Commissioner of Accounts

I don't understand why my 12th trust account asking for help in getting the accountants to remove their accounting entanglements resulted in closing the trust accounting or why my 12th account was described as it was in the Report to the Judges. Does it appear that there are two paper trails where there should be one? One that the accountants put in the Court records and the actual one?

12th Trust account (narrative only)

1999.08.09 Anthony O'Connell to Jesse Wilson and Henry Mackall
(The Trust's Twelfth Court Account, covering the period from 1996.1.1 to 1996.12.31)
"A check for $63.00 is enclosed to file this Twelfth Account. This is not a Final Account.
The accounting for the Trust u/w of H. A. O'Connell was entangled with the accounting of the Estate of Jean M. O'Connell, fiduciary # 49160, by the CPA (firm) I hired and by the lawyer who is co-executor for the Estate:
Ms. Jo Anne Barnes, CPA (firm).
Bruner, Kane & McCarthy, Limited
700 North Fairfax
Alexandria, Virginia 22313
Mr. Edward White, Attorney and Co-Executor
P.0. Box 207
Kinsale, Virginia 22488 (Last known address)
Those who control the entanglements control the people and assets that are entangled. I have experienced the CPA-lawyer entanglements before and know it would be foolhardy to try to sell Accotink (my family's remaining real estate, B8845 p1444 and B8307 p1446) until all the entanglements are removed and the accountings are clear.
To keep this Twelth Account simple and clear I will only address one of the known entanglements. In short, the CPA (firm) did the Trust's Seventh Court Account in a manner that required me to pay the Estate $ 1,475.97. The lawyer discovers that this is $659.97 too much. I can't get the CPA (firm) or the lawyer to address this $659.97 debt much less pay it back. This one is easy to see because it is clearly stated in the beginning of the Estate accounting as a Debt from the Harold O'Connell Trust 659.97. If you review the attached pages 1 through 17 that are part of this Twelfth Account you may notice that:

  • The lawyer unilateraly hires the CPA into the Estate (page 1).
  • The lawyer will seek my sister's approval to sue me if I don't file the Trust's Seventh Court Account early (page 1). The combined advice of the CPA(firm) and the lawyer force me to file it approximately eighteen months earlier than the Commissioner's scheduled date of October 20, 1993, because I cannnot convince my sister, Jean Nader, that their combined advice is wrong (pages 5,6 and 7). This places the filing of the Trust Account before the filing of the Estate Tax Return that is due on June 15, 1992. This makes it easier to entangle the Trust accounting with the Estate Tax Return accounting and make it appear to my family that the estate was damaged by my management of the Trust.
  • The lawyer's letter of April 22, 1992 lists a Debt from the Harold O'Connell Trust   659.97 (page 3) even though I do not sign or submit the Trust's Seventh Court Account that created the $659.97 debt until May 11, 1992 (page 8). The lawyer's letter of May 19, 1992 makes it appear that he doesn’t know what this $659.97 is about and that it is my fault (pages 9 and 10).
  • This $659.97 debt is reported to the IRS (page 16 ). But when I ask the lawyer and CPA (firm) about this $659.97 debt they avoid it (page 15), don't know what I'm talking about (text box on page 16), or don't respond (page 17).

Do any of you have the power to compel the CPA (firm) and the lawyer to:
1. Explain why they created this $659.97 debt.
2. Explain why I am made to appear responsible for it.
3. Show exactly where this $ 659.97 debt is now.
4. Pay the $ 659.97 back from the estate to the trust.
5.  Do it without inflicting anymore cost and conflict on any member of my family.
I want to keep this simple but you have to understand that the CPA (firm) and the lawyer avoid accountability by using a trusting family member, with no accounting background, such as my sister, Jean Nader, co-executor, to cover for them. Please note the advice that the lawyer expects Jean Nader to rely upon in his letter of April 22, 1992. Jean Nader is innocent and is being used.  She does not understand that she is being used. She is not responsible for what the CPA (firm) and the lawyer did. She did not do the accounting. I did not do the accounting. The CPA (firm) and lawyer did the accounting. They will use Jean Nader again and again and again. She has been led to believe that keeping estate accountings a secrect is being loyal to our mother (which makes me appear disloyal). You have to go around Jean Nader to compel the CPA (firm) and the lawyer to be accountable. Please; positively, absolutely, completely, and without exception, do not allow the CPA (firm) and the lawyer to inflict anymore cost and conflict on any member of my family. If you don't have the power to compel the the CPA (firm) and the lawyer to expose and remove the entanglements they created, please understand how I can't.
I would appreciate any effort you might make. Thank you.

