What is credit card fraud?

Credit card fraud is when you use the credit card of a deceased person to purchase a 43" television.
Credit card fraud is when you use the credit card of a deceased person to purchase various merchandise items at a local home repair store.
Credit card fraud is when you use the credit card of a deceased person to purchase items for your new home from another local home repair store.

Don't most stores nowadays use video camera surveillance?  It seems like they are always showing the photos on TV and online of people they are looking for in connection to credit card fraud and retail theft.  Are there actually any low life criminals left out there that don't know about the surveillance cameras?

Wikipedia offers a definition of credit card fraud: "Credit card fraud is a wide-ranging term for theft and fraud committed using or involving a payment card, such as a credit card or debit card, as a fraudulent source of funds in a transaction. The purpose may be to obtain goods without paying, or to obtain unauthorized funds from an account. "

In Michigan you may be charged with a felony:  "In Michigan, credit or debit card fraud happens when an individual illegally uses another person's credit or debit card to pay for or purchase an item or service. Credit card fraud also includes opening a new account in another person's name, and using that card for purchases..........  In Michigan, credit cards and debit cards are referred to as Financial Transaction Devices (FTD). They can include gift cards or rebate cards. In Michigan, you can be charged with a felony for improperly using your own credit/debit card or if you possess/use the credit/debit card of another person without consent."
http://statelaws.findlaw.com/michigan-law/michigan-credit-card-fraud-laws.html 

My first bit of advice to avoid credit card faud would be very very careful of who you consider a friend and to never allow anyone to have access to your cards!

A few tips here in these links to help you avoid being the victim of credit card fraud.

http://www.consumerreports.org/cro/news/2014/09/protect-against-credit-card-fraud-now/index.htm

http://www.discovernetwork.com/consumers/identity-theft/tips-to-avoid.html

The Veteran Support Center In Michigan

I recently attended a "workshop" hosted by the Veteran Support Center and it left me feeling a little uneasy and with more questions than I had before I attended.

This workshop had two speakers, Joe Vitale and Carol Thomas.

It appears that Joe Vitale is a financial planner with American Retirement Solutions. Their website is http://americanretsol.com/
I am not quite clear on the connection but it appears that American Retirement Solutions is possibly connected with Veteran Support Center?  I found a listing online for this -
A R S Veteran Support Center
5189 Hampton Pl, Saginaw, MI 48604
(989) 792-0053
If I remember correctly, Joe Vitale said that he was located next door to Carol Thomas' office there on Hampton Place in Saginaw.

Carol Thomas is an attorney here in Saginaw.  Her site claims that she practises Elder Law and Estate Planning.  Here is her website http://www.attorneycarolthomas.com/

The website for the Veteran Support Center can be found here -  http://www.yourvapension.org/#intro
When I looked at the Veteran Support Center I couldn't determine how they are funded.  Are they a chairity?  Are they connected to any other veterans organizations?  Connected through the VA?
I tried to see who the founders were of this organization and all I could find was this address listed:
3546 S. LAPEER RD., STE. D
METAMORA, MI 48455
That address listed is the same address listed on the Better Business Bureau website for American Retirement Solutions and also on the American Retirement Solutions website.  The names listed on the BBB site for the business partners for American Retirement Solutions are:
Mr. Brian Roehrer, Vice President
Mr. Joe Vitale, President
Mr. Shirward Punches
When looking at the workshops held by the Veteran Support Center, I see that Brian Roehrer and Joe Vitale are two of the presenters listed for their workshops.
The phone numbers listed on the BBB site for American Retirement Solutions are the same ones that are listed on the Veteran Support Center website.
PHONE  810.667.9360
FAX  810.667.9361

I went to this workshop hoping to find more help available for a elderly family member that is currently in a nursing home facility.  I left there feeling like all I got was a deceptive sales pitch for the financial planning business and for the Carol Thomas law office.  I feel that it would be better to just advertise these workshops as being done by American Retirement Solutions and Carol Thomas's law office.  Then it would be very clear to others like myself exactly who they are dealing with.  I attended thinking this was some kind of veterans organization like the American Legion, Veterans Of Foreign Wars, probably funded by donations, organized by other veterans, tied in with other veterans groups but it doesn't appear to me to be what I thought it was.

