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Citibank Cheats Grandmaster Benko out of $70,000
As every chess player knows, Ruth V. Cardoso, the South American
Woman's Chess Champion, was the constant companion of Grandmaster Pal
Benko. They were together for thirty years from 1970 until her death
in 2000.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ruth_Volgl_Cardoso
Although Ruth Cardoso spent six months out of every year in New Jersey
or New York, she retained a dual residence in Salvador, Bahia, Brazil.
Ruth Cardoso died on February 11, 2000 leaving everything to
Grandmaster Benko in her will, including her brokerage accounts at
Citibank, 120 Broadway, New York NY.
After her death, Grandmaster Benko presented the will to her Citibank
account officer, who informed him that he would have get a court order
from New York Surrogates Court before the bank could hand over the
money.
Benko accordingly applied to the New York Surrogates Court for letters
of administration. However, the court has an unusual rule that when a
person dies without relatives, any person claiming under a will must
prove to the satisfaction of the court that there are no living
relatives. However, since it is impossible to prove a negative, the
applicant must detail the steps that have been taken to locate any
possible relatives of the deceased person.
Although Ruth Cardoso had been born in Brazil and was a citizen of
Brazil, she had been trapped in Nazi Germany during World War II and
grew up there. All of her relatives had died in the war except for her
mother who had died two years before Ruth died.
Accordingly, Benko was required to search for any possible relatives
of Ruth Cardoso. In the course of this required search, Benko
contacted Wolfgang Roddewig, who was the Honorary Consul of Germany to
Salvador, Bahia, Brazil, where Ruth Cardoso had died.
Roddewig informed Benko that Ruth Cardoso had left no relatives and no
significant assets in Brazil when she died.
However, upon learning from Benko that there was a proceeding in New
York Surrogates Court, Roddewig applied to the courts of Brazil to be
appointed executor of her estate in Brazil. This was routinely granted
by that court. Roddewig then contacted the Citibank offices in
Salvador, Brazil and demanded that the funds that Ruth Cardoso had on
deposit in Citibank New York be transferred to him, even though
Roddewig had no relationship with Ruth Cardoso. This happened in
mid-2003, more than three years after Ruth Cardoso had died.
Benko, being completely unaware of what Roddewig was doing in Brazil,
went through the procedures required by the New York Surrogates Court,
which included publishing a legal notice in the New York Law Journal
for four consecutive weeks in November and December 2003.
Following the publication of the legal notices, the New York Public
Administrators Office demanded that the witnesses to the will be
produced to testify that Ruth Cardoso was of sound mind and body when
she made out her will. However, the attorney assigned the task by the
New York Public Administrator was John Reddy, who then delayed seven
months and only issued his report after the Benko Family complained to
the court that he was not doing his job.
As a result of these delays by John Reddy, it took seven months until
July 2004, before he issued his report. The same day that he issued
the report, the New York Surrogates Court, Judge Roth, issued letters
of administration in favor of Grandmaster Benko.
Benko then went to Citibank at 120 Broadway to collect the $70,000
that Ruth Cardoso had left to him, only to be told that Citibank did
not have the money any more. They refused to reveal what had happened
to the money.
However, from other sources, Benko eventually was able to find out
that in May 2004, Citibank had given the $70,000 to Wolfgang Roddewig
in Brazil.
Benko then filed a Miscellaneous Proceeding in New York Surrogated
to recover the money, arguing that Citibank had made a mistake in
giving the money to the wrong person, ignoring the legal notices that
had been published in the New York Law Journal in December 2003,
months before Citibank had sent the money to Brazil, and also charging
Attorney John Reddy as being culpable by delaying seven months when by
statute he is required to complete his proceedings within ten days.
This case was argued and submitted before the newly elected Surrogates
Judge Krestin Booth Glen in May 2005. Judge Glen had just become a
judge under controversial circumstances. The New York Bar had rated
her as unqualified. Nevertheless, she had defeated a highly
qualified candidate for judge in one of the dirtiest election
campaigns for a judicial post in recent memory.
After the case was argued and submitted, Judge Glen sat on the case
doing nothing for nearly two years until yesterday when she issued an
8-page decision in favor of Citibank and Wolfgang Roddewig.
The decision by Judge Glen which is attached is obviously wrong. First
and foremost, she fails to mention that a legal notice was published
in the New York Law Journal for four consecutive weeks in December
2003. She implies that in May 2004 when Citibank paid the money to
Roddewig, a man who was not named in any will and who had no
relationship with Ruth Cardoso, they did not know that there was a
case pending in New York Surrogate's Court. However, they did know.
Not only was the required legal notices published, but Benko
repeatedly over the period of four years and visited the Citibank
Offices at 120 Broadway and spoke to her account executive, Eric Mark,
about the progress of the case. The problem arose when it was not Erik
Mark but another branch of Citibank who took the money out of the
Cardoso account and gave it to Wolfgang Roddewig. Eric Mark was never
notified of this.
Another problem with Judge Glen's decision is that it implies that
there is a Brazil Will that postdates the New Jersey Will. However,
no such Brazil Will has ever been produced, nor has any document
signed by Ruth Cardoso in Brazil been produced. What Citibank did
submit to the court was a document signed by another person stating
that there is a will in Brazil. No copy of the alleged will was
provided to the court.
These are just two of the many things wrong with the decision of Judge
Glen. In addition, Judge Glen is asking Judge Roth to vacate her
decision appointing Grandmaster Benko as the Administrator of the
Cardoso Estate. It seems unlikely that Judge Roth will be willing to
do this because both Judge Roth and Grandmaster Benko followed all of
the required steps and procedures, and if this decision by Judge Glen
is allowed to stand, the procedures that the New York Surrogate's
Court has been following for decades will have to be changed.
Another question concerns the fact that Wolfgang Roddewig was able to
use his position as Honorary Counsel of Germany to Salvador, Brazil to
grab $70,000 that did belong to him. Perhaps the Government of Germany
can be held responsible for the acts of its errant representative and
made to pay back the $70,000 that Wolfgang Roddewig stole.
Sam Sloan
http://www.samsloan.com/cardoso-glen.pdf
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On Mar 21, 7:00 pm, sl...@ishipress.com (Sam Sloan) wrote:
Citibank Cheats Grandmaster Benko out of $70,000
Bear Stearns just recently "went under", as
they say, so PB might want to act fast, before
Citibank too, bites the dust.
I noticed that Mr. Sloan -- as is his longstanding
habit -- targeted somebody with money (Citi), as
opposed to say, the state of New York or some
foreign state like Brazil. According to the account
by Mr. Sloan, the real culprit would appear to be
the mess we call "probate" or whatever, which
has a tendency to muck things up.
One advertisement I see all the time has it that
a Supreme Court Justice made a simple error in
his will (at least he did have a will) which cost his
benefactors hundreds of thousands of dollars!
In this case, the deceased having dual residence
in Brazil and the USA can certainly not be blamed
on Citbank, nor can our laws regarding the
settlement of such estates. This just goes to show
how difficult life (and death) can be when you have
a lot of money; money is nothing but trouble-- and
worry. I think everyone should unload their worries
on Mr. Sloan-- let him deal with all those troubles.
-- help bot
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Guess what?! My article, the same article I posted here, was removed
from the USCF Issues Forum by Herbert Rodney Vaughn a/k/a Tanstaafl at
12:51 AM with the following statement:
Your post has been pulled for multiple AUG violations:
"1. Off topic post (not a USCF issue).
"2. Suggestions (more than one) without specifically identified
substantial proof of criminal actions.
"3. Do not make personal attacks or defamatory or disparaging comments
about any person, group or company. Do not flame or troll.
"Therefore, rid yourselves of all malice and all deceit, hypocrisy,
envy, and slander of every kind."
This is obviously nonsense. I did not accuse anybody of a crime or an
unethical act. I stated that Citibank made a mistake. They paid the
money to the wrong person. That was not a crime.
