November/December 2002
Magazine, Journal of the California State Association of Counties.

New organization works with public agencies and private business to prevent financial abuse of the elderly

JUSTICE & JAILS
By Karen Pierce Gonzalez

Call out: Marin County resident Nora White lost her home after a relative allegedly duped her into signing a power of attorney document, took out a $316,000 mortgage on her san Anselmo property and ran off with the money without making any payments.

This is a 79 year-old widow, forced now to live in low-income housing, is one of approximately 225,000 seniors in the state who are abused annually. According to a California Department of Social Services report, at least 25 percent of the reported incidents involve financial exploitation.

While some experts say that elderly financial abuse will be the crime of the century as the population ages and criminals target the wealth and assets of seniors, most cases go unreported because of the victims’ shame, dependency on the perpetrator or fear of losing their independence and being placed in a nursing home.

Organization focuses on preventing this crime

In an effort to prevent this silent crime, many of California’s county boards of supervisors are becoming more involved in the Elder Financial Protection Network {EFPN}, a non-profit organization that provides elder abuse awareness programs and training for financial institutions, consumers, law enforcement agencies and caregivers.

Located in Marin County, EFPN works to bring the private sector together with the public sector in a an effort to prevent abuse through awareness and education.

EFPN was founded in 2000 to train bank personnel in Marin County to identify and report suspected financial abuse. It began as an expansion of the Marin Bank Reporting Project, spearheaded by Novato Community Bank and the Bank of Marin.

Today some 21 financial institutions-banks, credit unions and banking regulatory agencies, such as the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp., the Office of Thrift Supervision and the California Department of Financial Institutions-are community partners, along with many senior service providers, including Adult Protective Services, Public Guardian, San Francisco Institute on Aging, Elders Abuse Prevention Task Forces and Division on Aging.

Law enforcement agencies are also very involved. According to Marin District Attorney Paula Kamena, “It is vital that everyone take a hand in making our community safe for elders and dependant adults. EFPN’s training works, and people have already been helped,” she added.

As California continues to the Golden State of natural resources and good climate, it continues to attract more retirees than do most other states. With that comes an alarming increase in financial abuse of elders.

“Statistically, elderly residents of California have been a prime target for telemarketers. Our statistics show that 12 percent of telemarketing victims are in California. That’s double the complaints received from Pennsylvania, the second state of choice for telemarketers,” said Royal Canadian Mounted Police Officer Sylvain L’Heureux. Constable Heureux, a member of the Montreal Commercial Crime Unit, is the foremost expert on lottery and telemarketing scams in North America.

Heureux says that it is “ common knowledge that only one out of five victims actually reports being victimized. Because of the insidious nature of this crime and the difficulties in prosecuting these cases, education and prevention are of utmost importance.”

There is an urgency to put preventive measures into place because, according to Cynthia Murray, Marin County supervisor: “Our senior population is burgeoning. As people are getting older and living longer, this crime will increase. We must be pro-active. Or else, the cost of this crime to government will be too large a burden to carry.”

Many seniors who have been financially abused are rendered penniless, finding themselves dependant upon county services, such as housing and food programs. Retirement and other assets depleted, they lose their independence and are not able to re-enter the job market and regain their losses.

“It breaks my heart because there is no way for them to replace the money, but we can’t do this alone,” Murray said. “County agencies only have so many resources with which to meet the many need that face them.”

Counties join with private sector

“ If we can prevent this abuse from happening, then we can save our seniors and taxpayers from such costs as subsidized housing and food programs,” noted Murray, who has served as supervisor for four years. Prior to that, she was mayor and city council member for Novato.

Marin County was the first Board of Supervisors to participate with EFPN in creating a public-private partnership to address the issues of financial abuse. However; seven other counties-Contra Costa, El Dorado, Napa, Sacramento, San Francisco, Solano, and Sonoma have already established partnerships with this exciting model program.

For El Dorado County District Attorney Gary Lacy, these partnerships are essential. ”In this way, we can educate elders who are more vulnerable than the general populace about what they can do to protect themselves,” he said.

Jenefer Duane, the EFPN executive director, added “Elders who are lonely and isolated are most frequently the targets of repeated financial abuse by family members, fraudulent telemarketers, caregivers and strangers who befriend them. The majority of elder victims will not report that they have been victimized due to humiliation and fear of retaliation or placement in a nursing home or because the abuse is by a family member.”

Lacy, who is also a chair of the Elder Abuse Prevention Council in Placerville, credits EFPN with assisting local banks in their efforts “to remain vigilant.” For example, after attending a EFPN training, Wells Fargo bank in El Dorado Hills recently saved a confused elder the $77,000 loss of her entire life savings.

“It’s a no-brainer,” Lacy said. “We’re asking the government to do more and more, but resources are getting thin. These partnerships are a natural.”

Paul Greenwood, deputy district attorney for San Diego County-one of 10 counties expected to become partners in the year 2003-can’t wait for EFPN to bring its turnkey operation to Southern California.

“I’m so impressed with what they are trying to achieve. They can provide the galvanizing agent between us and the financial institutions,” he said.

To date, Greenwood has prosecuted several financial abuse cases, which he believed could have been prevented through education.

“ I prosecuted a man who befriended a 92-year old woman in a wheelchair and then cashed in her $93,000 certificate of deposit at a local bank,” Greenwood said. The transaction included a penalty for pre-mature withdraw. The man took the cash and hours later opened up an account in one of the bank’s other branches. In three weeks, the money was completely gone.

“ If the banks teller had known to ask the woman who was there in a wheelchair why she was withdrawing the money, she would have discovered this woman had serious dementia issues,” he said.

According to Greenwood the woman died several weeks later from a “broken heart. She had been betrayed.” Although he cited examples of banks reporting suspected financial abuse to law enforcement or adult protective services that actually thwarted such crimes, he said more needs to be done. “ When we have EFPN in San Diego, these financial institutions will get good, comprehensive training,” he said.

Many government and private groups do care about what happens to elders and are jumping on the bandwagon. According to Duane: “Financial abuse of elders is a growing concern in California and beyond due to the burgeoning elder population and decreasing government resources to provide prescription drugs, medical support services. The long-accumulated savings of the senior population must be protected to ensure that their care can be funded from retirement savings-not public dollars.”

Government, she said, would be wise to encourage and support the development of community-based public-private partnerships that support the independence of its elder constituents.

Shirley Krohn, board chair of Spectrum Federal Credit Union in San Francisco, agrees. “Everyone who deals with the elderly- From the barber to the salesclerk to friends and family –needs to be aware of this problem, and what they can do to help,” she says. “The entire community must get involved.”

Recently named to the EFPN Board Of Directors, she said she wants to see credit unions and other financial institutions “in the forefront of the fight against this growing national crime.”

CCPFA is already endorsed by the California Credit Union League, Attorney General Bill Lockyer, California State Sheriff’s Association and the California State District Attorney’s Association, as well as several county police chief’s associations and district attorney offices. EFPN has trained more than 500 employees of financial institutions throughout the state.

They are also currently launching a training video for financial institution employees and are working in an advisory capacity with a planned stated wide public awareness campaign by the State Attorney General’s Office.

Other educational materials include consumer awareness seminars, brochures, posters and pamphlets. For more information, call 415/897-9555 or visit www.bewiseonline.org.

Karen Pierce Gonzalez is principal of her own public relations and marketing firm.