AG sues alleged scammers
Posted Tuesday, June 30, 2015 by John S. Palmer
The Washington Attorney General’s office is suing Peter G. and Carolyn Y. Cook of Snohomish, alleging they engaged in unfair and deceptive practices in their Medicaid planning business.
In a press release trumpeting the suit, the AG’s office claims that the Cooks, doing business as C&C Consulting, “scammed elderly Washington residents applying for Medicaid and veterans benefits.” The complaint filed in Snohomish County Superior Court specifically alleges that:
Clients were told that a portion of their fee would be used to consult with a lawyer knowledgeable in Medicaid law, but “C&C never obtained an attorney for any client” and except for a few clients with their own private attorney, no lawyer reviewed C&C’s Medicaid eligibility plans.
C&C assisted clients with applications for VA Aid and Attendance benefits without the proper VA accreditation, and charged a fee for doing so in violation of federal law.
C&C lacked the insurance license needed to sell annuities and sold annuities for Medicaid planning purposes that were not approved for sale in Washington by the Insurance Commissioner. The suit notes that Peter Cook formerly had an insurance license but “did not attempt to renew his license in 2007 or thereafter due to probation arising from a lawsuit of an elder fraud scheme in California.”
Clients were improperly denied refunds to which they were entitled under C&C’s contract, sometimes by falsifying “the amount of time C&C actually spent when calculating the refund amount.”
The lawsuit seeks a permanent injunction prohibiting the Cooks from engaging in this conduct, restitution on behalf of C&C’s clients, plus civil penalties and legal fees under Washington’s consumer protection act.
The case was filed June 5th; however it appears to be part of an investigation dating back to at least September 2012, when the Cooks were first served with a formal demand for documents and information about their business practices. In March 2014 the AG’s office filed a petition in King County Superior Court claiming the Cooks had only partially responded and asking that they be compelled to fully respond. The petition states that the Cooks were under investigation because the AG’s office “is aware of instances where consumers have been advised by C&C or their agents to employ questionable strategies with their financial portfolios in order to become eligible for government benefits.” It also alleges that the Cooks’ son, Perry Cook, may have actively advised C&C clients even though he “was convicted of mail fraud in 2004 in regards to a fraud scheme that bilked nearly $5,000,000 from elderly victims.” This petition was dismissed in March 2015, approximately 3 months before the current lawsuit pending in Snohomish County, most likely after the information being sought was produced.
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