Seniors beset by monetary mistreatment
Yakima Herald-Republic
May 21, 2009
Leah Beth Ward
Linda Kraft knew something was amiss.
It wasn't like her Uncle Henry to ask for extra money or conceal the identity of a frequent visitor to his apartment at an assisted-living center in Yakima.
"I'd call to say I was coming over right away and he'd say, 'Now's not a good time,'" Kraft recalls. "It just wasn't like him."
Kraft manages her bachelor uncle's financial affairs. He doesn't have a lot of money left at the end of the month, so the sudden surge in spending was worrisome. She asked that his last name not be used in this story to protect his identity.
One day not too long after she took note of his behavior, Kraft got a call from the assisted-living center, which reported that a woman was frequently coming to see Henry, who is in his late 80s.
Kraft wanted to respect her uncle's privacy -- he is fully functioning and not senile -- but she grew increasingly concerned that he was at risk for theft, or worse.
She didn't know it at the time, but the same woman was suspected of victimizing another elderly man across town. Kraft's uncle even drove the woman to the other man's house, thinking he was doing her a favor but unwittingly participating in the scheme, she said.
Henry also didn't know the other man, Don Weaver, suffered from Alzheimer's.
Roberta Vasquez, who also went by Roberta Dave, 54, was eventually caught. A Yakima District Court jury convicted Vasquez last fall of violating a "vulnerable adult protection order" that Weaver's sister had obtained. Judge Ralph Thompson sentenced her to a year in jail, and she was released this month.
Therese Murphy, deputy prosecuting attorney in charge of elder fraud cases, knows crimes against the elderly are all too common and often underreported because of the shame the victim may feel. They can be tough to prove. If the victim has dementia, he or she can't readily testify to the thefts.
The second Greater Yakima Elder Abuse Prevention Conference will focus on consumer issues, including financial fraud.
"We want to arm our community with as much information as we can," said regional long-term care ombudsman Stacy Kellogg, who works for the Yakima Valley Farm Workers Clinic in Yakima.
"If we can get to people earlier, that's obviously the best case scenario," she said.
Other speakers will address adult protective services and residential care, caregivers, legal issues surrounding aging and abuse, and Alzheimer's education.
If you go
WHAT: Elder Abuse Conference.
WHEN: 9:30 a.m.-3:30 p.m. May 27.
WHERE: St. Timothy's Episopal Church, 4105 Richey Road, Yakima.
COST: $10 preregistration; $20 day of conference. To register, call 509-453-0480 and press 1.
ON THE WEB: http://www.yakimaseniorrights.com.
Abridged
SOURCE: AARP BULLETIN TODAY
Search Right Col/Labels for More Posts/Resources
No comments:
Post a Comment