[ Return to anybodybutjohn.com | Contents | Post a new Message]
The purpose of this discussion group is to discuss the issues!!!
Everyone is entitled to their own opinions. Just because a person has a different opinion does not warrant name calling. Young or old, your opinions about the issues are important. I you want your message to remain on the board, please stop the name calling.
For the latest posts in this discussion - please visit Discussion Group 2!
From: George J. Mougios,George J.Mougios Reports-The Bpt Post N
Date: 05 Sep 2001
Time: 05:20:02
Remote Name: 64.252.197.92
George J. Mougios Reports-The Bridgeport Post Newsletter
NO FEAR! NO FAVOR! THE PEOPLE’S REPORTER-THE PEOPLE'S NEWSLETTER George J. Mougios, Publisher, E-mail : MRMOUGIOS@HOTMAIL.COM- Call: 203-384-8528-2001CopyrightedGeorgeMougios
We're as Mad s Can Be and We're Not Taking it Anymore! What About You?" Is it not about time, you STOOD UP AND SPOKE OUT TOO?
The Charles and Mary James Home for Elderly Woman In Southport, CT -A Dying Woman's Plan to Help Elderly Woman Foiled by Those She Trusted-Consider this article a Plea to Attorney General Richard Bluemennthal who has ignored this issue and who now can INVESTIGATE since the Trust is no longer under the Probate Court
I have fought for over thirty years, in an attempt to right a wrong as regards the above mentioned trust which has recently converted into a non-profit corporation so that it will not have to seek permission from the Fairfield Probate Court. The trustees took this action with the help of the judge, Judge Daniel Caruso. I have attempted to fight this battle without hurting anyone but now the truth and whole truth must come out in the open. They have BLED the TRUST !
The press, including Connecticut Post, Fairfield Citizen, and Fairfield Minuteman have ignored this story. Thus, in view of recent events, the story must be told again. The matter involves some $2,000,000 .
What exactly is the Charles and Mary James Trust?
Charles and Mary James were immigrants from Albanian who located in Southport, CT. They were Christians. They were members of the Holy Trinity Greek Orthodox Church. Indeed, when Holy Trinity built its first edifice in Bridgeport, on Myrtle Avenue, Mr. James donated a large sum of money for the privilege of being the first parishioner to open the doors to the church. This was in 1937, when money was scarce. The early Albanian settlers had a close association with the Greek Church . It seems that there were Albanians who were Phil-Hellenic and some who were adamantly anti-Hellenic and others who were neutral. Most of the early Albanian settlers spoke fluent Greek.
I first became acquainted with the James family through my grandmother, who was friends with Mrs. James. Actually, the real name was CHEKAS and she was known, after the death of her husband, Charles, as GERO CHEKANAS, meaning "Old Lady Chekas." This nickname in Greek is used affectionately and does not sound harsh as it does in English. In English, the equivalent would be "The Widow Chekas."
My grandmother, the late Helen Sarris, once related to me the following : She had just spoken with Gero Chekinas, who had taken ill, and had been in and out of the hospital. At that time, Mrs. Chekas, lived in a two family house on Main Street in Southport, CT, and lived on the income from the stores she owned on Pequot Avenue. The stores are those which now house Spic and Span and another market and the building across the street wherein the Russell Agency is located. She complained to my grandmother that while in the hospital,it seemed that everyone who came to visit her , anticipating her death, wanted her to will over her property holdings to her. She stated that the Greek priest came, who at that time was Father William Kehayes, and the Albanian Priest came and her nephew came(Nick Fingelly) among other relatives such as Evangel Leshney , and all were more interested in her property than in her welfare. She told my grandmother that the priests wanted her to leave the real estate to the churches and her nephew and relatives wanted it left to them.
Actually, I confirmed this fact with Father Kehayes, as concerned his visit and request, and Father Bill, as he was known, admitted to me that he felt it would be of great help to the church and he did make the request.