Report to the Judges (narrative only)

2000.08.08   (Jesse Wilson's Report to the Judges)
"To the Honorable Judges of Said Court:
RE: Estate of Harold A. OConnell, Trust
Fiduciary No. 21840
1. By a Tenth Account duly filed herein and approved by the undersigned on August 25, 1995, the trustee herein, Anthony M. 0'Connell, properly accounted for all of the remaining assets reported as being assets of the trust created by the will of Harold OConnell and reported a zero balance on hand. A copy of said account is filed herewith as Exhibit 1.
2. By an Eleventh Account, Anthony M. OConnell, trustee, again reported zero assets on hand and no receipts or disbursements. A copy of said account is filed herewith as Exhibit 2.
3. Both the Tenth and Eleventh accounts carried the notation "This is not a final account".
4. In the ordinary case, an account which shows the distribution of all remaining assets is filed as a Final Account, and its approval terminates the fiduciary's responsibility to the Court and permits the Commissioner of Accounts to close the file.
5. The said trustee has also filed a Twelfth Account in which he reports as an asset $659.97 "due from the Estate of Jean M. OConnell".  A copy of that "account" is enclosed herewith as Exhibit 3.
6. The Estate of Jean M. OConnell, deceased, Fiduciary No. 49160, was closed in the Commissioner of Accounts office after approval of a Final Account on May 31, 1994.
7. The said $659.97 was the subject of correspondence between the said trustee and Edward J. White, attorney and co-executor of the estate of Jean M. OConnell, copies of which are attached hereto as Exhibits 4 and 5. In his letter,
Exhibit 5, the trustee explains that the $659.97 is part of a net income payment of $1,475.97 which the trust owed the estate of Jean M. OConnell. In that same letter, the trustee states that "At this point in time, I believe Mr. Balderson and I are of one mind that the estate does not owe the trust and the trust does not owe the estate".
Mr. Balderson was a CPA for the estate. Both of these letters were provided to the Commissioner of Accounts by the trustee in support of his "Twelfth Account".
8. The trustee also provided the Commissioner with a copy of a page from a "Jean M. OConnell estate tax analysis" which shows $659.97 under "Assets" of that estate as "Debt from Harold OConnell Trust".  A copy of that page is attached as Exhibits 6.
From a review of this information the Commissioner finds that there is no evidence to support an assertion by the trustee that the $659.97 is an asset of the trust. To the contrary, it appears that either it is not a debt at all, or, from the estate's point of view, it was money owed by the trust to the estate, i.e. an asset of the estate of Jean M. OConnell. That estate has been closed for more that six years.
Accordingly, the foregoing Eleventh Account of Anthony M. OConnell, Trustee has been marked a "Final Account" by the undersigned and is hereby approved as a Final Account in the trust under the will of Harold A. OConnell and is filed herewith.
In the event that the trustee is successful in recovering $659.97 or any other funds which are proper trust assets to be accounted for, such may be reported to the Commissioner of Accounts by an Amended Inventory and, thereafter, accounted for by proper accounts.

GIVEN under my hand this 8th day of August, 2000.
Respectfully submitted,
Jesse B. Wilson, III
Commissioner of Accounts
Fairfax County, Virginia
JBW:jcs
Enc.: Exhibits, 1 - 6
cc: Anthony M. OConnell, Trustee"
(See the exhibits in the pdf reference)

Related letters

2000.08.08   (Jesse Wilson to Anthony OConnell)
"Enclosed please find a copy of my report approving your 1l th account as trustee in the above matter as your Final Account. As you will see from the report, it appears to me from the information you have provided that the $659.97 debt you report is not a trust asset. Even if the debt existed as you suggest, it's collectability would be so problematic and uncertain, and the effort so costly, as to render it worthless and make reasonable a decision for it to be abandoned as an asset. It certainly should not be the basis for keeping this trust estate open and requiring the filing of annual accounts indefinitely.
In the event that the trustee is successful in recovering $659.97 or any other funds which are proper trust assets to be accounted for, such may be reported to the Commissioner of Accounts by an Amended Inventory and, thereafter, accounted for by proper accounts.
If you disagree with this action by me, you may file exceptions with the
Court within fifteen (15) days of the filing of my report and take the matter up directly with the Court.
Very truly yours,
Jesse B. Wilson, III
Commissioner of Accounts"

2000.08.08   (Jesse Wilson to Anthony OConnell)
"RE: Estate of Jean M. OConnell
Fiduciary No. 49160
Dear Mr. OConnell
This will acknowledge receipt of a copy of your letter of July 24, 2000 to Judges of the Nineteenth Judicial Circuit Court of Virginia.
While I do not presume to speak for the Court or any of the Judges, I think that it is safe to say:
(1) the Court is not organized or constituted for the purpose of conducting the sort of investigation required to establish the facts that you allege in your letter. The Court can only decide cases based on evidence produced by others;
(2) the officials who are responsible for conducting investigations of alleged crimes in Virginia are the Commonwealth Attorneys (the prosecutors) in each jurisdiction and the police departments and their detectives. If the available facts are sufficient to convince the Commonwealth's Attorney that it can be proved that a crime has been committed, and that a prosecution is not barred by the statute of limitations, his/her job is to bring the matter before the Court.
I hope this will be helpful.
Very truly yours,
Jesse B. Wilson, III
Commissioner of Accounts"