ATTORNEY NEWSLETTER
Allegations Of Forgery And Access To Accounts
Nursing Home Administrator Allegedly Wrote Resident Checks To Herself
Warning Signs Of Financial Exploitation
Families of nursing home residents are generally aware of the dangers of neglect, abandonment or physical abuse that institutionalized elders face. Families of older persons are also generally aware of the dangers of financial elder abuse by in-home caregivers when seniors are still in their homes but under the daily care of strangers. But there is also a real danger of financial elder abuse of nursing home residents by the staff and administrators of the very homes that are paid to care for the senior. Sometimes, staff in the administration or bookkeeping offices of nursing homes has ready access to the financial records of its residents and that’s where the danger can lie, in addition to theft of cash or checks from a resident’s room. Wherever the financial abuse occurs, the Los Angeles financial elder and dependent adult abuse attorneys at Evans Law Firm. Inc. can represent victims and their families, and pursue all persons responsible, including the owners, administrators and staff directly responsible or as supervisors with a duty to protect residents from any kind of abuse. Call us today at (415)441-8669 if any senior loved one has suffered any kind of financial elder abuse here in Los Angeles or elsewhere in California.
Financial Elder Abuse By Home Administrator
In one recently reported case[1], a former nursing home administrator was recently arrested and jailed for allegedly stealing more than $100,000 from her elderly residents. The former nursing home administrator was charged with 12 felony counts of theft, theft by deception and forgery, and financial exploitation of an elderly person. The charges stem from her time at a 100-bed skilled nursing facility, where she was employed as an administrator for a number of years. Authorities allege that 20 residents were victimized by the individual, who took advantage of fraudulent bookkeeping of residents’ accounts and bank statements. Police allege that the administrator made false entries in the nursing home’s records and physically wrote checks to herself from residents’ check books. Some residents require nursing home employees to do some of their shopping or pay their bills for them, and approve facility administrators or other employees to be authorized signers on their accounts. Knowing his, the administrator allegedly forged the signatures of her residents, and in some cases, even of other employees who were authorized signers so the theft would not seem as suspicious.
How To Protect Nursing Home Resident From Financial Elder Abuse
Regular monitoring of an older loved one’s bank accounts, IRAs, cash, valuables, and credit card statements is the front line for protecting the senior from financial abuse. Never ever allow the senior to give a caregiver or a nursing home administrator a Power of Attorney or authorize them to sign checks. Those individuals are being paid to provide physical and medical care and have no business involving themselves in financial matters. Make sure checks, important papers, account numbers and Social Security numbers are not accessible to those persons. Run a check through the California Department of Health to see if any citations have ever issued to the home for any manner of abuse. You also may want to redirect mail to your own address so nursing home staff or strangers do not have access to the resident’s mail. Keep an eye on where their Social Security and pension money is directly deposited; sometimes abusers try to re-route those deposits to their own accounts. Perhaps most important of all, if you suspect anything wrong, do something about it right away. Call the financial dependent adult and elder abuse litigators at Evans Law Firm, Inc.
Contact Us
If you suspect any financial elder abuse of an older loved one here in Los Angeles or elsewhere in California call Ingrid M. Evans and the other financial elder abuse attorneys at Evans Law Firm, Inc. today. Ingrid and our other attorneys can be reached at (415) 441-8669, or email us at <a href=”mailto:info@evanslaw.com”>info@evanslaw.com</a>. We handle all types of elder abuse cases throughout California.
[1] Evans Law Firm, Inc. was not involved in the case in any way.