Well, Mrs. James had other ideas. She may have been old but she wasn't senile nor stupid. Her only mistake was that she trusted her relatives and friends. She was a lonely widow living in Southport when most of the Greek and Albanian families lived in Bridgeport, CT. She experienced loneliness. She felt isolated. She decided to do something about it. For many years, the Greek Orthodox community has discussed the problem faced by our elderly,in that they do not feel at home, in the nursing homes available. Their native tongue is not spoken and the religious services are not the liturgy of the Orthodox Church. Yet the Orthodox did not have enough money for such a venture as building a home for the aged of their faith. We still don't have such a home. We spend all our money on iconography and paying priests $65,000 to $100,000 a year. The Orthodox Church does not have any social programs whatsoever that’s service the community.
So Mrs. James' plan was to establish a small home for five elderly ladies, three to be of Albanian descent and two to be of Greek descent. This figure now is stated by Judge Caruso to be three to four ladies but I recall five ladies. The James' house at 40-42 Main Street in Southport, CT, is a two family house that was to house the five women. The income from the commercial property was to sustain them. As one woman died, another would be found to replace her. This is my opinion as to Mrs. James' intentions. She stipulated that the ladies had to be elderly and in need. The only people that Mrs. James was close to were relatives and her tenants, the ones who were of Albanian descent and of Greek descent. So she named them as trustees. This all took place in the fifties. In the late sixties, early seventies, I came upon the scene, as a regular customer of SOTER'S GROCERY store, owned by Jimmy Soter, who was a tenant in the building and a trustee of the Trust that was set up. Several of the trustees had stores in the James complex at below market rents. Nicholas Fingelly, became the head trustee.Leshney was there too but Fingelly was the brains and the only one who was able to properly communicate in English. The late John Darcy, an attorney, became the Guardian Ad Litum, the guardian of unknown beneficiaries. Dave Citronberg, an attorney , represented the trustees and has done so for many years, up to the present. Citronberg knows more about this matter than anyone else.
Many older Soutporters will recall " Jimmy," as James Soter was affectionately known. He operated Soter's Grocery store and was a long time Southport resident. His little grocery store had become a fixture in Southport. He was a beloved man. As evidence of this love,the town residents built a plaque in his honor, on the lot of the Spic and Span parking lot which simply states, Jimmy Soter, our friend."
It was Jimmy Soter who informed me that something wrong was going on with the Mary James Trust. He wanted me to look into the matter . He felt that because of his limited education , eventhough, he was a trustee of the fund, he did not have the ability to wage a battle against Fingelly, who made all the decisions.
As I continued to stop in on Jimmy Soter's every morning, the Boria brothers,that owned the now closed liquor store in the complex that has been taken over by the Russell Agency, became suspicious. As soon as I arrived, Boria would call LESHNEY. Leshney would call me and would ask," Georgie, why you go Southport everyday, what do you want?" I told Leshny,that all I wanted was to see to it that Mrs. James wishes are carried out. I knew then that just as Jimmy Soter suspected, something was wrong.
At that time, around the late sixties, early seventy's, the trustees had not DISBURSED a single penny nor took any action to fulfill Mrs. James wishes. I contacted Dr. James Kellis, then Chairman of the Democratic Party of Fairfield, soon to break with First Selectman John Sullivan, over corruption charges, suggested I appear at the probate court during one of the trusts' public hearings where the trustee gave an account to the court.
I attended my first hearing back then and challenged Fingelly, who was the only trustee present and the trust's attorney, Dave Citronberg. Evangel Leshney, another leading trustee, was not present. Where LESHNEY fit in, I didn't know. He was never at the hearings. But his calls to me, often in a high pitched tone that sounded like a woman, showed that he definitely was fearful of my investigation into the trust as were the Borias. Later I found that Evangel Leshney was the executor of Mrs. James' estate, but I never met him .
