Terri Schiavo: Family members profit from foundation funds

[Socrtease]

http://www.wtsp.com/news/local/story.aspx?storyid=130950&catid=8

St. Petersburg, Florida - They sang, they protested, they prayed all for Terri Schiavo, who was in the middle of a right to die battle in 2005, while supporters of Terri Schiavo's parents, brother and sister refused to give up hope saying she was alert and fighting for her life.

However, doctors determined the woman was in a permanent vegetative state. Despite appeals to President George W. Bush, and his brother then Florida's Governor Jeb Bush, Congress and the courts decided that once her feeding tube was removed it would stay that way. After being on a feeding tube for more than a decade, two weeks after it was removed, Terri Schiavo died March 31st 2005.

Now more than five years after Terri Schiavo died at the Pinellas Park hospice that was the scene of protests, lawsuits and even Congressional action, her family is still working to keep her name alive, but according to IRS records we obtained they are also profiting off of her name.

Schiavo's widower, Michael Schiavo, says the family should be ashamed of what they are doing. He adds if Terri ever knew this was happening she'd be horrified. Michael Schiavo is talking about the Terri Schindler Schiavo Foundation. While Terri Schiavo's brother Bobby says the organization is set up to help families in similar situations, Michael Schiavo says he doesn't believe it. Instead Schiavo says they are using their deceased sister's name to make money.

In most recent IRS report that the Foundation filed for 2008, it shows the foundation took in $91,568 and paid Terri's dad Robert Schindler Sr., her brother Robert Jr. and her sister Suzanne Vitadamo $59,275, or 64% of the money they raised.

READ: Terri Schindler Schiavo Foundation 990 Tax Forms

Charity Navigator a respected Charity Rating organization says any charity spending more than 30 percent on salaries gets a zero rating. The foundation doesn't come close.

more at link...

 

[WinterBorn]

All the crap that the family put out there to try and smear his name, and it looks like Michael Schiavo is the most noble one of the lot.

 

[Topspin]

how is that not fraud?

 

[Socrtease]

All the crap that the family put out there to try and smear his name, and it looks like Michael Schiavo is the most noble one of the lot.

What do you expect from someone that thought she was still alive even when her brain had atrophied? These people have been stupid and self serving from day one. All they wanted was access to her life insurance policy and lied about Michael Schiavo harming his wife to get a judge to remove him as her medical decision maker. I hope they are found to have committed fraud and I hope they go to prison.

 

[Jarod]

But, Dixie was hoping they could bring her back to life!

 

[Socrtease]

Yes, conservatives around the country rallied against what her doctors already knew, she was brain dead. The smiles were merely signals from the brainstem which can function long after the brain itself is dead and shrunken by half. Her fucking brain was HALF its normal size. Well I guess that could make for a good right winger, left winger as well.

 

[Jarod]

Yes, conservatives around the country rallied against what her doctors already knew, she was brain dead. The smiles were merely signals from the brainstem which can function long after the brain itself is dead and shrunken by half. Her fucking brain was HALF its normal size. Well I guess that could make for a good right winger, left winger as well.

They were hoping for another Bush voter!

 

[Timshel]

This sounds bad on first glance, but... I am curious if the distribution levels are all that abnormal for a new foundation. That is, it would seem likely that an organizations distribution percentages might be a little lopsided while they are starting. A new company is likely to eat a larger percentage of its revenues via salaries than an established one. It seems it would be likely for a non profit, as well. So, it looks bad but I would be hesitant to pass judgement without more information.

BTW, that Charity Navigator thing is great. I always check it before giving away any of my money.

 

[christiefan915]

All the crap that the family put out there to try and smear his name, and it looks like Michael Schiavo is the most noble one of the lot.

Not to me.

"On January 23, 2006, Schiavo married his long-term fiancée, Jodi Centonze, whom he met in a dentist's office in 1993, according to Schiavo's book. They have two children, both born prior to their marriage and prior to Terri's death: the first was born in the fall of 2002, and the second was born in the spring of 2004.

