On a recent day, Paulette Kohler celebrated her 95th birthday in her rent-controlled Upper West Side apartment with friends. But the retired hairdresser, who has lived in her home for 70 years, is running out of money. In March of 2022, Manhattan Judge Carol Sharpe ordered Kohler into a court-appointed guardianship against her will, and her documented wishes. At that time, she had $870,000 in her account. The guardianship was overturned 16 months later. Kohler is now left with just over $27,000. The court appointed the guardianship amid claims from the landlord of Kohler’s condo building that her best friend, Inga Eggerud, was being investigated by the FBI for financial elder abuse. The year before, Paulette, with no surviving family, had designated Eggerud, her longtime best friend, as power of attorney and beneficiary. There was never any documented evidence against Eggerud, who has worked for years as the housekeeper for a prominent NYC corporate executive, Barbara Goodstein. “They were attacking me like I was the worst thing on the planet. All I ever wanted to do was to make sure Paulette could live out her final years in her home. I promised he that I would protect her,” said Eggerud. In Nov. 2023, New York’s Appellate Division ordered the guardianship reversed and reinstated Eggerud as power of attorney. The justices called the guardianship “improper.” Eggerud is now suing parties involved in the guardianship for defamation and intentional infliction of emotional distress against Paulette. The defendants, who sought to dismiss the charges, deny the allegations. A trial court judge recently ruled that major claims can go forward against the law firm which originally represented the landlord in the guardianship petition. Barbara Goodstein says she used her financial expertise to examine the accounting documents, which included more than a half-million dollars for home health aides hired by the guardian. Eggerud says she is paying a fraction of that amount now, for far better care. Goodstein also says Kohler is still owed court-ordered fees totaling more than $65,000. “There is no visibility into this entire system,” said Goodstein. “There are massive amounts of money moving around and nobody can see where it’s going. This case is going to end up breaking ground in this space because so many people have made an industry out of this.”