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THE WESTCHESTER GUARDIAN
THURSDAY, OCTOBER 4, 2012
SPORTSSCENE
Sports Scene
In the Boathouse Big Red Invitational cross country meet at Somers High School, Justin Zorn and Jackie Kreuger both from Somers took home first place finishes. In area college news, College of New Rochelle freshman Shanique Royce was named Hudson Valley Women’s Athletic Conference tennis rookie of the week. Also, freshman cross country runner Tayler Fisher and senior volleyball player Elizabeth Johnston were name to the Hudson
Valley Women’s Athletic Conference honor roll. Purchase College soccer team tied visiting Lehman 1-1; Junior Sanguina of White Plains scored the goal for Purchase assisted by Port Chester’s Andres Romero. Mercy College field hockey squad lost to Limestone 4 to 0. In more Mercy College news, the college recently unveiled its new athletic field, the Mavericks soccer, lacrosse, baseball and field hockey teams will use the
brand new field. Sound Shore Lacrosse is teaming up with House of Sports in hosting a adult lacrosse league for men over 30, games will be played at 9pm Tuesdays through Thursdays at the House of Sports in Ardsley starting October 9th. The regular NFL referees have retuned to work, so now I can sleep again at night… see you next time.
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conservatively valued at $900,000.00. “In Westchester, everyone gets a crumb,” one estate lawyer noted. But those associated with the “new” wishes of Berta Murray EACH received “crumbs” worth tens of thousands of dollars: 1. Attorney W. Rowland Miller of the Judy, Miller & O’Connor law firm in Scarsdale, who drafted the Will for Berta, and in which The Bank of New York is named as the new fiduciary, and who was then retained as the attorney for the fiduciary, The Bank of New York; 2. Attorney Samuel S. Yasgur, then of the Hall Dickler LLP law firm, and who was appointed by former Hall Dickler lawyer and then Judge Emanuelli to represent “unknown heirs”; and 3. Real estate agent Camille Paradise of Claire D. Leone Real Estate, who lived in Berta’s neighborhood, and who was the realtor that handled the sale of the house to court employee Keltz and her husband. Conflict? What’s a Conflict? “Judges and attorneys have an obligation to avoid even the appearance of impropriety,” observed one White Plains estate attorney who asked that his name be withheld, adding, “But that ethical requirement doesn’t apply here; every player gets their piece of the pie, that’s how court business is done in Westchester County.” He conceded that, “On its face, this doesn’t look good, a state-employed attorney, referee working in the Surrogate’s Court shouldn’t be purchasing a house from any estate her court is overseeing.” New York State Court employee Jody Keltz, according to state records, is still employed as an attorney for Westchester County Surrogates Court. New York’s Surrogate’s Courts are charged with insuring a high level of integrity in the administration of estate proceedings, and holding professional fiduciaries, such as banks, to a high set of ethical and performance standards. Berta’s estate hardly had an ethical
chance in the Empire State when you consider the estate of a Brooklyn gentleman, John Phillips. Estate Corruption Targeted Retired New York Judge Apparently, even the estates of retired, ailing New York judges are fair game for savage insiders who use a corrupted system to advance their desires; and especially if that estate is worth $10 million. Respected New York Judge John L. Phillips, became a ward of the court, and lived out his last days in an assisted living facility. His last days were controlled by corrupt insiders, and his property was “sold” at unpublicized auctions. Judge Phillips, 83-years-old when he died in 2008, was known as the “Kung-Fu Judge”, having earned the rank of 10th-degree black belt. But the judge would be no match for those controlling his wealth. “I’m 6 feet 1,” Judge Phillips once said. “I can kill you with my hands faster than you can believe, and I carry a gun. But I’m scared to walk the streets at night. How do you think black women feel?” After one real estate purchase, his admired beliefs led him to rename the century-old Regent theatre in Brooklyn to The Slave Theater, “so that no one would ever forget our struggles.” When Judge Phillips finally died, a courtappointed attorney-guardian, who forgot to file estate tax returns, remembered to write herself checks for $187,000.00. The lawyer, Emani P. Taylor, was ultimately ordered to payback $403,000.00 to the Judge Phillips Estate, and her conduct was deemed “egregious” by Judge Michael A. Ambrosio. Attorney Taylor has been suspended from the practice of law in New York State, and the social struggles voiced by Judge Phillips go on. Those who knew Berta Murray are still waiting for some long-overdue justice in how her affairs are finally settled.
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swam past White Plains by the final score of 93 to 88. Bronxville/Tuckahoe defeated Eastchester 96-63 at Sarah Lawrence College. On the tennis courts, Ardsley blasted Mount Vernon 5-0 and Scarsdale shut out Hastings by the same 5-0 score.