Also, I made negative remarks about Citibank, Judge Kristin Booth
Glen, and Wolfgang Roddewig. None of them are chess personalities. It
is not the job of the USCF Forum Moderators to protect the reputations
of persons who do not even play chess or are involved in chess in any
way.
Also, I did provide substantial proof, the exact decision of the
judge:
http://www.samsloan.com/cardoso-glen.pdf
Also, it is a USCF Issue. Grandmaster Benko has been writing a monthly
column in Chess Life magazine for the last 40 years since the 1960s.
Also, another famous chess personality, Ruth Cardoso, is involved.
Of course, the truth is that it is well known that Herbert Rodney
Vaughn a/k/a Tanstaafl has been out to get me for the past year and a
half and just finds some excuse to delete every posting I make. He
should not be allowed to moderate my postings.
P.S. The correct spelling of the name of the judge is Kristin Booth
Glen. Her name is often misspelled. See:
http://207.29.128.48/judge/JudgeDetail?judge_cars_id=7030136
Sam Sloan
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On Sat, 22 Mar 2008 16:49:07 +0000, Guy Macon
<http://www.guymacon.com/> wrote:
Sam Sloan wrote:
Writing "Citibank Cheats Grandmaster Benko" is a claim that
Citibank commited a crime / unethical act, you moron.
Citibank made a mistake. They paid the inheritance money to the wrong
person. The error was made worse by the fact that they sent the money
to somebody in Brazil and there is obviously no way to recover the
money from there.
However, making a mistake is not a crime or even unethical.
On the other hand, once they realized their error they should have
just admitted it and paid Benko the money. It is clear that he did
nothing wrong. A loss of $70,000 is peanuts to Citibank. They take
losses like this all the time for example when a forged check is
passed. It is part of their cost of doing business.
It is also poor judgment on their part when they cheat a famous
personality like Grandmaster Benko out of his rightful inheritance.
Millions of chess players around the world know that Ruth Cardoso was
for many years the regular girlfriend of Grandmaster Benko. I hope
that Citibabank comes to their senses and realizes that the negative
publicity they will get from this case will cost them a lot more than
$70,000.
The rule that if a person dies without relatives the beneficiary of a
will must search the world for possible relatives seems to be a local
rule in New York County only. It was that rule that brought about this
problem. I am wondering if other counties or other states have that
rule.
Sam Sloan
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On Sat, 22 Mar 2008 14:25:02 -0700 (PDT), jkh001@aim.com wrote:
Sam Sloan wrote:
I have considerable sympathy for Benko here, but judges have to follow
the law, not emotion. (Or Sam Sloan's crackpot beliefs.) The decision
to which Sam linked essentially says three things: 1) The bank
followed the law. 2) There is evidence of a later will. 3) If Benko
wants to challenge that will, he has to do so in the jurisdiction in
which it was probated, meaning Brazil. If Sam want's to challenge any
of these conclusions, he's going to have to offer legal citations
supporting his claims -- you know, those things judges and lawyers do.
Of course, Sam lacks the knowledge or training to do so, but perhaps
Benko's attorney will.
What you fail to understand is that the "later will" has yet to be
produced. The court was simply told that there was another will. We
have not seen it. We know that it is in the Portuguese Language. Also,
even the statement that there is another will is hearsay. We have yet
to receive any certified documents from the "Widows and Orphans Court"
of Bahia, Brazil. All we have and all the court has is a letter from
Wolfgang Roddewig stating that he has been appointed by the "Widows
and Orphans Court" as executor of her estate. It could be a total
fabrication.
Meanwhile, Wolfgang Roddewig had stated that he has already
distributed the $70,000 he got from Citibank to the "poor people
living in the slums of Salvador, Bahia, Brazil". (Roddewig was not
named as a beneficiary of the supposed will, which explains why he had
to say that. The supposed will only provides for various pieces of
furniture to be given to Ruth's friends and neighbors.)
Like most judicial decisions, Judge Glen's decision looks reasonable
until you look at what is behind it. Legal notices were published in
the New York Law Journal in 2003. Citibank, which was on legal notice,
did not appear or object. Benko was appointed. Again, Citibank did not
object. Letters were written to Citibank. No response. Finally, Benko
served them with what is called a "Miscellaneous Proceeding". Only
then did Benko object. Judge Eva Preminger gave Citibank two months to
produce any evidence they had. Citibank produced nothing. Another year
passed while Benko was waiting for something to happen. Nothing
happened. Citibank was stonewalling. Judge Preminger retired (she
"aged out") and a new judge was elected. Finally, Benko had no choice
but to file a motion for summary judgment. It was only then, in
response to the motion, that Citibank produced the letter from
Roddewig which provides their only defense. The case was argued and
submitted in May, 2005. Another two years passed with nothing
happening. Then, suddenly last Thursday, a decision appeared (which
has not yet appeared in the New York Law Journal).
As far as legal citations are concerned, I have researched the law
thoroughly and I have found no cases like this one. There was a
slightly similar case in the Cayman Islands but in that case the
money was already in the Cayman Islands at the time of death.
Sam Sloan
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URROGATES COURT: STATE OF NEW YORK
COUNTY OF NEW YORK
__________________________________________x
In the Matter of the Estate of
Ruth V. Cardoso,
Deceased
FILE
NO. 2546/2002
PETITION FOR REHEARING
__________________________________________x
The undersigned petitioner Paul C. Benko hereby moves for a rehearing
of the the decision of the Honorable Kristin Boothe Glen dated March
17, 2008 on the grounds that the decision by Judge Glen made numerous
findings of fact, all of which are in dispute. The decision of Judge
Glen in effect granted summary judgment to Citibank. This decision
cannot be allowed to stand because Citibank never even presented
evidence to support these claims and these are triable issues of fact.
1. The decision of Judge Glen repeatedly refers to a "Brazil Will".
However, no such will has ever been produced in this court, not even a
photocopy thereof. All that has been produced is a letter from
somebody in Brazil stating that there was such a will. The letter is
not written in English. It is written in Portuguese. No document
signed by the deceased, Ruth V. Cardoso, has been produced. Thus, we
cannot even examine a photocopy of the supposed will to see if it
resembles the signature of Ruth V. Cardoso. Petitioner is in receipt
of a letter from one Wolfgang Roddewig, who is the Honorary Consul of
Germany to Salvador Brazil, who states that he intends to donate and
money left by the decedent to the poor people living in the slums of
Salvador Brazil. This letter was filed by the petitioner with this
Surrogates Court back in 2003 when it was received. This letter makes
it evident that Wolfgang Roddewig was not named as a beneficiary of
the supposed Brazil Will.
2. It is obvious what really happened: Under the Rules of the
Surrogate's Court of New York County (it is not clear if this is
followed in other counties as well) if a person dies leaving a will
but has no living relatives down to first cousins, then the petitioner
must search for any possible relatives and must demonstrate to the
Probate Department that all possible efforts were made to find
relatives. Petitioner must file an affidavit and other evidence
concerning the efforts that were made to find these relatives.
3. Based upon this rule, Petitioner was instructed by Tim
Amerist,Clerk of Probate Department, that he must contact the cemetery
where the deceased was buried and find out who buried her and if that
person knew of any relatives of the deceased.
4. The Deceased, Ruth V. Cardoso, was buried in the German Cemetery in
Salvador Brazil next to her mother, who had died a few years earlier.
This was because her mother was a German National. Petitioner,
following the instructions of the Probate Department of this Honorable
Court, accordingly contacted the German Cemetery and learned that the
cemetery is under the control of Wolfgang Roddewig, because he is the
Honorary Consul of Germany to Salvador Brazil. Petitioner asked Sr.
Roddewig if he knew of any relatives of Ruth V. Cardoso, because this
information was needed to probate her estate. Sr. Roddewig replied
that she had left no relatives nor any money in Brazil.
