Category: Financial Exploitation

ATTORNEY NEWSLETTER Annuities are complex products that often have hidden fees and costs. It is recommended that consumers carefully review any policy and consider their options before purchasing any annuity policy. Both indexed and fixed annuities have risks for the consumer. Penalties such as surrender charges and forfeiture charges can […]

ATTORNEY NEWSLETTER Thanks to new legislation recently signed by Governor Jerry Brown, insurance carriers in California will no longer be allowed to levy surrender charges against a policy’s death benefit. California elder abuse attorneys say that the law, which takes effect on January 1, 2016, will protect more senior citizens. […]

ATTORNEY NEWSLETTER A recent annuity fraud case in California illustrates the danger that annuities can pose to people’s finances, especially when it comes senior citizens. An insurance agent in Palm Desert was recently sentenced to more than nine years in prison and ordered to pay $3.4 million in restitution for […]

ATTORNEY NEWSLETTER According to a Santa Rosa police sergeant, the Santa Rosa police recently arrested a self-employed counselor for elderly clients on suspicion of financial elder abuse. The suspect is accused of stealing $26,000 from an elderly client over four months. According to Santa Rosa Police Sgt. Lisa Banayat, the […]

ATTORNEY NEWSLETTER The Securities and Exchange Commission paid out $3 million to a whistleblower who helped the commission crack a complex fraud case. The whistleblower, a company insider, received the third-highest award given by the SEC whistleblower program thus far. The whistleblower’s tip led to related actions, and gave very […]

ATTORNEY NEWSLETTER The Internal Revenue Service recently released their 2014 annual report to Congress on its whistleblower program. Although awards paid by the IRS whistleblower program decreased in 2014, the agency expects to pay out more in 2015. According to the report, the IRS whistleblower program paid out 101 awards […]

ATTORNEY NEWSLETTER The SEC’s Office of Investor Education and Advocacy recently released an Investor Bulletin about Regulation A, which was recently amended to create a new exemption from registration under the Securities Act. Thanks to Regulation A, companies may offer and sell securities to the public but with more limited […]

ATTORNEY NEWSLETTER Annuities are not always a suitable investment for the elderly, and they should educate themselves in order to avoid making a bad investment. Senior citizens hold two-thirds of the wealth in this country and the elderly population is increasing. As a result, elder financial fraud is growing as […]

ATTORNEY NEWSLETTER The American Association of Retired Persons (AARP) gives tools and advice for people to protect their retired parents against fraud and scammers. The growing elderly population loses billions per year as a result of fraud. Senior citizens are more likely to be defrauded than other age groups. It […]

ATTORNEY NEWSLETTER True Link Financial, a California-based company that provides assistance and tools to seniors and their families to prevent elder abuse, released a 2015 report estimating that financial elder abuse costs senior citizens $36.48 billion per year. The report found that “criminal fraud” such as telephone scams, identity theft, […]