By Bill Rankin
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
June 14, 2009
At 92, unsteady on his feet and hard of hearing, Harold Williams needed someone to care for him.
After returning to his Decatur home from a stay in a rehab center, Williams answered an ad placed by Rukhsana Burton’s caregiver company, signed her up for $14 an hour and had her come by six days a week.
Burton, 29, took care of Williams’ household needs, ran him on errands and, only a couple of months into the job, swindled the former Defense Department industrial engineer out of a large chunk of his life’s savings. By the time Burton was arrested, she had forged Williams’ name on more than two dozen checks totaling more than $200,000.
Williams is like many retirees who want to spend their golden years in the homes they’ve lived in for decades instead of moving into an institutionalized setting. Not only is it more comfortable, it’s also more affordable. But it also puts elderly residents in vulnerable positions, with their caregivers often having the run of the house, often with access to their client’s finances and the mail.
Williams fell prey to what DeKalb District Attorney Gwen Keyes Fleming calls an “opportunist” —- a caregiver who comes into the home or a family relative who lives there and takes advantage of an elderly victim.
Fleming has made it a priority to prosecute those who exploit the elderly, allowing a prosecutor, three investigators and a victim-witness advocate help with the growing case load. Her office also uses aggressive, innovative and empathetic means to pursue these cases.
“It saddens me to say that these cases are very prevalent and growing in frequency,” Fleming said, noting her office received five new cases last week. Fleming said she suspects the upswing is an unfortunate byproduct of a sour economy.
DeKalb has one of the only district attorney’s offices in the state with such a dedicated task force focused on elder exploitation. The Fulton DA’s office also has one dedicated elder abuse/exploitation attorney who prosecutes these cases.
Other DeKalb County prosecutions of elder exploitation fraud include:
Patricia Ngando pleaded guilty last month and was sentenced to three years in prison for taking $140,000 from her 90-year-old client. Ngando spent much of the money on lottery tickets, prosecutors said. Felicia Harvey was indicted last month on charges she paid her mortgage and utility bills from her 97-year-old client’s bank account and forged multiple checks totaling at least $16,000. Timothy Ware was convicted last year of taking advantage of his godfather while living in his home and caring for him. Ware got the retired 83-year-old salesman to unwittingly sign over possession of his $275,000 home just after his release from the hospital, where he was treated for dementia. Before his arrest, Ware sold the house for $206,000. He is now serving five years in prison. Rakeishla Whitehead, a teller at a Bank of America branch, befriended an 84-year-old woman who regularly came by to make her deposits. Over a four-month period last summer during which they began going out to lunch together, Whitehead got temporary ATM cards and took more than $64,000 from the woman’s account. Whitehead pleaded guilty earlier this year.
Reports of abuse, neglect or exploitation of disabled adults or elderly persons who do not live in assisted-living homes should be directed to the Adult Protective Services Central Intake Unit. Its phone numbers are 404-657-5250 or 888-774-0152.
Reports of abuse, neglect or exploitation of those who do live in assisted-living homes should call the Office of Regulatory Services. Its phone numbers are 404-657-5728 or 800-878-6442.
Abridged
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