I worked with four judges on this case:Fitzpatrick,McGilnick,Steiber and Shannon, over a thirty year period. At my first hearing, I charged Fingelly and the trustees with failing to disburse funds as required by the will. Fingelly replied that the property was in bad repair and all the money left over after paying all expenses, went for renovations. The judge remarked that some ten to fifteen years of repairs seemed excessive and ordered Fingelly to start disbursing funds to needy recipient's. Fingelly seemed shocked and angered that anyone from the public could appear in court and make such demands as I was making. The judge informed Fingelly that the trust was a public one and that anyone from the public could come to the hearing.
I cannot recall each judge's ruling but it is all on record. At another hearing, I recall Judge Steiber ordering the trustee to bring the rents to market value. Fingelly objected but I pointed out that some trustees were also tenants in the building. Well, they all got increases including the good guy, JIMMY SOTER, who didn't care about the increased rents but that Mrs. James' wishes be fulfilled.
At one point, we thought that five ladies were to be recipients of the trust and other documents show four ladies. The will and the establishment of the trust and or non-profit corporation were crudely crafted. I think this was due to Mrs. James being ill and facing death and the will was quickly drafted.
My personal feelings were that the trustee had devised a plan to profit from the trust without disbursing any funds to needy recipients as outlined in Mrs. James' will. It may have involved kickbacks from contractors who did the repairs on the property for some ten to fifteen years, the longest repair job in Southport's history. Don't forget that at that time, everybody close to Mrs. James had expected to inherit the property and were sorely disappointed to find that Mrs. James had other plans. Nick Fingelly, was then a struggling realtor, who worked for George Kish. Kish had promised Fingelly a partnership and never gave it to him even after nine years of service. This fact was related to me by Fingelly himself. I informed all the past judges (except Caruso) of my feelings, and off the record, they all seemed to think the same way as I did about the trustees.
Each of the above judges, Fitzpatrick, McGilnick, Steiber, and Shannon, over a period of many years, sent me notice of the Mary James Trust hearings. I wanted to keep on top of the situation. Since I succeeded in getting the court to order that disbursements be made to needy recipients, I did not attend as many hearings as previously. The disbursements were to be made to the needy recipients through the Greek and Albanian churches.
In 1973, this matter was to surface again when I won a seat on the parish council of the Holy Trinity Greek Orthodox Church. The late Nick Demas, a trustee of the trust, who along with his brother, operated the now defunct Mary Journey's Inn in Bridgeport, CT, called the parish council to speak with one of my opponents William Pappas, during one of our meetings. The Demas Brothers were partners with Fingelly on many real estate deals. It seems that Nick Demas spoke to one of my main detractor on the parish council, Bill Papas. Demas' made what he thought was a threat. He stated that Pappas should inform the parish council that if George Mougios continues to attend probate hearings of the James Trust, the trustees would cease sending moneys to the churches and start disbursing it to the local hospitals. Instead of objecting to this type of intimidation, Pappas, who was working with Demas, brought the matter to the parish council meetings' agenda, as an attempt to force me off the board.
Perry Kokinos,then a parish council member, and owner of the BRIDGEPORT FLYER DINERS, stated: First of all, if it wasn't for George Mougios, there wouldn't be any funds to disburse as the trustees would still be holding on to the funds. Secondly, the money does not go to the church but is placed in our special Mary James account to disburse to needy elderly ladies. So what is the purpose of all of this? So Bill Pappas, an illogical man, when faced with this logic and when he saw that all members of the parish council felt the same way as Perry Kokinos, abandoned the matter. The question remains: Why did Demas , a trustee of the James Fund, want to stop me from attending probate hearings of the James Trust?
But Nick Demas did disburse funds to the area hospitals for two years, instead of to the churches, and now Bridgeport Hospital and St. Vincent's each have over $100,000 each which has never been disbursed. Now to add to the mystery, the hospitals are very secretive about these moneys. WHY?
The Greek priest and the Albanian priest are also very secretive about this matter. The Albanian priest told me that he appreciated my efforts but that he had to be careful as his parishioners, like James Dionis, is President of the trustees and other parishioners are on the trust. What is Father afraid of?