Schiavo lived with Centonze for approximately 13 years before the marriage, during much of the time that Terri was hospitalized. During that time Schiavo had repeatedly refused to divorce Terri and marry Centonze, despite being begged to do so by Terri's parents, who would then have become Terri's guardians."

 

[WinterBorn]

Not to me.

"On January 23, 2006, Schiavo married his long-term fiancée, Jodi Centonze, whom he met in a dentist's office in 1993, according to Schiavo's book. They have two children, both born prior to their marriage and prior to Terri's death: the first was born in the fall of 2002, and the second was born in the spring of 2004.

Schiavo lived with Centonze for approximately 13 years before the marriage, during much of the time that Terri was hospitalized. During that time Schiavo had repeatedly refused to divorce Terri and marry Centonze, despite being begged to do so by Terri's parents, who would then have become Terri's guardians."

He met the other woman 3 years after Terri collapsed. Why does everyone think he should have remained celibate and alone during the 15 years he was the only one looking out for what Terri wanted?

Yes, he found another woman. But he never abandoned his duty to Terri.

 

[Minister of Truth]

He met the other woman 3 years after Terri collapsed. Why does everyone think he should have remained celibate and alone during the 15 years he was the only one looking out for what Terri wanted?

Yes, he found another woman. But he never abandoned his duty to Terri.

It is doesn't just automatically come to you, you'll have to wait until judgement day to find out why...

 

[evince]

But , But, But charity can solve all our problems right. Charity will feed all the poor and shit if gubment just gets out of the way right?

 

[Socrtease]

Not to me.

"On January 23, 2006, Schiavo married his long-term fiancée, Jodi Centonze, whom he met in a dentist's office in 1993, according to Schiavo's book. They have two children, both born prior to their marriage and prior to Terri's death: the first was born in the fall of 2002, and the second was born in the spring of 2004.

Schiavo lived with Centonze for approximately 13 years before the marriage, during much of the time that Terri was hospitalized. During that time Schiavo had repeatedly refused to divorce Terri and marry Centonze, despite being begged to do so by Terri's parents, who would then have become Terri's guardians."

THey wanted him to divorce her so they could get the proceeds to her life insurance. Now they are trying to profit from her name another way. He was entitled to her life insurance proceeds just as she would have been entitled to his. Her family turned to the idiots like Sean Hannity to say she was "still alive" to pressure the husband to divorce her. I still remember "Dr Hannity" telling his audience on the radio there was no doubt in his mind she was aware of her surroundings. May he can function with a half sized brain, but she couldn't. EVERY SINGLE PERSON that worked to prolong the ordeal was WRONG. Her doctors had said from the outset there was no brain activity.

 

[evince]

Not to me.

"On January 23, 2006, Schiavo married his long-term fiancée, Jodi Centonze, whom he met in a dentist's office in 1993, according to Schiavo's book. They have two children, both born prior to their marriage and prior to Terri's death: the first was born in the fall of 2002, and the second was born in the spring of 2004.

Schiavo lived with Centonze for approximately 13 years before the marriage, during much of the time that Terri was hospitalized. During that time Schiavo had repeatedly refused to divorce Terri and marry Centonze, despite being begged to do so by Terri's parents, who would then have become Terri's guardians."

He did this to protect Her from her family.

If he had remarried they would have owned her living corpse and acted against her own will. The man sacraficed for her by doing this.

 

[christiefan915]

What do you expect from someone that thought she was still alive even when her brain had atrophied? These people have been stupid and self serving from day one. All they wanted was access to her life insurance policy and lied about Michael Schiavo harming his wife to get a judge to remove him as her medical decision maker. I hope they are found to have committed fraud and I hope they go to prison.

