ATTORNEY NEWSLETTER
Caregiver Allegedly Accessed Victim’s Home While Victim Hospitalized
Credit Card Account Opened In Victim’s Name
22 ATM Withdrawals Totaling $12,500
Any dishonest caregiver with access to a senior’s confidential financial information and personal information like date of birth, Social Security Number, maiden name, etc. can use that information to exploit a senior. Financial exploitation of this kind of information includes opening new credit card accounts or equity lines of credit and then withdrawing money from the fraudulently created accounts. We have seen cases where greedy caregivers do just that. This kind of exploitation constitutes taking a senior’s property. Any taking of a senior’s property, or any assistance in that taking, is a crime and grounds for civil liability of the person doing the taking and anyone assisting him or her. California Penal Code § 368 and Cal. Welf. & Inst. Code § 15610.30 (definition of financial elder abuse). California broadly defines what constitutes financial elder or dependent adult abuse:
(a) “Financial abuse” of an elder or dependent adult occurs when a person or entity does any of the following:
(1) Takes, secretes, appropriates, obtains, or retains real or personal property of an elder or dependent adult for a wrongful use or with intent to defraud, or both.
(2) Assists in taking, secreting, appropriating, obtaining, or retaining real or personal property of an elder or dependent adult for a wrongful use or with intent to defraud, or both.
(3) Takes, secretes, appropriates, obtains, or retains, or assists in taking, secreting, appropriating, obtaining, or retaining, real or personal property of an elder or dependent adult by undue influence, as defined in Section 15610.70.
If you or a loved one is a victim of elder or dependent adult abuse or neglect in San Francisco or elsewhere in California, call us today at (415)441-8669. Our toll-free number is 1-888-50EVANS (888-503-8267).
Caregiver Arrested
In a recently reported case,[1] a former caregiver has been charged with committing identity theft and stealing over $12,000 from an elderly victim while the victim was in the hospital, prosecutors said. The caregiver was charged with financial exploitation of an elderly or disabled victim over $5,000, aggravated identity theft of an elderly victim and identity theft over $2,000. After receiving a report of suspicious financial activity in the victim’s accounts, investigators learned that the suspect had been employed by a company as a caregiver, and was assigned as the victim’s caregiver. The victim, who was over 85 years old at the time, had been in rehabilitation during which time the caregiver was the only person who had access to the woman’s residence during the hospital stay, according to the DA. The victim discovered someone, suspected to be the caregiver, opened a credit card in her name while she was in the hospital, police said. Officers found there had been 22 ATM withdrawals, totaling $12,500, with the victim’s debit card.
Contact Us
Keep confidential financial information out of reach for any caregiver in your older loved one’s home. Never let a caregiver know Social Security numbers, bank account numbers, PINs or any other confidential financial information of any kind. Regularly monitor all a senior’s accounts – not just the household checking account. Start your due diligence even before you get to the account monitoring stage. Always do a background check on anyone you hire as a caregiver; get references and call them. Never, ever give a caregiver a Power of Attorney, credit card, or a blank check. Stay involved in any senior loved one’s life so a stranger does not have the opportunity for this kind of theft and exploitation. If you sense any kind of abuse of an older loved one in San Francisco or anywhere else in California, call us right away. Ingrid M. Evans has years of experience in representing seniors and their families against abusers of any kind, including in-home caregivers. You can reach us at (415) 441-8669, or by email at info@evanslaw.com. Our toll-free number is 1-888-50EVANS (888-503-8267).
[1] Evans Law Firm, Inc. was not involved in the case in any way.
