A 92-year-old woman has won a two-year battle to regain control of her finances.
A caregiver took over Veronika Piela's life savings when she was declared not competent to do it herself.
The social worker on the case has now been suspended by her professional order and is facing criminal charges.
The incident began three years ago when Piela, a widow, had about $600,000 in the bank.
She hired a caregiver to help her around the house, but Piela alleges the caregiver was stealing from her.
When Piela confronted the caregiver, Piela said the caregiver beat her and took her phone away.
The caregiver, who was pretending to be the elderly woman’s niece, then hired a private social worker named Alissa Kerner to complete a psychological evaluation.
Piela said Kerner examined her very quickly and deemed that she had Alzheimer ’s disease.
From that, the social worker, the caregiver and a doctor had Piela declared inept, and the caregiver/”niece” is granted a mandate in case of incapacity to essentially control Piela's money.
The lawyer who reviewed some key documents in the case happens to be Kerner’s husband.
Piela's lawyer said the caregiver and the lawyer placed all of Piela’s money into an in-trust account for her, which they controlled.
For two years, Piela said she wasn't able to access her own money.
The court finally found that Piela is not only not suffering from Alzeheimer's, but is, in fact, in good enough health to control her own money.
The court awarded it be returned to her, even though she claims $200,000 is missing
“I was very happy. I pray, every night. I pray that the judge give a good result to me and to my lawyer, Igor Dogaru,” said Piela.
There are now criminal charges against the caregiver and the social worker. Kerner is also awaiting a disciplinary hearing from the Quebec order of social workers.
Until then, she has agreed to not practice social work. Kerner and her lawyer both did not return calls to CTV Montreal.
