Elder Fiduciary Abuse
I recently attended a full day conference regarding elder financial abuse hosted by our local adult protective services agency and with the opening speech by our local district attorney. The featured speaker was Paul Greenwood from the San Diego District Attorney Office who I have heard speak many times, and never get tired of this man. His passion for prosecuting and protecting the elderly is amazing. He shares with all of us who deal with the elderly regularly, a sense of pride in even the smallest of accomplishments on behalf of those most vulnerable in our communities. His color photos of victims is heartbreaking because it puts a face to the crimes we hear about but don't have to see. Both bruised, bloodied and the dead are offered so that we can appreciate the horrific details of each victims particular suffering, and often at the hands of a family member or close friend. Elder abuse is a special interest. . . not committing elder abuse but preventing it and protecting the elderly from it. Sadly, the victims often don't realize that they are being victimized until they suffer a loss or become physically abused and neglected.
I am co-conservator now for a precious pair of sisters who fell victim to the famous scrams that we are all warned about today. One sister is higher functioning than the other, but both are at risk. Both lost much as a result of telemarketing scams, the Nigeria scam, telephone tricksters, and losses to their personal checking accounts and credit card fraud due to a host of constant pitches. I have a stack of solicitations that are mindboggling and phoney checks that could fool even the
best of us. I have in my possession phoney "court orders" that someone might, at first glance, believe to be valid and respond with writing a check as ordered by this "court." During personal visits to the home, the ladies would receive a series of telephone calls soliciting for money for one sob story after the other, or pursuing promises of good health and everlasting life with the purchase of some pill, elixir, or gimmick. Once one of these scam artists was successful, he must sell the name to others who stand in line waiting to get through on the telephone.
By the time we got called in, both sisters were in debt, utilities were being shut off and they were being sued for nonpayment of credit card debts. Neither of these sisters could comprehend how they got to this point. Adult Protective Services did as much as they could, but then it was apparent someone needed to take more aggressive steps. One sister was a childless widow but the other had two daughters who lived outside the U.S. Both daughters made an emergency flight to the States to do what they could for their mother but the task was more time consuming and complex than they could handle in a few weeks. Never fear. . . the private professional conservators are here, and we stepped in to begin the process of making sure that the ladies were protected, placed in a safe setting and working with the local post office and authorities began sorting out the complex financial abuse which remains unfinished at this writing.
As the older adult begins to show some symptoms of cognitive decline whether it is simply early onset of dementia, a slight impairment of their judgment or they don't have a realistic grasp on their finances, it is so typical that pride gets in the way of helping them. I don't know how many times I have heard some senior citizen say that they can take care of themselves just fine.. . ."I have been doing just fine for the last 80 years and I think I know what I am doing without help from someone else. . ." Nobody ever wants to admit that they are being foolish or that they have been tricked. It is a humiliation and often, that is the reason why the elderly do not call for help. "How could I be so stupid as to believe. . . ."
I find that most of us are trusting, and the reason is that we have no hidden agendas, we don't plan to cheat anyone, and we deal with people honestly. We assume everyone has the same pure motives that we do in dealing with others every day. Some of us cannot even conceive of how we would go about stealing from another even if that was a goal. What do you do? What do you say and how do you say it if you wanted to trick someone into giving you hundreds of thousands of dollars? The majority of us don't think like the thief and liar so we cannot begin to formulate such a plan against another person. Likewise, we cannot see ourselves as being victim to someone else . . . .but it happens and it is epidemic.
"Undue influence" is the biggest obstacles I have seen. You cannot go into the house with a gun and a mask to rob the senior citizen of his social security check, but if you can talk him out of that social security check. . . .well, it was a gift, a loan, a small business transaction. . ..he was helping with another's emergency. . etc., you name it and I have heard it all. Most of the time the losses are to family members. It is amazing that family will do to each other the things that they would never consider doing to a stranger. It is not okay to go thru the neighbor's wallet and take $500 but it is okay for sonny boy to go through his 90 year old mother's purse and take $500. Sometimes we see that attitude of entitlement and sometimes not, but in the mind of the person who just took the $500, it is okay. . .it is just mom. If the guy gets caught, he can put the pressure on mom to tell the authorities that it was a gift and then refuse to press charges because this is, after all, the old woman's family. . . .who will take care of her if he is in jail. The fear might be . . .once in jail, the county will put the old lady in a nursing home because she can't take are of herself. Look at it from any angle and the issue of undue influence is present. And how do you help someone who is reluctant to help themselves? It is hard.
In the case of my new clients, the battle has just begun. It is important to cut the victims off from the scam artists, protect and preserve what they have left, and then begin the difficult task of going after the telemarketers, mail order scam artists, etc. Frankly, the chances of putting these criminals out of business is slim to none because they just move on to the next victim. However, I see one thing that is common among so many of these seniors who are victimized and that is the Publishing Clearhousing type of solicitations. . . .it begins with those little scams and grows out of control. Nobody gets anything for nothing so be wise and beware. Today the victim is our grandmothers and elderly parents, but tomorrow it will be us.
