ATTORNEY NEWSLETTER
Caregivers and Financial Elder Abuse
Bankers Detect Fraud
Senior Captive in Her Own Home
Caregiver fraud on the elderly is a very real, and growing, danger. Financial elder abuse by a caregiver may include free use of credit and ATM cards, unauthorized purchases, access to bank accounts and identity information, undue influence to make gifts or Will changes, embezzlement, transfers of property, beneficiary changes on life insurance policies, and more. The Alameda County and California elder abuse attorneys at Evans Law Firm, Inc. represent seniors and their loved ones victimized by abusive caregivers and others. If you or someone you know is a victim of financial elder abuse in Alameda County or elsewhere in California, call us today at 415-441-8669, and we can help.
A recently reported case illustrates just how deep unchecked financial elder abuse can go.[1] In the case, caregivers for a 73-year-old woman stole over $800,000 from her over a period of years. A bank officer tipped off the authorities when she detected large checks signed by the senior to another individual and the withdrawal of $32,000 to purchase a 2016 convertible BMW. The elderly woman no longer drove. When social workers attempted to interview the senior, one of the caregivers refused to leave the room. The police investigated the elderly woman’s bank account and found a number of suspicious large checks and withdrawals. The investigation also uncovered that the caregivers gambled heavily at a nearby casino and the checks and withdrawals coincided with their trips to the casino. The caregivers used a forged Power of Attorney for their transactions with a local car dealer. The senior suffered from alcoholism and the caregivers used her alcohol dependence to cloud her judgments and manipulate her into allowing them access to her funds.
Fraudulent and abusive caregivers like the two in the reported case take advantage of a senior’s dependence, isolation and vulnerability and gain access to financial accounts, cash, important papers and personal records. In-home caregivers have time to hunt for cash, search through paperwork, forge checks, Powers of Attorney, and other documents, use phone or online connections to manipulate account information or add themselves as beneficiaries, pocket credit cards, sort and block important mail and intercept phone calls.
Contact Us
The above case reveals just how devastating financial elder abuse can be. If you or a loved one has been the victim of financial elder abuse in Marin County or elsewhere in California, contact Ingrid M. Evans and the other Evans Law Firm elder abuse attorneys at (415) 441-8669, or by email at <a href=”mailto:info@evanslaw.com”>info@evanslaw.com</a>. We can help guide your case through investigation, discovery, through a jury trial or toward an equitable settlement. We handle cases involving physical and financial elder abuse, qui tam and whistleblower law, nursing home abuse, whole life insurance and universal life insurance, and indexed, variable, and fixed annuities.
[1] Evans Law Firm was not involved in the case in any way.
