ATTORNEY NEWSLETTER
Caregivers Accused Of Stealing Millions
Family of Deceased 91-Year-Old Sues
Millionaire Had Only $200 Left At Death
Caregiver theft from older persons ranges from petty theft of less than $100 here and there to grand scale theft of everything a senior has. A recent case in San Francisco, discussed below, illustrates how enormous the scale of caregiver theft can be. Regardless of the size, stealing is stealing and while theft from any person is a crime, when the victim is over 65 any theft is also criminal financial elder abuse and grounds for civil liability against the person who took the property. Anyone assisting in financial elder abuse, even if another person is the one who physically takes the elder’s property, also commits financial elder abuse and is responsible for the property taken. Penal Code § 368; Cal. Welf. & Inst. Code § 15610.30(a)(1) and (2). California broadly defines what constitutes financial elder abuse:
(a) “Financial abuse” of an elder or dependent adult occurs when a person or entity does any of the following:
(1) Takes, secretes, appropriates, obtains, or retains real or personal property of an elder or dependent adult for a wrongful use or with intent to defraud, or both.
(2) Assists in taking, secreting, appropriating, obtaining, or retaining real or personal property of an elder or dependent adult for a wrongful use or with intent to defraud, or both.
(3) Takes, secretes, appropriates, obtains, or retains, or assists in taking, secreting, appropriating, obtaining, or retaining, real or personal property of an elder or dependent adult by undue influence, as defined in Section 15610.70.
If you or a loved one is a victim of caregiver fraud or caregiver theft of financial elder or dependent adult abuse anywhere in the San Francisco Bay Area call us today at (415)441-8669. Our toll-free number is 1-888-50EVANS (888-503-8267).
Recent Caregiver Fraud/Financial Elder Abuse Case In The News*
The trustee of a onetime San Francisco millionaire who died nearly penniless has filed a $9 million lawsuit against the woman’s longtime caregivers, alleging a yearslong scheme in which the staff drained the savings of an older, immobile woman suffering from dementia whom they were supposed to be caring for. The victim, who died at the age of 91, had less than $200 left in her investment account when she died at a nursing home nearly two years ago. She had been forced to move there, her family said, after the in-home caregivers she relied on for bathing, toileting and eating allegedly overpaid themselves by the thousands over a period of years using fraudulent checks.
According to the complaint, at the beginning of 2016, the victim had a “blue chip stock portfolio” worth more than $5 million. It was at about this time that the caregivers began directing the transfer and sale of her stocks, plaintiffs’ attorneys said. Over the next several years, the complaint alleges that the caregivers inflated their paychecks hundreds of times, but falsified the check register to represent a much smaller amount, attorneys said.
While each of the caregivers earned $30 an hour from the victim, financial records show their actual take-home pay was substantially higher. In August 2020 alone – a month that the victim was especially isolated due to COVID, one of the caregivers allegedly issued checks to herself totaling $78,000, the suit states. Had it not been for the caregivers’ theft, plaintiffs’ attorneys said, the victim’s brokerage account would have been worth nearly $9 million at the time of her death in March 2023.
Contact Us
The reported case illustrates the danger of letting strangers work their way into an older person’s life. Stay involved in any senior loved one’s life so a stranger does not have the opportunity for this kind of theft and exploitation. If you sense any kind of caregiver fraud or caregiver theft or financial elder abuse of an older loved one in the San Francisco Bay Area, call us right away. Ingrid M. Evans has years of experience in representing seniors and their families against abusers of any kind, including in-home caregivers. You can reach us at (415) 441-8669, or by email at info@evanslaw.com. Our toll-free number is 1-888-50EVANS (888-503-8267).
*Evans Law Firm, Inc. was not involved in the case in any way.