The House at 40-42 MAIN STREET in SOUTHPORT, the house that was to house the elderly woman was sold a few years ago for $468,000. A final blow to MARY JAMES wishes! FINGELLY of course got the listing!
When the present Judge of Probate, Daniel J. Caruso, was first elected to office, I attempted to meet him and to request that my name remain on the list as one those interested in attending the hearings regarding the James Trust. The judge's secretary went into the judge's chambers and came back and reported that the judge stated that when the announcement is in the paper, I should look for it and that he would not send me notice of the hearings. The judge, evidently did not want to meet with me , despite the fact that I met and worked with four probate judges over thirty years. Judge Caruso, who ironically belongs to an organization of judges interested in helping beneficiaries of trusts who got defrauded, wasn't interested in meeting with me, even after I told him that I was the one individual that came to a hearing some twenty years prior and by merely speaking out, FORCED the TRUST to start disbursing funds. Since then, I call Caruso, THE JUDGE OF REPROBATE. It is fair to state, that the then new Judge of Probate, Daniel Caruso, once informed of my actions in regard to the James Trust, and my past affiliations with the court,in the normal course of events, would have desired to meet me. Any reasonable man in his position, would have wanted to meet with me to discuss the issue and to place my name on the list of those to be informed of future hearings. However, Caruso did not want to meet me or with me and would not place my name on the list of those to be informed of future hearings. WHY? Caruso, tries to show that he is a nice guy and as a politician, even advertises his interest in helping people and especially those people defrauded by trustees. The why did "nice guy" Caruso take the action he did in regards to your publisher,George J. Mougios, the man who got the court to order the trustees to disburse funds that they were hoarding or stealing.
It seems that prior to the disbursement of funds and afterwards, all involved with the fund have earned money off the fund. I never received a dime and all I am asking is the recognition that I, George J. Mougios, was the individual that forced the trustees to disburse funds. I want this to show in the record and it is not in the record. I want the records to show that the late Dr. James Kellis, the late Judge McGilnick, the late Judge Fitzpatrick and former Judge Steiber and former Judge Shannon,ALL assisted in seeing to it that funds were disbursed, and that rents were brought up to market level. I want the record to show that the trustees did not disburse ANY funds to needy recipients for some fifteen years after the death of Mrs. James.
A MAJOR ISSUE: CAN THREE OR FOUR LADIES LIVE IN A TWO FAMILY HOUSE AT 40-42 MAIN STREET IN SOUTHPORT OR IS IT AGAINST ZONING REGULATIONS?
Again, the Judge of Reprobate, so-called nice guy, DANIEL CARUSO, ignores the record as regards zoning
Nick Fingelly stated at a public hearing, where I was present, that Fairfield zoning does not allow three or four ladies, to live in a house. I asked Fingelly if he ever applied to zoning and he said NO. I asked Fingelly if he ever inquired of zoning and he said NO. Is it in the record of the probate court? EVEN NOW, THE JUDGE OF REPROBATE, acts as if this matter as regards zoning and FINGELLY'S interpretation is true. Any reasonable and sane person knows that four to five ladies can live in a two family house. The fact is that the trustees did not want to house ladies in the James house as Mrs. James intended as this would tie up funds that they could not manipulate. The fact that five to ten students illegally occupy some 200 Fairfield Beach cottages, makes the above look like a joke. The number of ladies I recall was FIVE; three of Albanian descent and two of Greek descent. Current documents by Caruso state "three or four."
NOW when one tells a PROBATE JUDGE, as I told Caruso, that I was the one that forced the James Trustees to disburse funds and the judge shows NO INTEREST, then something is WRONG as I worked with FOUR PROBATE JUDGES in the past 30 years. I am not going to allow my work to go down the drain. I was kind to Fingelly back then but I do feel he was STEALING funds from the TRUST and Jimmy Soter indicated that he felt something was very wrong. Jimmy Soter asked me to investigate and get involved.