Michael Schiavo consistently refused to comment on whether there was an outstanding life insurance policy on Terri. If there was a policy naming the Schindlers as beneficiaries, it seems Michael would be eager to let the public know this, in his media war against them. If there was a policy naming him as beneficiary, it gets a little murkier because it calls his motivations into question.

Nobody knew how much Terri's brain had atrophied until the autopsy, neither Michael nor the Schindlers. I wouldn't call loving parents stupid and self-serving because they were clinging to the tiniest bit of hope for their child. It was ultimately foolish hope but I don't think their intentions were bad.

My opinion of Michael isn't based on his fight to take Terri off life support. I followed this case long before it became a political issue. The case was on a website that explored "unsolved mysteries", and at the time the mystery was how a young girl could fall into a years'-long PVS from no apparent cause. I started to get a negative opinion of Michael after he won a malpractice settlement of almost a million dollars, and that's when the relations deteriorated between him and the Schindlers. The money was put into trust to go for Terri's care in a facility. It goes without saying that the longer she lived in the facility, the less money would end up in Michael's pocket.

My opinion is that Michael is narcissistic, greedy and controlling, and that he only dragged the Schindlers into the public eye to deflect attention from himself. There were times when he refused to let the Schindlers visit Terri in the facility, and also he refused to have a family funeral, and he initially refused to let them know where her ashes were interred. It took a court order to force Michael to let the Schindlers know when he'd be holding a memorial service.

Michael had Terri's tombstone engraved with the words "I kept my promise". What kind of person needs to memorialize his agenda like this?

The latest is that Michael's current marriage is floundering. Who'd of thunk it?

Just the people who evaluated Michael by his own words and actions in that ugly fight.

 

[christiefan915]

If there's a suspicion the Schindler family did something illegal they should be fully investigated and penalized for any wrongdoing. But I find it ironic that Michael Schiavo says they should be "ashamed" of what they did.

Michael wasn't hesitant about using Terri's name to open a PAC shortly after her death. Furthermore, Michael's "TerriPAC" was shut down after two years because of false filings to the FEC. There was over $34,000 in the account at the time it was shut down. Maybe someone can tell me what happens to the funds when this occurs. Are they returned to donors or did he get to keep them?

Michael created TerriPAC with his brother Brian Schiavo and, since its creation, it has frequently run afoul of the FEC by failing to file its campaign finance reports on time or include all of the necessary information.

The commission fined the PAC $1,350 in July and threatened an investigation over repeated failures to properly file reports about its fundraising and spending.

Although the political action committee paid the fine, the FEC is again going after the group for filing incomplete financial reports.

The agency sent TerriPAC a letter on August 10 concerning its April report and it requests a response with more accurate information by September 10. The FEC tells the PAC that a failure to respond will invite "an audit or enforcement action."

According to the FEC letter, TerriPAC failed to itemize all contributions greater than $200, did not adequately detail its expenses on polling and research and whether they were done for specific candidates, and did not specific whether some fundraising was conducted for the PAC or for a specific candidate.

"Adequate responses must be received by the [FEC] on or before the due date noted above to be taken into consideration in determining whether audit action will be initiated," the letter says.

 

[WinterBorn]

Michael Schiavo consistently refused to comment on whether there was an outstanding life insurance policy on Terri. If there was a policy naming the Schindlers as beneficiaries, it seems Michael would be eager to let the public know this, in his media war against them. If there was a policy naming him as beneficiary, it gets a little murkier because it calls his motivations into question.

Nobody knew how much Terri's brain had atrophied until the autopsy, neither Michael nor the Schindlers. I wouldn't call loving parents stupid and self-serving because they were clinging to the tiniest bit of hope for their child. It was ultimately foolish hope but I don't think their intentions were bad.

My opinion of Michael isn't based on his fight to take Terri off life support. I followed this case long before it became a political issue. The case was on a website that explored "unsolved mysteries", and at the time the mystery was how a young girl could fall into a years'-long PVS from no apparent cause. I started to get a negative opinion of Michael after he won a malpractice settlement of almost a million dollars, and that's when the relations deteriorated between him and the Schindlers. The money was put into trust to go for Terri's care in a facility. It goes without saying that the longer she lived in the facility, the less money would end up in Michael's pocket.

