Thanks to some networking at the Family Law Conference in Washington D.C. this past November, parental advocate Leon Koziol may be spending the month of March in Nashville, Tennessee. It all came about when a potential investor of our Parenting Rights Institute responded to our last post regarding a home exchange brainstorm. It was simply an idea for facilitating economic trips to other states for the purpose of advancing mutual reform interests regarding divorce and family court. Although Southern California was the early objective, Nashville certainly fit our objective for visiting a warm climate this winter.

And so Leon will meet with a person whose identity and profile necessitate confidentiality. It is not likely that this person will actually occupy Leon’s home at any time that month, the proposal was simply a way of getting face-to-face discourse underway in the home at the other end. However if we can convince the financier of this visit otherwise, there will assuredly be a lot of excitement generated here in upstate New York. As it stands now, the proposed arrangement is focused on getting Leon to Nashville to address parental issues for a series of meetings. Hopefully mutual benefits will result.

None of this would be possible without back-to-back decisions by two New York Supreme Court judges who, in a very rare move, denied foreclosure on Leon’s home. It gets a bit complicated but suffice it to say, Leon successfully argued that the mortgage on his home was void due to a criminal act on the part of Leon’s ex-office manager and the bank’s assistant branch manager. They had orchestrated a refinance with forged signatures and excess proceeds which were then misappropriated. Both scheming participants in this fraud were fired by each employer not long afterward. Leon’s ex-manager was also arrested and prosecuted years later in another county for representing herself as a lawyer for a “client” in a court of law without any license or degree.

This gets interesting because the illegal transaction further corroborates what Leon has maintained all along, that his ex-office manager had engaged in a scheme with outsiders to orchestrate ethics issues, support arrears and problems leading up to the present day after 23 unblemished years of practice. Court appointments were not placed on the office calendar and mail was diverted or destroyed without Leon’s knowledge. It took at least two years to discover all of the misconduct before a substantial internal report was generated and furnished to law enforcement authorities. While these confidential deliberations were underway, Leon was being exploited by authorities despite his status as a crime victim. A thorough investigation ultimately led to a conclusion that office funds well into the six figures had been misappropriated, hence the support delinquencies.

It gets more bizarre. The bank sought to suppress knowledge of the illicit mortgage transaction presumably for the reason that it might invite regulatory authorities into the mix. Leon was ultimately able to show that neither he nor his ex-spouse was present to sign the papers. Indeed the presiding judge concluded argument on December 18, 2014 by questioning whether the relevant property description was contained in the mortgage. When the bank attorney candidly admitted that it was not, the judge announced that he would return shortly with his decision. Both a receiver for the premises and a reconsideration motion for the foreclosure itself were denied (after an earlier judge decided the same way). None of this is consistent with bank protocols for the protection of our public. Indeed, no competent attorney would have signed off on such a transaction.

If all goes well, the home is free and clear of the entire mortgage and any back support is therefore easily satisfied. Moreover, the clear criminal conduct on the part of this ex-office manager will support Leon’s case for reinstatement and other relief. It sometimes takes awhile to achieve justice and Leon has not sought to carry grudges with anyone. But hopefully things will fall into place now with brighter prospects. There is much more to report but matters are continuing and highly confidential. These events have now opened the door for the home exchange along with an expanded initiative behind our Parenting Rights Institute. We hope that you will look into purchasing our Court Management Program which has helped so many others reduce the high cost of divorce and family proceedings. Visit our site at http://www.parentingrightsinstitute.com.