In field hockey, Kennedy beat Hen Hud 1-0; Annie Cassale scored the lone goal. Mamaroneck crushed White Plains by the final outcome of 9 to 0, Sydney Segal, Rachel Brissette and Hannah Fitzgerald each scored twice for the winners. Let’s “run” over some cross country results, Mamaroneck ran by Eastchester 19 to 36. Rye came out a winner against Port Chester 24 to 37 and on the girls side, Rye also came up a winner against Port Chester.
New York Courts’ Dastardly Deeds The Departed: Resting in Peace or Spinning in Their Graves By KEVIN McKEOWN When 88-year-old Berta M. Murray died on August 12, 1997, she probably had not previously considered that the Scarsdale home built in 1928 by her father, and that had been in her family for decades, would soon be occupied by a New York State court-employed attorney who worked in the very same department charged with the duty to oversee the affairs of the deceased. The fact that an insider, who was a stateemployed attorney, had purchased Berta’s home was secreted from surviving relatives; and they weren’t too happy about the news. Though Berta has been gone for 15 years, questions remain as to exactly what happened with the transfer of the Murray real estate. Westchester Surrogate’s Court employee, attorney-referee Jody B. Keltz and her attorney-husband, Carl T. Peluso, of Peluso & Touger, in Manhattan, really liked that house at 168 Gaylor Road in Scarsdale, New York, so in they moved in the Spring of 1998. The two attorneys still call the 5 bedroom / 3 bathroom house, home. Public documents, and interviews with Berta’s relatives, provide a picture of how an insider came to own the deceased lady’s house. By all accounts, the Keltz-Peluso attorneys never knew Berta, and they had most likely never invited the elderly widow to their prior home located at 75 Third Place, in Brooklyn, New York. “It’s outrageous that a Surrogate’s Court lawyer bought Berta’s house,” said an 80-plus-year-old cousin of Berta, who never knew that Ms. Keltz was a lawyer in the Westchester Surrogate’s Court. “This stinks to high heaven, and I’m mad. It’s just not right, I don’t like this at all!” she
added. Surrogate Court attorney Jody Keltz subsequently became involved in the Brooke Astor estate proceedings, an estate worth nearly $200 million, and where the millions are still being divided. Bad New York History Repeating Itself The real estate deal by the Keltz-Peluso team is reminiscent of a Brooklyn Surrogate Court “arrangement” in 2002 where, the Village Voice described it as…, “Judge Scholnick’s clerk ‘…snatched up the 11-room brownstone…of 85-year-old Elsie Perry…in a move that would make Donald Trump proud…’” Honorably, Brooklyn Chief Court Clerk, George Crowley, refused to keep quiet, saying publicly that, “If I did this, I would expect to be fired. The whole thing was unethical…the judge shouldn’t have allowed it…” Brooklyn senior court official Crowley was so outraged by the cozy inside real estate deal that he took the highly unusual step of placing a note about it in the decedent’s Brooklyn Surrogate’s Court case file. But in the Westchester Murray-KeltzPeluso transfer, no such concern has ever been voiced or documented by the Surrogate’s Court Chief Clerks John Kelly or Joseph Accetta, or more importantly by their bosses. “Isn’t a Surrogate Court supposed to make sure everything is on the up-andup, and handled properly?” asked Berta’s cousin, adding, “I knew Berta over seventy years, and everyone knew she wanted that house to stay in the family.” Berta’s Dead; Enter the Vultures A review of Berta Murray’s estate file has an appearance that it is largely normal, according to legal experts engaged to analyze the Murray estate transactions,
and who are familiar with New York estate law, ethical obligations and the specific practices of the Westchester County Surrogate’s Court. However, they noted, the complete absence of any estate file “accounting” is quite unusual. And though not required, the name of Surrogate’s Court attorney-referee Jody B. Keltz is nowhere to be found in the estate file. A review of the property deed on file in the Westchester County Clerk’s office, however, memorializes the transfer of ownership of 168 Gaylor Road in Scarsdale, New York, from the “Estate of Berta M. Murray…by The Bank of New York…to Carl T. Peluso and Jody B. Keltz, his wife.” In a telephone conversation, a court employee confirmed that Ms. Keltz was still employed as an attorney in the Surrogate’s Court’s law department. When asked to comment about the Keltz property transfer, she advised that, “If you want to keep your job around here, you keep your mouth shut.” When asked her name, the telephone connection ended. An in-depth analysis, however, reveals some eyebrow-raising facts to experts, including that Berta’s last will was substantially different than her stated wishes as expressed to friends and relatives since her husband Elmer died in December of 1982. A nice “crumb,” if you can get it Berta’s estate file shows a relatively standard probate proceeding, but it is quickly observed that a bank, The Bank of New York, is the fiduciary. At the time of Berta’s death, the house was valued at $350,000.00, approximately one half of the total estate value of $742,968.00. Now, according to the Village of Scarsdale Tax Office, 168 Gaylor Road is
Mark Jeffers resides in Bedford Hills, New York, with his wife Sarah, and three daughters, Kate, Amanda, and Claire.
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