5. We now know what happened next. Upon learning through this inquiry
that Ruth V. Cardoso had left some money in Citibank New York, he then
ran down to the local Widow's and Orphan's Court in Salvador Brazil
and got himself appointed as the executor of her estate. He then
contacted the local branches of Citibank which has two offices in
Salvador Brazil and demanded that the money be paid to him.
6. We know that this is what happened because as the court notes
Wolfgang Roddewig says that he was appointed in May 2003. Ruth V.
Cardoso died on February 11, 2000. So, Sr. Roddewig waited more than
three years after Ruth Cardoso had died before approaching the court
in Brazil. In short, this was an obvious scam.
7. Meanwhile, Petitioners was going through the lengthy and burdensome
proceedings required by the rules of the New York Surrogates Court to
"prove" the will. This involved bringing in all the witnesses to the
signing of the will to testify before Mr. John Reddy, Counsel for the
Public Administrator. Petitioner also published four required notices
in the New York Law Journal in October and November 2003 (at a cost of
$2700) and then a hearing was held in New York Surrogates Court in
December 2003 in which the Public Administrator requested to take
depositions of the witnesses. Unfortunately, it took Mr. Reddy seven
months to get around to taking the depositions and writing his report.
8. All this time that Petitioner was going though these proceedings in
New York, Wolfgang Roddewig down in Brazil was writing letters to
Citibank demanding that the money be paid to him. He did not have to
produce a will, much less prove it, and indeed until this date no will
has been produced. We only know what the will is said to contain. It
is said that under the supposed will Ruth V. Cardoso gave certain
articles of furniture and jewelry to various friends and neighbors in
Salvador Brazil. No money was given under this supposed will.
9. It is apparent that when the required notices were published in the
New York Law Journal in October and November 2003, Citibank simply
overlooked and missed those notices. Citibank still had the money as
late as May 2004. They had not given it to Wolfgang Roddewig yet.
Petitioner knows this because he regularly visited the office of the
Citibank Account Executive who was handling the Ruth Cardoso Account,
who was Eric Mark of the 120 Broadway Branch. Incidentally, Mr. Mark
still works at that branch and still sits at the same desk. Each time
petitioner visited Mr. Mark to inform him of the latest developments
in the case, Mr. Mark assured him that the money would not be moved
out of the account without an order of the New York Surrogates Court.
10. Thus, Petitioner was shocked when he finally obtained the required
court order in July 2004 and provided it to Mr. Mark and Mr. Mark
discovered that only a few weeks earlier the money had been moved out
of the Ruth V. Cardoso account without notice to Mr. Mark.
11. What happened is an obvious failure in the internal security
system of Citibank. Citibank has offices all over the world and
thousands of employees. It has become clear that the employees often
do not talk to each other. Eric Mark probably only talks to his own
supervisor. The people working in the Citibank Offices in Salvador
Brazil probably only talk to their supervisors. I have learned that it
was because Ruth Cardoso used a Brazil address even though she lived
six month of every year in New Jersey that the Foreign Department of
Citibank took over the Ruth Cardoso account without informing the
account executive, who was Eric Mark.
12. In other words CITIBANK MADE A MISTAKE.
13. Now, rather than admit that is was due to a bank error or a
failure of the internal security systems of Citibank that this all
happened, they come to this court claiming that they did the right
thing. However, they have produced no evidence in support of their
claims. They have not even submitted documents from the Widows and
Orphans Court of Brazil. We are told just to trust them that there is
such a court, that it has jurisdiction, that there is another will and
so on. The only presentation made by Citiba
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URROGATES COURT: STATE OF NEW YORK
COUNTY OF NEW YORK
__________________________________________x
In the Matter of the Estate of
Ruth V. Cardoso,
Deceased
FILE NO. 2546/2002
PETITION FOR REHEARING
__________________________________________x
The undersigned petitioner Paul C. Benko hereby moves for a rehearing
of the the decision of the Honorable Kristin Boothe Glen dated March
17, 2008 on the grounds that the decision by Judge Glen made numerous
findings of fact, all of which are in dispute. The decision of Judge
Glen in effect granted summary judgment to Citibank. This decision
cannot be allowed to stand because Citibank never even presented
evidence to support these claims and these are triable issues of fact.
1. The decision of Judge Glen repeatedly refers to a =93Brazil Will=94.
However, no such will has ever been produced in this court, not even a
photocopy thereof. All that has been produced is a letter from
somebody in Brazil stating that there was such a will. The letter is
not written in English. It is written in Portuguese. No document
signed by the deceased, Ruth V. Cardoso, has been produced. Thus, we
cannot even examine a photocopy of the supposed will to see if it
resembles the signature of Ruth V. Cardoso. Petitioner is in receipt
of a letter from one Wolfgang Roddewig, who is the Honorary Consul of
Germany to Salvador Brazil, who states that he intends to donate and
money left by the decedent to the poor people living in the slums of
Salvador Brazil. This letter was filed by the petitioner with this
Surrogates Court back in 2003 when it was received. This letter makes
it evident that Wolfgang Roddewig was not named as a beneficiary of
the supposed Brazil Will.
2. It is obvious what really happened: Under the Rules of the
Surrogate's Court of New York County (it is not clear if this is
followed in other counties as well) if a person dies leaving a will
but has no living relatives down to first cousins, then the petitioner
must search for any possible relatives and must demonstrate to the
Probate Department that all possible efforts were made to find
relatives. Petitioner must file an affidavit and other evidence
concerning the efforts that were made to find these relatives.
3. Based upon this rule, Petitioner was instructed by Tim
Amerist,Clerk of Probate Department, that he must contact the cemetery
where the deceased was buried and find out who buried her and if that
person knew of any relatives of the deceased.
4. The Deceased, Ruth V. Cardoso, was buried in the German Cemetery in
Salvador Brazil next to her mother, who had died a few years earlier.
This was because her mother was a German National. Petitioner,
following the instructions of the Probate Department of this Honorable
Court, accordingly contacted the German Cemetery and learned that the
cemetery is under the control of Wolfgang Roddewig, because he is the
Honorary Consul of Germany to Salvador Brazil. Petitioner asked Sr.
Roddewig if he knew of any relatives of Ruth V. Cardoso, because this
information was needed to probate her estate. Sr. Roddewig replied
that she had left no relatives nor any money in Brazil.
5. We now know what happened next. Upon learning through this inquiry
that Ruth V. Cardoso had left some money in Citibank New York, he then
ran down to the local Widow's and Orphan's Court in Salvador Brazil
and got himself appointed as the executor of her estate. He then
contacted the local branches of Citibank which has two offices in
Salvador Brazil and demanded that the money be paid to him.
6. We know that this is what happened because as the court notes
Wolfgang Roddewig says that he was appointed in May 2003. Ruth V.
Cardoso died on February 11, 2000. So, Sr. Roddewig waited more than
three years after Ruth Cardoso had died before approaching the court
in Brazil. In short, this was an obvious scam.
7. Meanwhile, Petitioners was going through the lengthy and burdensome
proceedings required by the rules of the New York Surrogates Court to
=93prove=94 the will. This involved bringing in all the witnesses to the
signing of the will to testify before Mr. John Reddy, Counsel for the
Public Administrator. Petitioner also published four required notices
in the New York Law Journal in October and November 2003 (at a cost of
$2700) and then a hearing was held in New York Surrogates Court in
December 2003 in which the Public Administrator requested to take
depositions of the witnesses. Unfortunately, it took Mr. Reddy seven
months to get around to taking the depositions and writing his report.
8. All this time that Petitioner was going though these proceedings in
New York, Wolfgang Roddewig down in Brazil was writing letters to
Citibank demanding that the money be paid to him. He did not have to
produce a will, much less prove it, and indeed until this date no will
has been produced. We only know what the will is said to contain. It
is said that under the supposed will Ruth V. Cardoso gave certain
articles of furniture and jewelry to various friends and neighbors in
Salvador Brazil. No money was given under this supposed will.
