Elder Abuse Isn’t Only Physical. It’s Financial, Too

This is a story from the Saturday, Sept. 6, 2008, Los Angeles Daily News by Susan Abram. http://origin.dailynews.com/ci_10394250

It’s horrifying to think the are people with no conscience who are ‘snatch and grab’ thieves who prey on the defenseless aging population, from which there is very little protection.
They are in the same class of heartless sub-humans who swipe wheelchairs from the disabled and Christmas toys stockpiled by charities.

While shopping at a local Trader Joe's two months ago, a 78-year-old Sherman Oaks man was approached by a young woman with dark hair and a big smile.

Even though she didn't know him, she convinced him she was an old friend, asking, "Don't you remember me?"

Alzheimer's disease had stolen pieces of the man's memory, so he wasn't sure. But she persuaded him to take her to lunch. Then to Macy's for a birthday shopping spree.

"She got ahold of his credit cards," said David Sidney, the man's son, who asked that his father's name not be used.

The incident is an example of the alarming rise of Los Angeles County elder-abuse cases in recent years, which could get worse as the senior population grows, the economy struggles and funding gets slashed for services that protect a vulnerable population.

From 2000 to 2006, the last year for which data were available, abuse cases against those 65 and older jumped 65 percent in the county.

The increases come as state lawmakers are set to cut $6.1million from the state's Adult Protective Services department to close a $17.2 billion deficit. And the state's senior population is projected to swell to almost 13 million by 2050.

"Unfortunately, we are fighting a losing battle," said Peter Greenwood, head of the elder-abuse prosecution unit for the San Diego County District Attorney's Office and co-chairman of the state's elder abuse committee.

"We've done a lot to increase the awareness, but while more and more cases are now being reported, the state is saying, `We're going to take away your budget,"' he said. "Adult protective services are being compromised."

While cases of neglect, physical and verbal abuse continue to raise concerns, financial abuse is rising, a result of the elderly being preyed upon by greedy relatives or desperate strangers during a slumping economy.

"As the economy seems to head more and more downhill, people are thinking, `How am I going to make money?"' Greenwood said.

David Sidney's 78-year-old father was one of those victims.

The bank alerted Sidney about an unusual transaction. In all, the woman got away with $1,000.

"We were basically told by the bank that this happens all the time to people," Sidney said.

The precarious housing market also attracts more criminals to victimize the elderly.

"We see more people taking advantage of the elderly who may be in homes that are at risk," said Los Angeles police Detective Lillie Franklin in the department's Commercial Crimes Division.

Perpetrators will "drive around the neighborhoods, see homes that are at risk, and target them," Franklin said. "They befriend elderly people and then they'll take out loans on their homes. The victims don't even know they are a victim."

Last year, police gained an extra tool to catch thieves. Senate Bill 1018 mandated employees of banks and credit unions to report suspected financial elder abuse to Adult Protective Services.

Franklin said those calls have led investigators to suspects who purchase Porsches and speedboats, all on Grandma and Grandpa's dime. And locally, Los Angeles County prosecutors say their financial abuse cases are up 10 percent this year.

Michael Gargiulo, who heads the District Attorney's Office's Elder Abuse Division, said he is troubled by street crimes against the elderly, including scams and home-invasion robberies.
"The elderly are basically very vulnerable people," he said. "They are the wealthiest, most trusting, most monied generation."

The biggest hurdle with elder abuse is that seniors are not going to report they are being abused for fear of being placed in a nursing home, or because they are embarrassed, said Peggy Osborne of the state's Department of Justice.

"Some call (nursing homes) a fate worse than death," she said.

And as the elderly population grows, California faces a major challenge because it lacks a definitive system to track the abuse.

"The fastest growing segment of the population right now are those 85 years and older," Osborne said. "The wealthiest are those 65 years and older. We're talking about a population that is ripe for abuse and neglect."

An awareness campaign on elder abuse ended three years ago after funding for the project ended, she said. No other campaign has taken its place.

"It is truly a crime and situation that requires constant education that has to be in the public's face. It is a hidden crime," she said.

But some say California's current system is still better than in the past.

"We've done a better job, for example, in educating the paramedics into watching out for it," Greenwood said. "I think they are crucial in this whole business of reporting because they are the ones that find these elderly laying in squalor."