My understanding of the presentation was that to be eligible to get the Aid & Attendance benefit offered by the Veterans Administration, you would need  to have a "Irrevocable Trust" drawn up by a attorney.  Conveniently the son of Carol Thomas does the irrevocable trust at her office for a cost of about $3,500.00 to $4,000.00.  The presentation claimed that a regular "Revocable" trust drawn up by an attorney would not qualify you for the VA benefits because you still own the assets and chances are you would not qualify for the help because they would count all of that. Basically you would have too much money and assets to qualify.   Here is a website that explains some of the differences between the two types of trusts - http://irrevocable-trust.ultratrust.com/top-7-differences-between-irrevocable-trust-and-revocable-trust.html
So according to this information once you put your assets in the irrevocable trust you no longer have access to them, so they do not count when the VA is looking at your financial situation when determining if you would qualify. That seems to make sense.

During this workshop they discussed veterans that served during different time periods and different locations, and whom would be eligible for the Aid & Attendance benefits.  One of the stories Mr. Vitale shared was about a veteran that served in Korea.  I believe he said that the veteran did not serve in the actual Korean War but was still eligible for the benefits.  This veteran from Saginaw had Parkinson's and I believe he said he had just recently passed away.  Mr. Vitale said that they were able to get him the Aid & Attendance benefits including hospice care so he could stay at home when he passed.  I don't recall him mentioning if this Saginaw veteran with Parkinson's had done the revocable trust or irrevocable trust.

That story made me think of a Saginaw veteran that I knew that also had Parkinson's and also had just recently passed away.  This veteran I knew had served in Korea but not during the Korean War, it was during the Vietnam War period.  This veteran I knew had been getting help from the VA for years as far as I understand.  I know that he had been receiving in home health care assistance aides paid for by the VA for years, but I am not sure if this is exactly the same thing as the Aid & Attendance benefit they talked about.  These health care aides were coming for 4 hours per day for 5 or 6 days per week I believe.  I know that he got a lot of medical help over the years from the VA.
This veteran I knew also stayed at home with 24 hour hospice care till he passed but I am not sure if it was Medicare or the VA that payed for the hospice care.
I know that this veteran went to the office of Carol Thomas in 2014 and had a Revocable trust done, but it was after he was already getting the aid from the VA.  I don't believe that he had any kind of trust or will done at the time he started getting the in home health care paid for by the VA.  This veteran I knew owned a nice home, nice vehicle, and a decent IRA account, and none of it was in a Irrevocable trust.
This veteran I knew also had the exact same flyer that I posted above for one of the workshops hosted by the Veteran Support Center that was held in June 2015 in Saginaw.  One of his health care aides had written down the directions to the location on the flyer but I don't know if he did actually attend the workshop or not.  I don't know if they could have helped him get anymore help than he was already getting from the VA.

So I am wondering if it is really necessary to have the Irrevocable trust done to be eligible for the extra benefits offered by the VA?
Are there other veteran organizations that could help you get the Aide & Attendance benefits at no charge to the veteran, no strings attached?
Has anyone else had any experience dealing with the Veteran Support Center and what did you think of them?

Where is this Van?

UPDATE APRIL 5TH:  The van has been located but there are questions concerning the situation.  It may be a situation that needs to be looked at more closely by some kind of legal authority.

Has anyone seen this van?  It is a 1999 Ford Econoline E150 Van.  It is handicapped accessible, has a side door wheelchair lift.  It belonged to a person that passed away in 2015 and has been "unaccounted" for since December 2015.  The value is about $9,000.00 so the family of this person would like to know exactly what happened to it. It was last seen in Saginaw County, MI.  If you have seen it or know where it is you can use the contact form for this blog or send a email to:   shadowsofsaginaw@hotmail.com