9. It is apparent that when the required notices were published in the
New York Law Journal in October and November 2003, Citibank simply
overlooked and missed those notices. Citibank still had the money as
late as May 2004. They had not given it to Wolfgang Roddewig yet.
Petitioner knows this because he regularly visited the office of the
Citibank Account Executive who was handling the Ruth Cardoso Account,
who was Eric Mark of the 120 Broadway Branch. Incidentally, Mr. Mark
still works at that branch and still sits at the same desk. Each time
petitioner visited Mr. Mark to inform him of the latest developments
in the case, Mr. Mark assured him that the money would not be moved
out of the account without an order of the New York Surrogates Court.
10. Thus, Petitioner was shocked when he finally obtained the required
court order in July 2004 and provided it to Mr. Mark and Mr. Mark
discovered that only a few weeks earlier the money had been moved out
of the Ruth V. Cardoso account without notice to Mr. Mark.
11. What happened is an obvious failure in the internal security
system of Citibank. Citibank has offices all over the world and
thousands of employees. It has become clear that the employees often
do not talk to each other. Eric Mark probably only talks to his own
supervisor. The people working in the Citibank Offices in Salvador
Brazil probably only talk to their supervisors. I have learned that it
was because Ruth Cardoso used a Brazil address even though she lived
six month of every year in New Jersey that the Foreign Department of
Citibank took over the Ruth Cardoso account without informing the
account executive, who was Eric Mark.
12. In other words CITIBANK MADE A MISTAKE.
13. Now, rather than admit that is was due to a bank error or a
failure of the internal security systems of Citibank that this all
happened, they come to this court claiming that they did the right
thing. However, they have produced no evidence in support of their
claims. They have not even submitted documents from the Widows and
Orphans Court of Brazil. We are told just to trust them that there is
such a court, that it has jurisdiction, that there is another will and
so on. The only presentation m
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URROGATES COURT: STATE OF NEW YORK
COUNTY OF NEW YORK
__________________________________________x
In the Matter of the Estate of
Ruth V. Cardoso,
Deceased
FILE
NO. 2546/2002
PETITION FOR REHEARING
__________________________________________x
The undersigned petitioner Paul C. Benko hereby moves for a rehearing
of the the decision of the Honorable Kristin Boothe Glen dated March
17, 2008 on the grounds that the decision by Judge Glen made numerous
findings of fact, all of which are in dispute. The decision of Judge
Glen in effect granted summary judgment to Citibank. This decision
cannot be allowed to stand because Citibank never even presented
evidence to support these claims and these are triable issues of fact.
1. The decision of Judge Glen repeatedly refers to a Brazil Will.
However, no such will has ever been produced in this court, not even a
photocopy thereof. All that has been produced is a letter from
somebody in Brazil stating that there was such a will. The letter is
not written in English. It is written in Portuguese. No document
signed by the deceased, Ruth V. Cardoso, has been produced. Thus, we
cannot even examine a photocopy of the supposed will to see if it
resembles the signature of Ruth V. Cardoso. Petitioner is in receipt
of a letter from one Wolfgang Roddewig, who is the Honorary Consul of
Germany to Salvador Brazil, who states that he intends to donate and
money left by the decedent to the poor people living in the slums of
Salvador Brazil. This letter was filed by the petitioner with this
Surrogates Court back in 2003 when it was received. This letter makes
it evident that Wolfgang Roddewig was not named as a beneficiary of
the supposed Brazil Will.
2. It is obvious what really happened: Under the Rules of the
Surrogate's Court of New York County (it is not clear if this is
followed in other counties as well) if a person dies leaving a will
but has no living relatives down to first cousins, then the petitioner
must search for any possible relatives and must demonstrate to the
Probate Department that all possible efforts were made to find
relatives. Petitioner must file an affidavit and other evidence
concerning the efforts that were made to find these relatives.
3. Based upon this rule, Petitioner was instructed by Tim
Amerist,Clerk of Probate Department, that he must contact the cemetery
where the deceased was buried and find out who buried her and if that
person knew of any relatives of the deceased.
4. The Deceased, Ruth V. Cardoso, was buried in the German Cemetery in
Salvador Brazil next to her mother, who had died a few years earlier.
This was because her mother was a German National. Petitioner,
following the instructions of the Probate Department of this Honorable
Court, accordingly contacted the German Cemetery and learned that the
cemetery is under the control of Wolfgang Roddewig, because he is the
Honorary Consul of Germany to Salvador Brazil. Petitioner asked Sr.
Roddewig if he knew of any relatives of Ruth V. Cardoso, because this
information was needed to probate her estate. Sr. Roddewig replied
that she had left no relatives nor any money in Brazil.
5. We now know what happened next. Upon learning through this inquiry
that Ruth V. Cardoso had left some money in Citibank New York, he then
ran down to the local Widow's and Orphan's Court in Salvador Brazil
and got himself appointed as the executor of her estate. He then
contacted the local branches of Citibank which has two offices in
Salvador Brazil and demanded that the money be paid to him.
6. We know that this is what happened because as the court notes
Wolfgang Roddewig says that he was appointed in May 2003. Ruth V.
Cardoso died on February 11, 2000. So, Sr. Roddewig waited more than
three years after Ruth Cardoso had died before approaching the court
in Brazil. In short, this was an obvious scam.
7. Meanwhile, Petitioners was going through the lengthy and burdensome
proceedings required by the rules of the New York Surrogates Court to
prove the will. This involved bringing in all the witnesses to the
signing of the will to testify before Mr. John Reddy, Counsel for the
Public Administrator. Petitioner also published four required notices
in the New York Law Journal in October and November 2003 (at a cost of
$2700) and then a hearing was held in New York Surrogates Court in
December 2003 in which the Public Administrator requested to take
depositions of the witnesses. Unfortunately, it took Mr. Reddy seven
months to get around to taking the depositions and writing his report.
8. All this time that Petitioner was going though these proceedings in
New York, Wolfgang Roddewig down in Brazil was writing letters to
Citibank demanding that the money be paid to him. He did not have to
produce a will, much less prove it, and indeed until this date no will
has been produced. We only know what the will is said to contain. It
is said that under the supposed will Ruth V. Cardoso gave certain
articles of furniture and jewelry to various friends and neighbors in
Salvador Brazil. No money was given under this supposed will.
9. It is apparent that when the required notices were published in the
New York Law Journal in October and November 2003, Citibank simply
overlooked and missed those notices. Citibank still had the money as
late as May 2004. They had not given it to Wolfgang Roddewig yet.
Petitioner knows this because he regularly visited the office of the
Citibank Account Executive who was handling the Ruth Cardoso Account,
who was Eric Mark of the 120 Broadway Branch. Incidentally, Mr. Mark
still works at that branch and still sits at the same desk. Each time
petitioner visited Mr. Mark to inform him of the latest developments
in the case, Mr. Mark assured him that the money would not be moved
out of the account without an order of the New York Surrogates Court.
10. Thus, Petitioner was shocked when he finally obtained the required
court order in July 2004 and provided it to Mr. Mark and Mr. Mark
discovered that only a few weeks earlier the money had been moved out
of the Ruth V. Cardoso account without notice to Mr. Mark.
11. What happened is an obvious failure in the internal security
system of Citibank. Citibank has offices all over the world and
thousands of employees. It has become clear that the employees often
do not talk to each other. Eric Mark probably only talks to his own
supervisor. The people working in the Citibank Offices in Salvador
Brazil probably only talk to their supervisors. I have learned that it
was because Ruth Cardoso used a Brazil address even though she lived
six month of every year in New Jersey that the Foreign Department of
Citibank took over the Ruth Cardoso account without informing the
account executive, who was Eric Mark.