But what Goes around. Comes around. Fingelly, after making millions, left his family in BIG debt. The Demas fortune, which Fingelly relied on also went up in smoke and the Demas family is impoverished, I call this the CURSE OF MARY JAMES. The Demas fortune went down the tubes, nor because of a family illness or a family tragedy, but because of GREED. A con-artist got the Demas family to invest $4,000,000 in a South American deal that was to return huge unheard of profits. The money went SOUTH, never to return any returns.
WHERE DID THE MONEY THAT THE TRUSTEES DID NOT DISBURSE FOR SOME 15 YEARS GO?
The TRUTH may be that since LESHNEY and FINGELLY did not inherit the James property,as they had hoped, they may have devised a scheme to defraud the estate as mentioned previously and again, for emphasis. Since all the money went for repairs, a deal may have been made with contractors, so that the contractors gave kickbacks to Fingelly and Leshney. Look at what is going on in Bridgeport, CT. Trust politicians? In this environment? Judge Caruso is a politician.
Now the James Trust plans to sell more properties and one building was sold to Russell Agency and Russells are good people.I object to the fact that the properties were allowed to be sold as Mrs. James was specific in her will that she did not want any of the properties sold. But who listens to the wishes of the will of a dead woman whose relatives tried to defraud?
When the house was sold at 40-42 Main Street in Southport,CT, Fingelly got the listing and the house was already bindered prior to going on the market. I went to the court in order to see if this was true and it was true. I asked to speak to the Judge and he again refused to see me. Cyd Leone, then a broker for William Pitt, called me and informed me that the house was already bindered prior to going on the market and that it sold for some $468,000 in a very relatively short time. According to broker Leone, this meant that the house was underpriced.
To show you the mentality of these trustees, one Judge during a hearing ordered Nick Fingelly to STOP charging the James Trust $50 for an hour meeting in Fingelly's office. How low can you get?
Guess who they have placed on the board as a trustee : WILLIAM PAPPAS, and NICK PHAKIAS ,the photographer. These trustees are not qualified to handle several million dollars in cash and neither are the others.
Since even the Greek priest and the Albanian priest are secretive about this matter, I don't even trust the priests. The Albanian priest told me that he was grateful for my efforts but that he had to be careful as his parishioners are officers of the trust. I once found that the Greek Church was holding on to $60,000 given to it by the James trust. I informed Father Recachinas that the church is doing the same thing the trustees were doing, not disbursing funds.
The money I helped disburse is the biggest SOCIAL PROGRAM these two churches have. The Greek Orthodox churches are not BIG on social programs. I would say that over the past 25 years, close to $ 1,000,000 has been disbursed to needy recipients due to my efforts. So do they put me on the board? No, they put BILL PAPPAS on the board. I still feel that based on the above, something is still "rotten in Denmark," and after what we have seen in Bridgeport, Waterbury, the state treasurer's scandal, among others. I feel that an investigation needs to be conducted. Remember, everyone involved except your publisher has made money from the James Trust or benefited form the trust. So who do you trust?
I have to mention, prior to closing, that several years ago, I heard that the trustees of the James Trust, wanted to sell the real estate owned by the Trust and invest in the stock market. I stated to all concerned ,including the new Guardian of the unknown beneficiaries, the firm of Brody, Wilkinson, and Ober, PC(S. Giles Payne and Douglas Brown), that I felt the trustees were not qualified to invest in the stock market. Mrs. James stated in her will that she did not want the property or real estate sold. All of Mrs. James wishes have been ignored. Naturally, anyone can see that when a person forms a trust in one's will, that person intended it to be a trust under the probate court and not a corporate entity. I wonder what would have happened to the almost one milliuon dollars the trustees were forced to disburse if I, George J. Mougios, did not take the time and trouble to attend a hearing in the probate court and publicly challenge Nick Fingelly, the head trustee?
Thus, I request that this edition of my newsletter be treated as a letter to the public and to the office of the Attorney General of the State of CT. and to Holly Jean Bray, Assistant Attorney General.