My opinion is that Michael is narcissistic, greedy and controlling, and that he only dragged the Schindlers into the public eye to deflect attention from himself. There were times when he refused to let the Schindlers visit Terri in the facility, and also he refused to have a family funeral, and he initially refused to let them know where her ashes were interred. It took a court order to force Michael to let the Schindlers know when he'd be holding a memorial service.

Michael had Terri's tombstone engraved with the words "I kept my promise". What kind of person needs to memorialize his agenda like this?

The latest is that Michael's current marriage is floundering. Who'd of thunk it?

Just the people who evaluated Michael by his own words and actions in that ugly fight.

The doctors consistently said there was no higher brain left. The CT scans showed a void where her higher brain would have been.

The money he gained was minor compared to the crap he went thru. I doubt anyone would think the dollars would be worth the media hype and being dragged thru the mud.

That the parents were holding out hope? They were denying what their daughter wanted. They were holding their daughter in a vegetative state, after being shown scans that showed her higher brain was gone.

 

[Canceled2]

Michael’s attorneys in the suit against the hospital argued that a “potassium deficiency” caused Terri to have a heart attack that in turned caused brain damage. There was no evidence of any such deficiency. As often happens in malpractice suits, the plaintiff won because the hospital failed to use a test that could have indicated whether a specified condition existed or not.

Dr. Michael Baden, chief pathologist for the City of New York and director of the New York State Police Forensic Sciences Unit, questioned the claim of a potassium deficiency in an interview by Greta van Susteren. He said such a situation would be “very unusual”. He suggested a physical trauma such as a beating provided a more likely explanation. He cited a bone scan indicating a head injury and other bone injuries.

On a subsequent episode, Schindler(Terri’s family) family attorney Pat Anderson stated that a doctor who examined Terri when she arrived at the hospital stated she had rigidity of the neck consistent with strangulation. The Schindlers learned about the possible bone injuries and neck rigidity in a 1998 evidentiary hearing.


Anderson also mentioned that during the day before Terri ended up in the hospital she had told a friend that Michael had been upset with her because he claimed she spent too much at the beauty salon. Terri dismissed the friend’s offer to come over saying she would pretend to be asleep when Michael came home and that would prevent a problem.. Terri had discussed divorcing Michael with her friend even though Terri is Catholic.

 

[NOVA]

Two interesting posts, Christiefan...very interesting

I don't think the pinheads really want to hear anything that might conflict with their narrow-minded, biased and oddly politically motivated opinions...

Schiavo was institutionalized for 15 years...but the pinheads refer to her as dead....obviously there was enough brain function to keep her body living with the help of a feeding tube....

evince says,

"He did this to protect Her from her family.
If he had remarried they would have owned her living corpse and acted against her own will. The man sacraficed for her by doing this."

That is the most bizarre observation I ever heard....its too irrational to even respond to..

 

[apple0154]

My opinion is the spouse should have full authority when it comes to medical decisions. In fact, that is the primary reason I married.

Years ago, I had an accident which resulted in being unable to state medical directives. My female partner at the time and my brother vied for authority. The doctors, one of them knowing my brother, decided his directives would be followed. Life and death decisions were made on my behalf, specifically, when my lungs collapsed and my heart required electrical impulses to keep it going.

The question was should I be kept alive when the doctors did not know if I would be paralyzed from the neck down as my spine had been fractured.

Fortunately, I did not suffer paralysis.

While I now have a "living will" I wanted to be sure that should misfortune strike, here or in another country, my wife could speak for me.

I can't imagine a Hell worse than having a beautiful woman by my side and not being able to move. That would be worse than death!

Whatever one may think motivated Michael Schiavo he is a hero in my book. How many people would strive for fifteen years trying to honor a promise?