12. In other words CITIBANK MADE A MISTAKE.
13. Now, rather than admit that is was due to a bank error or a
failure of the internal security systems of Citibank that this all
happened, they come to this court claiming that they did the right
thing. However, they have produced no evidence in support of their
claims. They have not even submitted documents from the Widows and
Orphans Court of Brazil. We are told just to trust them that there is
such a court, that it has jurisdiction, that there is another will and
so on. The only presentation made by Citiba
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URROGATES COURT: STATE OF NEW YORK
COUNTY OF NEW YORK
__________________________________________x
In the Matter of the Estate of
Ruth V. Cardoso,
Deceased
FILE
NO. 2546/2002
PETITION FOR REHEARING
__________________________________________x
The undersigned petitioner Paul C. Benko hereby moves for a rehearing
of the the decision of the Honorable Kristin Boothe Glen dated March
17, 2008 on the grounds that the decision by Judge Glen made numerous
findings of fact, all of which are in dispute. The decision of Judge
Glen granted summary judgment to Citibank. This decision cannot be
allowed to stand because Citibank never even presented evidence to
support these claims and these are triable issues of fact.
1. The decision of this court is clearly erroneous because it makes no
mention of the fact that a hearing was had in this case in December
2003 after the publication of four weeks of legal notices in the New
York Law Journal. The purpose of those legal notices was to extinguish
all claims by anybody else. If Citibank wanted to object, that was the
time to do it. Instead, Citibank did not appear. Citibank remained
silent on this entire matter until 2006 when petitioner filed the
motion for summary judgment.
2. The decision of Judge Glen repeatedly refers to a Brazil Will.
However, no such will has ever been produced in this court, not even a
photocopy thereof. All that has been produced is a letter from
somebody in Brazil stating that there was such a will. The letter is
not written in English. It is written in Portuguese. No certified
translation has been provided to this court. No document signed by the
deceased, Ruth V. Cardoso, has been produced. Thus, we cannot even
examine a photocopy of the supposed will to see if it resembles the
signature of Ruth V. Cardoso. Petitioner is in receipt of a letter
from one Wolfgang Roddewig, who is the Honorary Consul of Germany to
Salvador Brazil, who states that he intends to donate and money left
by the decedent to the poor people living in the slums of Salvador
Brazil. This letter was filed by the petitioner with this Surrogates
Court back in 2003 when it was received. This letter makes it evident
that Wolfgang Roddewig was not named as a beneficiary of the supposed
Brazil Will.
3. It is obvious what really happened: Under the Rules of the
Surrogate's Court of New York County (it is not clear if this is
followed in other counties as well) if a person dies leaving a will
but has no living relatives down to first cousins, then the petitioner
must search for any possible relatives and must demonstrate to the
Probate Department that all possible efforts were made to find
relatives. Petitioner must file an affidavit and other evidence
concerning the efforts that were made to find these relatives.
4. Based upon this rule, Petitioner was instructed by Tim
Amerist,Clerk of Probate Department, that he must contact the cemetery
where the deceased was buried and find out who buried her and if that
person knew of any relatives of the deceased.
5. The Deceased, Ruth V. Cardoso, was buried in the German Cemetery in
Salvador Brazil next to her mother, who had died a few years earlier.
This was because her mother was a German National. Petitioner,
following the instructions of the Probate Department of this Honorable
Court, accordingly contacted the German Cemetery and learned that the
cemetery is under the control of Wolfgang Roddewig, because he is the
Honorary Consul of Germany to Salvador Brazil. Petitioner contacted
Sr. Roddewig and asked if he knew of any relatives of Ruth V. Cardoso,
because this information was needed to probate her estate. Sr.
Roddewig replied that she had left no relatives nor any money in
Brazil.
6. We now know what happened next. Upon learning through this inquiry
that Ruth V. Cardoso had left some money in Citibank New York, he then
ran down to the local Succession's and Orphan's Court in Salvador
Brazil and got himself appointed as the executor of her estate. He
then contacted the local branches of Citibank which has two offices in
Salvador Brazil and demanded that the money be paid to him.
7. We know that this is what happened because as the court notes
Wolfgang Roddewig says that he was appointed in May 2003. Ruth V.
Cardoso died on February 11, 2000. Thus, Sr. Roddewig waited more than
three years after Ruth Cardoso had died before approaching the court
in Brazil. In short, this was an obvious scam.
8. Meanwhile, Petitioners was going through the lengthy and burdensome
proceedings required by the rules of the New York Surrogates Court to
prove the will. This involved bringing in all the witnesses to the
signing of the will to testify before Mr. John Reddy, Counsel for the
Public Administrator. Petitioner also published four required notices
in the New York Law Journal in October and November 2003 (at a cost of
$2700) and then a hearing was held in New York Surrogates Court in
December 2003 in which the Public Administrator requested to take
depositions of the witnesses. Unfortunately, it took Mr. Reddy seven
months to get around to taking the depositions and writing his report.
9. All this time that Petitioner was going though these proceedings in
New York, Wolfgang Roddewig down in Brazil was writing letters to
Citibank demanding that the money be paid to him. He did not have to
produce a will, much less prove it, and indeed until this date no will
has been produced. We only know what the will is said to contain. It
is said that under the supposed will Ruth V. Cardoso gave certain
articles of furniture and jewelry to various friends and neighbors in
Salvador Brazil. No money was given under this supposed will.
10. It is apparent that when the required notices were published in
the New York Law Journal in October and November 2003, Citibank simply
overlooked and missed those notices. Citibank still had the money as
late as May 2004. They had not yet given it to Wolfgang Roddewig.
Petitioner knows this because he regularly visited the office of the
Citibank Account Executive who was handling the Ruth Cardoso Account,
who was Eric Mark of the 120 Broadway Branch. Incidentally, Mr. Mark
still works at that branch and still sits at the same desk. Each time
petitioner visited Mr. Mark to inform him of the latest developments
in the case, Mr. Mark assured him that the money would not be moved
out of the Ruth Cardoso account without an order of the New York
Surrogates Court.
11. Thus, Petitioner was shocked when he finally obtained the required
court order in July 2004 and provided it to Mr. Mark and Mr. Mark
discovered that only a few weeks earlier the money had been moved out
of the Ruth V. Cardoso account without notice to Mr. Mark.
12. What happened is an obvious failure in the internal security
system of Citibank. Citibank has offices all over the world and
thousands of employees. It has become clear that the employees often
do not talk to each other. Eric Mark probably only talks to his own
supervisor. The people working in the Citibank Offices in Salvador
Brazil probably only talk to their supervisors. I have learned that it
was because Ruth Cardoso used a Brazil address even though she lived
six months of every year in New Jersey that the Foreign Department of
Citibank took over the Ruth Cardoso account without informing the
a
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Paul C. Benko
204 Passaic
Avenue, # 10
Belleville NJ
07109
Tel:
973-751-0614
April 16, 2008
Hon. Renee R. Roth
New York Surrogate's Court
31 Chambers Street
New York, NY 10007
Re: Estate of Ruth V.
Cardoso, File No. 2546 / 2002
Dear Surrogate Roth,
Perhaps you are aware of the decision of Judge Kristin Booth Glen in
this case dated March 17, 2008 in which she states that she will ask
you to overturn and vacate your prior decision and order in this case.
I am now writing to ask you not to vacate your prior order. My
daughter and I fulfilled all the required and long established
procedures of the New York Surrogates Court. We followed the required
rules and the letter of the law exactly. For example, we published
legal notices in the New York Law Journal on four successive weeks in
October and November 2003 at a cost of $2700. A hearing was held
before you in December 2003. Citibank, although under legal notice,
did not appear and answer at that hearing. As a result, their claims
were extinguished. They cannot be allowed to come into this court now
five years later and say that by the way there was another will in
Brazil.
Citibank still to this day has failed to produce the so-called "Brazil
Will". From Judge Glen's decision one would imagine that she was
holding the will in her hands. Actually, the will has not been
produced, not even a photocopy thereof.
