ATTORNEY NEWSLETTER
Seniors Targets of Financial Elder Abuse
If You’re a Victim, We Can Help
Unscrupulous stockbrokers, insurance agents, financial advisors and retirement planners prey on seniors with “opportunities” of higher returns in a low-interest-rate environment. Be careful. Annuities or high-risk investments are unsuitable for seniors and can lead to serious financial loss. The Marin financial elder abuse attorneys at Evans Law Firm, Inc. represent California seniors who suffer from fraud and/or financial elder abuse at the hands of insurance agents, financial advisors, retirement planners and stockbrokers selling them inappropriate or unsuitable investments including annuities, churning their accounts or their annuities, misrepresenting investments, making unauthorized trades, taking money from their accounts, and/or failing to disclose important information. If you’re the victim of financial elder abuse here in California call us today at (415)441-8669.
Once a senior has entrusted an account to a broker or advisor, those brokers may abuse that trust. In one recent case, a senior in her 80s with signs of dementia turned her $3.9 million portfolio over to a broker to manage. Within months, the broker allegedly cashed eight checks amounting to $20,500 from her account and allegedly had one of the victim’s credit cards issued in his own name, using it for over $6700 in personal charges, according to the arrest record. According to charges brought against him, the broker had allegedly gained the senior’s trust by helping her with daily tasks and running errands for her.
Preventing Financial Elder Abuse
The best way to prevent financial elder abuse is to keep an eye on a senior’s money and bank and brokerage firm accounts. If you’re the loved one of a senior review all financial statements frequently. Talk to the senior about conversations he or she may have had regarding financial matters:
• Is anyone pushing them to buy an annuity or replace an existing one?
• Is a broker recommending risky investments?
• Does there appear to be excessive trading in any brokerage account?
• Are the same stocks (or stocks in the same sector) bought and sold continuously?
• Are there unauthorized trades?
• Are investments too concentrated in one industry?
• What commissions is the senior paying?
• Is there excessive use of margin in any account?
• Isan advisor or broker pushing a risky private placement?
• Does the broker fail to use limit orders on sales?
One other important piece of advice: Never ever give a caregiver a Power of Attorney. If you suspect your loved one has suffered financial elder abuse, alert the authorities but also reach out to counsel such as the financial elder abuse attorneys at Evans Law Firm. Our lawyers fight for seniors financially exploited by brokers, insurance agents, retirement planners, financial advisors, and others.
Contact Us
If you or someone you love is the victim of any type of financial elder abuse in California, call Ingrid M. Evans and the other Marin County and California securities fraud and financial elder abuse attorneys at Evans Law Firm, Inc. at (415) 441-8669, or by email at <a href=”mailto:info@evanslaw.com”>info@evanslaw.com</a>. Our attorneys have experience with fraud and financial elder abuse cases and complex qui tam or whistleblower cases including offshore tax avoidance cases, complex financial contract cases and cases against large insurance companies. We can help guide your case through a FINRA Arbitration, jury trial or toward an equitable settlement. We also handle cases involving physical elder abuse, nursing home abuse, whole life insurance and universal life insurance, and indexed, variable, and fixed annuities.
