Notice of Operation in Violation of the Law. Totanes responded by physically assaulting the investigator, according to a victim’s family.

That Notice began a nightmare chain of events for the family of resident Francesca Mangiocina. Totanes moved “Franny” to a facility in another city. The move was without the knowledge or consent of Franny’s family. For days, Franny’s children were unable to locate their mother.
Totanes ultimately returned Franny to the Escondido facility, where Franny died a few hours later. Franny’s books, music collection, and clothing are gone. All Totanes returned to the family was a single T-shirt and a small mirror.
Totanes eventually gave Franny’s children a check for Franny’s missing possessions. That check was returned unpaid four times.
Franny’s children told their story on Justice Quest, beginning with a 5/26/2012 posting by “Simplicity.”
I still feel the sting and loss of my mother and the circumstances surrounding her death.
A statement to Special Agent Kris Lyle of the Department of Justice included:
I can't emphasize enough how distraught my sister and I have been regarding our mother's death. We were not only uncertain as to where she was, but if she was being properly cared for, fed, and given medication. And to make matters worse we cannot trust Nancy Totanes to provide us with truthful answers.
Totanes currently enjoys the hospitality of the Las Colinas Detention Facility. She will be sentenced at 1:30PM on June 27. Victims will testify at the hearing. Vista Courthouse is located at 325 South Melrose Drive in Vista, CA 92081.


Abridged
SOURCE:     The Examiner.com

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