At a conference before Judge Eva Preminger in 2005, Citibank was given
30 days to provide a copy of the will. Thirty days passed and Citibank
provided nothing. Nothing was filed with the court either. At the oral
argument on the motion for summary judgment in May 2006, Counsel for
Citibank stated that they had never agreed to provide the will. They
had only agreed to provided the documents on the basis of which they
had paid the money to Wolfgang Roddewig in Brazil. Those documents
consisted entirely of documents that Wolfgang Roddewig had sent to
Citibank in connection with his demands for the money. Those documents
were entirely self-serving. This court has yet to receive any
certified documents from the Widows and Orphans Court of Brazil. We do
not even know that such a court exists.
A motion for summary judgment can only be granted if there are no
triable issues of fact. In this case, there are many triable issues of
fact. For example, was there a will, who signed it, and what does it
say. According to documents received from Wolfgang Roddewig, Ruth
Cardoso was seriously ill, in bed, and on the brink of death. She was
so ill that she could not sign the will.
In addition, according to a letter received from Brazil which is in
the court file, the so-called "Brazil Will" only gave articles of
furniture and jewelry plus her apartment to the friends and neighbors
of Ruth Cardoso in Salvador, Brazil. It did not give any money.
Wolfgang Roddewig was not named as a beneficiary of the will. He got
into this case merely by being appointed as the Executor of the Estate
by the Widows and Orphans Court of Salvador Brazil. He has stated that
he intends to donate the money to the poor people living in the slums
of Brazil. If you believe that, there is a large bridge perhaps you
have seen just outside the door to your courthouse that I would like
to sell you.
After this case was argued orally and submitted in May 2006, it took
Judge Glen 22 months until March 2008 to decide the motion. This may
set a record for taking a long time to decide a motion.
I believe that this decision by Judge Glen is clearly erroneous and
must be set aside. Accordingly I ask you not to make any changes or
modifications in the order you signed in July 2004 until this can be
done.
I enclose a copy of a petition for a rehearing I have filed in this
case.
Very
Truly Yours
Pal C.
Benko
Copy to:
Barry R. Glickman
Zeichner, Ellman & Kraus LLP
Counsel for Citibank
575 Lexington Avenue
New York NY 10022
John Reddy
The Law Firm of Bekerman & Reddy
85 Worth Street
New York NY 10013
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On Apr 18, 4:56 pm, ttk5...@gmail.com wrote:
I was just wondering if Benko had much chance of winning his case.
If Sam's involved, his chance is somewhere between slim and none.
The main point right now is that every chess player on this group
knows that Grandmaster Pal Benko and Ruth Cardoso were boyfriend-
girlfriend and lived together for 30 years. They often traveled
together and played in chess tournaments together.
Nevertheless, due to an error or mistake by Citibank, the inheritance
money was paid to an obvious con-man or swindler named Wolfgang
Roddewig who lives in Brazil and thus there is no legal way to get the
money back.
Right now, I am hoping to embarrass Citibank and make them realize
that by cheating Grandmaster Pal Benko out of his rightful
inheritance, it is going to cost Citibank a lot more than just the
$70,000 the bank lost by paying the money to the wrong person.
Sam Sloan
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URROGATES COURT: STATE OF NEW YORK
COUNTY OF NEW YORK
__________________________________________x
In the Matter of the Estate of
Ruth V. Cardoso,
Deceased
FILE
NO. 2546/2002
MOTION
FOR REHEARING
__________________________________________x
The undersigned petitioner Paul C. Benko hereby moves for a rehearing
of the the decision of the Honorable Kristin Booth Glen dated March
17, 2008 on the grounds that the decision by Judge Glen made numerous
findings of fact, all of which are in dispute. The decision of Judge
Glen granted summary judgment to Citibank. A motion for summary
judgment can only be granted if there are no triable issues of fact.
In this case, there are many triable issues of fact. This decision
cannot be allowed to stand because Citibank never even presented
evidence to support these claims and these are triable issues of fact.
1. The decision of this court is clearly erroneous because it makes no
mention of the fact that a hearing was had in this case in December
2003 after the publication of four weeks of legal notices in the New
York Law Journal. The purpose of those legal notices was to extinguish
all claims by anybody else. If Citibank wanted to object, that was the
time to do it. Instead, Citibank did not appear. Citibank remained
silent on this entire matter until 2006 when petitioner filed the
motion for summary judgment.
2. The decision of Judge Glen repeatedly refers to a "Brazil Will".
However, no such will has ever been produced in this court, not even a
photocopy thereof. All that has been produced is a letter from
somebody in Brazil stating that there was such a will. The letter is
not written in English. It is written in Portuguese. No certified
translation has been provided to this court. No document signed by the
deceased, Ruth V. Cardoso, has been produced. A letter in the file
states that Ruth Cardoso was seriously ill, in bed, and on the brink
of death. Thus, we cannot even examine a photocopy of the supposed
will to see if it resembles the signature of Ruth V. Cardoso.
Petitioner is in receipt of a letter from one Wolfgang Roddewig, who
is the Honorary Consul of Germany to Salvador Brazil, who states that
he intends to donate any money left by the decedent to the poor people
living in the slums of Salvador Brazil. This letter was filed by the
petitioner with this Surrogate's Court back in 2003 when it was
received. This letter makes it evident that Wolfgang Roddewig was not
named as a beneficiary of the supposed Brazil Will.
3. It is obvious what really happened: Under the Rules of the
Surrogate's Court of New York County (it is not clear if this is
followed in other counties as well) if a person dies leaving a will
but has no living relatives down to first cousins, then the petitioner
must search for any possible relatives and must demonstrate to the
Probate Department that all possible efforts were made to find
relatives. Petitioner must file an affidavit and other evidence
concerning the efforts that were made to find these relatives.
4. Based upon this rule, Petitioner was instructed by Tim
Amerist,Clerk of Probate Department, that he must contact the cemetery
where the deceased was buried and find out who buried her and if that
person knew of any relatives of the deceased.
5. The Deceased, Ruth V. Cardoso, was buried in the German Cemetery in
Salvador Brazil next to her mother, who had died a few years earlier.
This was because her mother was a German National. Petitioner,
following the instructions of the Probate Department of this Honorable
Court, accordingly contacted the German Cemetery and learned that the
cemetery is under the control of Wolfgang Roddewig, because he is the
Honorary Consul of Germany to Salvador Brazil. Petitioner contacted
Sr. Roddewig and asked if he knew of any relatives of Ruth V. Cardoso,
because this information was needed to probate her estate. Sr.
Roddewig replied that she had left no relatives nor any money in
Brazil.
6. We now know what happened next. Upon learning through this inquiry
that Ruth V. Cardoso had left some money in Citibank New York, he then
ran down to the local Succession's and Orphan's Court in Salvador
Brazil and got himself appointed as the executor of her estate. He
then contacted the local branches of Citibank which has two offices in
Salvador Brazil and demanded that the money be paid to him.
7. We know that this is what happened because as the court notes
Wolfgang Roddewig says that he was appointed in March 2003. Ruth V.
Cardoso died on February 11, 2000. Thus, Sr. Roddewig waited more than
three years after Ruth Cardoso had died before approaching the court
in Brazil. In short, this was an obvious scam.
8. It was in March 2003 that pursuant to instructions given by the
Probate Department of this court under the supervision of Mr. Tim
Amerist of this court, Petitioner was told to contact the Consular
Officer of Brazil to find out any possible relatives of the deceased.
Petitioner wishes to emphasize that the clerks in the Probate
Department specifically directed me to contact the Brazilian Embassy
or the Brazilian Office in the United Nations to see if they knew of
any relatives of Ruth Cardoso. In short, the Probate Department sent
me on what would have been a wild goose chase except that as a result
I contacted Wolfgang Roddewig who was the Honorary Consul of Brazil.
Upon realizing the purpose of my contacting him, Sr. Roddewig realized
that there was money to be had by claiming the money for himself. I
have filed all of the pertinent documents with this court and it
plainly obvious that it was pursuant to the directives of the Probate
Department of this Court that I was required to notify Sr. Roddewig
and he then started efforts to grab the money for his own benefit.
