The State - News from Nov. 13, 1988

San Francisco’s public guardian, James Scannell, is under investigation for allegedly supplying inside information to a company that searches for heirs to estates, the San Francisco Chronicle reported. A former clerk at Brandenberger & Davis, a Sacramento “heir finder” firm, accused Scannell of phoning the company over a five-year period with information about people who have died leaving no known heirs, the newspaper said. The clerk, Dorothy M. Stone, said records show that Scannell received at least $10,208 for the advance notice he provided her former employer. Scannell, who is also the city’s public administrator, has been placed on an unpaid one-month leave.