Frederick H. Green of Thompson Township, Ohio, and a former probate court-appointed guardian, was charged with three counts of fourth-degree felony grand theft, and one count of third-degree felony perjury.

Green pleaded not guilty to the charges and was released on a personal recognizance bond.

Green was appointed as a legal guardian for William Vancura, in May 2017 by Judge Tim Grendell of the Geauge County Probate Court.  In September of 2017, the bar association received a grievance letter against Green.  The letter claimed that Green, in his role as legal guardian, misappropriated $18,400 from Vancura.

Michael T. Judy, Chairman of the Geauga County Bar Association’s grievance committee, sent a letter to Jim Flaiz, Geauga County Prosecutor; which then started an investigation.

Green has resigned as president of the Geauga County Historical Society’s board of directors and has made an initial appearance before Geauga County Common Pleas Court Judge David Ondrey in November 2019. He appeared with his legal counsel, Robert N. Farinacci.

“It has since come to light that there may be discrepancies in several other cases in which Mr. Green serves as guardian,” Judy added. “Some of these cases are still under investigation, but it does appear that at various times Mr. Green took money from various wards without court approval; took fees from a ward’s account in addition to being paid by the court’s indigent guardian fund; may have misappropriated money he received as a Social Security representative payee; and — most disturbingly — appears to have outright misappropriated (stolen?) money from other wards and then provided the probate court with falsified or at least inaccurate accounting.”

Information excerpts from Geauga County Maple Leaf