9. In August, 2004, after I discovered what had happened, I was able
to track down the person at Citibank who actually paid the money to
Sr. Roddewig. This person is a Portuguese speaking staff member at the
111 Wall Street office of Citibank. She told me that she had decided
to treat this as a foreign or overseas account especially in view of
the fact that the account had lain dormant for four years. She said
that it had taken Citibank a long time to pay the money to Sr.
Roddewig because Citibank kept asking him for a copy of his passport
or other documentation to prove his identity and it had taken him a
long time to comply and then only after several letters had been
exchanged. The Citibank official told me that she had had no idea that
there was a case pending in the New York Surrogate's Court all this
time regarding these same funds. In short, she admitted that the money
had been paid to Sr. Roddewig simply because they had failed to notice
the legal notice published in the New York Law Journal.
10. Meanwhile, Petitioner was going through the lengthy and burdensome
proceedings required by the rules of the New York Surrogates Court to
"prove" the will. This involved bringing in all the witnesses to the
signing of the will to testify before Mr. John Reddy, Counsel for the
Public Administrator. Petitioner also published four required notices
in the New York Law Journal in October and November 2003 (at a cost of
$2700) and then a hearing was held in New York Surrogate's Court in
December 2003 in which the Public Administrator re
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Sam Sloan <sloan@ishipress.com> wrote:
SURROGATES COURT: STATE OF NEW YORK
COUNTY OF NEW YORK
__________________________________________x
In the Matter of the Estate of
Ruth V. Cardoso,
Deceased
FILE
NO. 2546/2002
MOTION
FOR REHEARING
__________________________________________x
Ah, it's Sam Sloan, famous for his inability to follow rules.
2. The decision of Judge Glen...
Do you mean Surrogate Kristin Booth Glen?
2. The decision of Judge Glen repeatedly refers to a "Brazil Will".
However, no such will has ever been produced in this court, not even a
photocopy thereof. All that has been produced is a letter from
somebody in Brazil stating that there was such a will.
That's ridiculous. A sheet of paper cannot be questioned.
Legally the letter is "hearsay evidence" under NYS rules of evidence.
I didn't read much more, what you've posted is hard to believe.
Scan and post Judge Glen's decision. And don't post to more
than two Usenet groups if you want a response by me.
Post a copy of the newspaper legal notice too.
Who is Benko's lawyer?
--
<a href="http://psychotic-karin-kaufman.org/">Harvey Mars</a>
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URROGATES COURT: STATE OF NEW YORK
COUNTY OF NEW YORK
__________________________________________x
In the Matter of the Estate of
Ruth V. Cardoso,
Deceased
FILE
NO. 2546/2002
NOTICE
OF MOTION
__________________________________________x
PLEASE TAKE NOTICE that upon the annexed affidavit of Paul C. Benko
and upon all of the papers and proceedings had herein the undersigned
will move this court on the 20th day of May 2008 for an order granting
a rehearing of the decision of the Honorable Kristin Booth Glen of
this court dated March 17, 2008 which granted summary judgment in
favor of Citibank.
PLEASE TAKE FURTHER NOTICE that Petitioner demands service of a copy
of all opposition papers to this motion at least five days before the
return date of this motion.
Yours, etc.
_________________________
Paul C. Benko
April 30, 2008
To:
Barry R. Glickman
Zeichner, Ellman & Kraus LLP
575 Lexington Avenue
New York NY 10022
John Reddy
The Law Firm of Bekerman & Reddy
85 Worth Street
New York NY 10013
SURROGATES COURT: STATE OF NEW YORK
COUNTY OF NEW YORK
__________________________________________x
In the Matter of the Estate of
Ruth V. Cardoso,
Deceased
FILE
NO. 2546/2002
MOTION
FOR REHEARING
__________________________________________x
The undersigned petitioner Paul C. Benko hereby moves for a rehearing
of the the decision of the Honorable Kristin Booth Glen dated March
17, 2008 on the grounds that the decision by Surrogate Glen made
numerous findings of fact, all of which are in dispute. The decision
of Surrogate Glen granted summary judgment to Citibank. A motion for
summary judgment can only be granted if there are no triable issues of
fact. In this case, there are many triable issues of fact. This
decision cannot be allowed to stand because Citibank never even
presented evidence to support their claims and these are triable
issues of fact.
1. The decision of this court is clearly erroneous because it makes no
mention of the fact that a hearing was had in this case in December
2003 after the publication of four weeks of legal notices in the New
York Law Journal. The purpose of those legal notices was to extinguish
all claims by anybody else. If Citibank wanted to object, that was the
time to do it. Instead, Citibank did not appear. Citibank remained
silent on this entire matter until 2006 when petitioner filed the
motion for summary judgment.
2. The decision of Surrogate Glen repeatedly refers to a "Brazil
Will". However, no such will has ever been produced in this court, not
even a photocopy thereof. All that has been produced is a letter from
somebody in Brazil stating that there was such a will. The letter is
not written in English. It is written in Portuguese. No certified
translation has been provided to this court. No document signed by the
deceased, Ruth V. Cardoso, has been produced. A letter in the file
states that Ruth Cardoso was seriously ill, in bed, and on the brink
of death. Thus, we cannot even examine a photocopy of the supposed
will to see if it resembles the signature of Ruth V. Cardoso.
Petitioner is in receipt of a letter from one Wolfgang Roddewig, who
is the Honorary Consul of Germany to Salvador Brazil, who stated that
he intended to donate any money left by the decedent to the poor
people living in the slums of Salvador Brazil. This letter was filed
by the petitioner with this Surrogate's Court back in 2003 when it was
received. This letter makes it evident that Wolfgang Roddewig was not
named as a beneficiary of the supposed Brazil Will.
3. It is obvious what really happened: Under the Rules of the
Surrogate's Court of New York County (it is not clear if this is
followed in other counties as well) if a person dies leaving a will
but has no living relatives down to first cousins, then the petitioner
must search for any possible relatives and must demonstrate to the
Probate Department that all possible efforts were made to find
relatives. Petitioner must file an affidavit and other evidence
concerning the efforts that were made to find these relatives.
4. Based upon this rule, Petitioner was instructed by Tim
Amerist,Clerk of Probate Department of this Surrogate's Court, that he
must contact the cemetery where the deceased was buried and find out
who buried her and if that person knew of any relatives of the
deceased.
5. The Deceased, Ruth V. Cardoso, was buried in the German Cemetery in
Salvador Brazil next to her mother, who had died there a few years
earlier. This was because her mother was a German National.
Petitioner, following the instructions of the Probate Department of
this Honorable Court, accordingly contacted the German Cemetery and
learned that the cemetery is under the control of Wolfgang Roddewig,
because he is the Honorary Consul of Germany to Salvador Brazil.
Petitioner contacted Sr. Roddewig and asked if he knew of any
relatives of Ruth V. Cardoso, because this information was needed to
probate her estate. Sr. Roddewig replied that she had left no
relatives nor any money in Brazil.
6. We now know what happened next. Upon learning through this inquiry
that Ruth V. Cardoso had left some money in Citibank New York, he then
ran down to the local Succession's and Orphan's Court in Salvador
Brazil and got himself appointed as the executor of her estate. He
then contacted the local branches of Citibank which has two offices in
Salvador Brazil and demanded that the money be paid to him.
7. We know that this is what happened because, as the court notes,
Wolfgang Roddewig says that he was appointed in March 2003. Ruth V.
Cardoso died on February 11, 2000. Thus, Sr. Roddewig waited more than
three years after Ruth Cardoso had died before approaching the court
in Brazil. In short, this was an obvious scam.
8. It was in March 2003 that pursuant to instructions given by the
Probate Department of this court under the supervision of Mr. Tim
Amerist of this court, Petitioner was told to contact the Consular
Officer of Brazil to find out any possible relatives of the deceased.
