They have cash and property. Some are alone and frail. Others are sharp and socially connected.
And they're being robbed, sometimes losing small sums, sometimes life savings, to family, friends, caregivers and scam artists.
Stealing is the fastest growing category of elder abuse in Wisconsin, government data show.
Thieves are exploiting gaping holes in the public safety net, the Wisconsin State Journal found in an eight-month investigation of elder abuse in the state. Among the newspaper's findings:
• The state doesn't force financial institutions to alert police to suspicious transactions.
• Too few police and elder abuse investigators have expertise and training in financial crimes, which can be time-consuming and hard to prove.
• Crooks can use the same laws and financial tools — power of attorney, quitclaim deeds, joint bank accounts — that let a good-hearted caregiver or guardian manage a faltering elder's financial affairs.
As few as one in 25 financial crimes against elders is ever reported, one study estimated.
Most of it goes undetected, unreported or unprosecuted, experts say, because the victims are often too ashamed to speak up. They don't want to report family or caregivers who steal but also help them stay independent. Or they're afraid of the perpetrator or the court process.
"By the time we see it, $20,000 to $30,000 is lost," said Scott Martin, one of Dane County's three elder abuse investigators. "We see at least five a year this size."
Vulnerable, with assets
Case study
In 2005, Matthew and Catherine Simpson of Janesville got to know a couple in their 80s and persuaded them to sell their deceased son's Beloit farm for $189,000, with no down payment and $500 monthly payments for 30 years. Court documents list the farm as having had a market value of $967,000. A judge reversed the transaction last year and the Simpsons' appeal was denied.
It's clear why senior citizens become targets.
SOURCE
1 comment:
What about the nearly blind 90 year old woman with a very meager income per month from social security? A guy down the hall in senior housing befriends her and sits with her most of everyday. He watches her cable, because he can't afford cable. He smokes her cigarettes. He lets her order in at night and pay for his meal, which I'm sure he's eating all of his and most of hers. Then, he adds minutes to his cell phone from her bank account at the tune of about $100 in one month and makes long distance calls on her landline, plus about $75.00 in directory assistance calls. Last, but not least, he writes 10 checks and has her sign them on the 3rd of the month, the day her check gets to the bank, 10 checks total. Most for $20 and $10 to friends and family for Xmas presents and a couple to himself for $70 and $85. When reported to abuse, because she has some dementia, then the system jumps in and abuses her even more. The guy is never criminally charged and is still sitting with her as I type this. But, she is taken to court and it is requested that she take a mental capacity test and railroad her and make the rest of her life HELL! Why don't they have this guy take a mental test, fingerprint him and tell him the next time a complaint is made, they will prosecute him for exploitation? What is wrong with this picture? Truth is, who cares anyway... she's 90 and worthless to society. Isn't that the way it goes. I can't wait till this is over because I am going to write a HUGE article!!!!!
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