I am co-conservator now for a precious pair of sisters who fell victim to the famous scrams that we are all warned about today. One sister is higher functioning than the other, but both are at risk. Both lost much as a result of telemarketing scams, the Nigeria scam, telephone tricksters, and losses to their personal checking accounts and credit card fraud due to a host of constant pitches. I have a stack of solicitations that are mindboggling and phoney checks that could fool even the
best of us. I have in my possession phoney "court orders" that someone might, at first glance, believe to be valid and respond with writing a check as ordered by this "court." During personal visits to the home, the ladies would receive a series of telephone calls soliciting for money for one sob story after the other, or pursuing promises of good health and everlasting life with the purchase of some pill, elixir, or gimmick. Once one of these scam artists was successful, he must sell the name to others who stand in line waiting to get through on the telephone.
By the time we got called in, both sisters were in debt, utilities were being shut off and they were being sued for nonpayment of credit card debts. Neither of these sisters could comprehend how they got to this point. Adult Protective Services did as much as they could, but then it was apparent someone needed to take more aggressive steps. One sister was a childless widow but the other had two daughters who lived outside the U.S. Both daughters made an emergency flight to the States to do what they could for their mother but the task was more time consuming and complex than they could handle in a few weeks. Never fear. . . the private professional conservators are here, and we stepped in to begin the process of making sure that the ladies were protected, placed in a safe setting and working with the local post office and authorities began sorting out the complex financial abuse which remains unfinished at this writing.
As the older adult begins to show some symptoms of cognitive decline whether it is simply early onset of dementia, a slight impairment of their judgment or they don't have a realistic grasp on their finances, it is so typical that pride gets in the way of helping them. I don't know how many times I have heard some senior citizen say that they can take care of themselves just fine.. . ."I have been doing just fine for the last 80 years and I think I know what I am doing without help from someone else. . ." Nobody ever wants to admit that they are being foolish or that they have been tricked. It is a humiliation and often, that is the reason why the elderly do not call for help. "How could I be so stupid as to believe. . . ."
I find that most of us are trusting, and the reason is that we have no hidden agendas, we don't plan to cheat anyone, and we deal with people honestly. We assume everyone has the same pure motives that we do in dealing with others every day. Some of us cannot even conceive of how we would go about stealing from another even if that was a goal. What do you do? What do you say and how do you say it if you wanted to trick someone into giving you hundreds of thousands of dollars? The majority of us don't think like the thief and liar so we cannot begin to formulate such a plan against another person. Likewise, we cannot see ourselves as being victim to someone else . . . .but it happens and it is epidemic.
"Undue influence" is the biggest obstacles I have seen. You cannot go into the house with a gun and a mask to rob the senior citizen of his social security check, but if you can talk him out of that social security check. . . .well, it was a gift, a loan, a small business transaction. . ..he was helping with another's emergency. . etc., you name it and I have heard it all. Most of the time the losses are to family members. It is amazing that family will do to each other the things that they would never consider doing to a stranger. It is not okay to go thru the neighbor's wallet and take $500 but it is okay for sonny boy to go through his 90 year old mother's purse and take $500. Sometimes we see that attitude of entitlement and sometimes not, but in the mind of the person who just took the $500, it is okay. . .it is just mom. If the guy gets caught, he can put the pressure on mom to tell the authorities that it was a gift and then refuse to press charges because this is, after all, the old woman's family. . . .who will take care of her if he is in jail. The fear might be . . .once in jail, the county will put the old lady in a nursing home because she can't take are of herself. Look at it from any angle and the issue of undue influence is present. And how do you help someone who is reluctant to help themselves? It is hard.
In the case of my new clients, the battle has just begun. It is important to cut the victims off from the scam artists, protect and preserve what they have left, and then begin the difficult task of going after the telemarketers, mail order scam artists, etc. Frankly, the chances of putting these criminals out of business is slim to none because they just move on to the next victim. However, I see one thing that is common among so many of these seniors who are victimized and that is the Publishing Clearhousing type of solicitations. . . .it begins with those little scams and grows out of control. Nobody gets anything for nothing so be wise and beware. Today the victim is our grandmothers and elderly parents, but tomorrow it will be us.
posted @7:31 AM
1 Comments:
This article doesn't mention the biggest and more shocking abusers are the public agencies that have the power to abuse our elderly.
The money is gone faster when a corrupt county probate court gets involved. The amount of abuse at the hands of public guardians/conservators across the nation is the most,shocking, heartbreaking. The money that is embezzeled is in the millions.
The court appointed attorneys, guardian/conservator, county counsel, court investigator, court fees and other court fees are paid out of the elderly persons estate from the minute the first paper is filed to establish a conservatorship.
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