Petitioner wishes to emphasize that the clerks in the Probate
Department specifically directed Petitioner to contact the Brazilian
Embassy or the Brazilian Office in the United Nations to see if they
knew of any relatives of Ruth Cardoso. In short, the Probate
Department sent Petitioner on what would have been a wild goose chase
except that as a result Petitioner contacted Wolfgang Roddewig who was
the Honorary Consul of Brazil. Upon realizing the purpose of my
contacting him, Sr. Roddewig realized that there was money to be had
by claiming the money for himself. Petitioner has filed all of the
pertinent documents with this court and it plainly obvious that it was
pursuant to the directives of the Probate Department of this Court
that I was required to notify Sr. Roddewig and he then started efforts
to grab the money for his own benefit.
9. In August, 2004, after I discovered what had happened, I was able
to track down the person at Citibank who actually paid the money to
Sr. Roddewig. This person is a Portuguese speaking staff member at the
111 Wall Street office of Citibank. She told me that she had decided
to treat this as a foreign or overseas account especially in view of
the fact that the account had lain dor
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--- chesspride@aol.com wrote:
I assume that GM Benko is actually pleased to have people know about the
case -- this is an instance where the louder the shouting, the more likely justice will be done.
ECJ
In a message dated 5/3/2008 5:33:53 P.M. Eastern Daylight Time,
daverook@aol.com writes:
Sam: I realize these are public records but why are you sending them to me and hundreds of other people?
This is not any of my business. Just because you can does not mean you should.
David Spigel
This is a legitimate question. The answer is that, as you can see,
this case has been going on for a long time. All this time,
Grandmaster Benko assumed that it was just a matter of time before he
received his rightful inheritance and thus he was patiently waiting
and saw no reason to make this case openly public.
However, he is completely shocked by the decision by Surrogate Glen,
who by the way is a new judge who was rated as "Unqualified" by the
Bar Association when she ran for election in 2005. She was strongly
opposed by the legal establishment. You can still find some references
to her 2005 election campaign on the Internet where she claimed to be
the champion of the "little guy" against the big monolithic
corporations. This is quite ironic in view of her recent decision.
Every chess player and regular reader of these groups will know that
Woman's International Master Ruth Cardoso and Grandmaster Pal Benko
were constant companions for 30 years and every time in those 30 years
that Grandmaster Benko came to a major chess tournament or visited a
local chess club he was always accompanied by Ruth Cardoso and visa
versa. Thus, we will all know that it is impossible that she would
have left her money to the "poor people living in the slums of Brazil"
or to a previously unknown German Consular Officer named Wolfgang
Roddewig. I have been wondering whether the Nation of Germany can be
held responsible for this misconduct by one of their consular
officers.
Incidentally, right after receiving the money, Wolfgang Roddewig was
involved in a serious auto accident in Brazil. Although he barely
survived the accident, he is now said to be an invalid in a wheelchair
and is not able to respond to these motions (or to give back the
money).
Since the death of Ruth Cardoso, Grandmaster Benko has lived most of
the time in his native Hungary. Previously, he and Ruth Cardoso shared
a house in Jersey City, New Jersey. Grandmaster Benko has just flown
back from Budapest Hungary because of this case and plans to appear
personally before Surrogate Glen on May 20, 2008 to argue his case.
I understand that already Grandmaster Benko has received strong
opposition papers to this motion from the attorneys for Citibank, who
are claiming that this motion should not be heard because it is just a
rehash of arguments previously be made. It is now clear that Citibank
will try to stop this motion from being heard and will try to deprive
Grandmaster Benko of the opportunity to appear before the court on May
20.
This case, as is every other case, is open to the public. You are
welcome to go down to the Surrogates Court and read the court file.
The court is located at 31 Chambers Street, 4th Floor, New York NY
near to the Brooklyn Bridge Stations on the 4, 5 and 6 trains (which
gives rise to the joke about selling the Brooklyn Bridge). You are
also welcome to come to court to hear this case argued before
Surrogate Glen on May 20, although do not be surprised if they try and
succeed in shutting this case down and in depriving Grandmaster Benko
of his rightful day in court.
Sam Sloan
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On May 4, 10:16 am, Brian Lafferty <blafferty@nowhere.com> wrote:
Glenn is going to deny the motion anyway. This is really setting the stage for an appeal.
Right. Grandmaster Benko already knew this. He knows that his chances
of wining before Judge Glen are now slim to none as they say. This is
a preliminary step to an appeal. Still, he is hoping that if Judge
Glen actually sees him before her and realizing as she must that her
granting of "summary judgment" to Citibank is ridiculously wrong, she
will chicken out and do the thing that the law requires.
There is also the hope that Citibank will realize that stealing
$70,000 from a famous person like Grandmaster Benko is not worth the
negative publicity they should receive.
The reason her decision is ridiculously wrong is that Citibank did not
even meet the basic minimum requirements for summary judgment such as
setting out the undisputed facts upon which summary judgment can be
based. Citibank set forth no facts at all in their opposition papers.
It was only verbally at oral argument that counsel for Citibank stated
that they had paid the money to somebody in Brazil. They still have
never said in writing who they paid, how much they paid or on what
basis they paid. A representative of Roddewig wrote a letter to the
court stating that he is incapacitated. As far as I know, that letter
is not in the court file as it was not from an attorney admitted to
practice in this court.
I appeared before Glenn when she was sitting as a Supreme Court Justice
in Part V (matrimonial). [Her ex-husband taught NY CPLR at NY Law School
for years] IMO, she was one of the worst judges in NYS. She was
eventually transferred out of Part V. A blessing given the havoc she
spread there. How she ever got herself elected Surrogate is a mystery.
Her decision here is typical of the way her reasoning works, which is to
say it doesn't. I expect she will be reversed on appeal.
This is all very interesting (to quote Bobby Fischer).
Sam Sloan
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There is a lot in this case that is interesting, and doubtless the decision
on law will be made not by some Surrogate by by an appellate court in New
York.
It's a pity that it wasn't a "New York" will instead of a "New Jersey" will
since New York has a specific law applying New York law in certain cases of
foreigners' wills:
"Whenever a decedent, being a citizen of the United States or a citizen or a
subject of a foreign country, wherever resident, shall have declared in his
will and testament that he elects that such testamentary dispositions shall
be construed and regulated by the laws of this state, the validity and
effect of such dispositions shall be determined by such laws."
Estates, Powers and Trusts Law 3-5.1(h)
Malfeasance by a consular officer is not new. Whether a honorary consul has
any legal protection for malfeasance (any diplomatic or consular immunity)
even for official acts is problematic. And this seems not to be an official
act, but conversion and/or theft.
What did the Auswertiges Amt in Berlin have to say?
(I haven't had time to read the entire history of this posting)
On 04/05/2008 10:54, in article 481d8717.40261625@ca.news.verio.net, "Sam
Sloan" <sloan@ishipress.com> wrote:
--- chesspride@aol.com wrote:
This is a legitimate question. The answer is that, as you can see,
this case has been going on for a long time. All this time,
Grandmaster Benko assumed that it was just a matter of time before he
received his rightful inheritance and thus he was patiently waiting
and saw no reason to make this case openly public.
However, he is completely shocked by the decision by Surrogate Glen,
who by the way is a new judge who was rated as "Unqualified" by the
Bar Association when she ran for election in 2005. She was strongly
opposed by the legal establishment. You can still find some references
to her 2005 election campaign on the Internet where she claimed to be
the champion of the "little guy" against the big monolithic
corporations. This is quite ironic in view of her recent decision.
Every chess player and regular reader of these groups will know that
Woman's International Master Ruth Cardoso and Grandmaster Pal Benko
were constant companions for 30 years and every time in those 30 years
that Grandmaster Benko came to a major chess tournament or visited a
local chess club he was always accompanied by Ruth Cardoso and visa
versa. Thus, we will all know that it is impossible that she would
have left her money | | |
