ATTORNEY NEWSLETTER
Caregiver Arrested On 99 Felony And 11 Misdemeanor Charges
Accused Of Stealing Jewelry, Money And Drugs
Also Charged With Withholding Care From 44 Residents
Seniors under the care of other persons are at risk of all manner of elder abuse, including financial, emotional, physical, and sexual abuse. Often, senior are victims to more than one kind of abuse from the same unscrupulous caregiver, such as financial and emotional abuse at the same time, or neglect and financial abuse. All forms of elder abuse are crimes and grounds for civil liability. See, e.g., Cal. Penal Code § 368 (crime of elder abuse) and Cal. Welf. & Inst. Code §§ 15610.17 (definition of neglect), 15610.30 (definition of financial elder abuse). Evans Law Firm. Inc. represents victims of any kind of elder abuse and their families, and pursues all persons responsible, including the caregiver or other person taking the property and the trutess, owner, administrator or other person responsible for supervising that individual and who have a duty to protect residents from any kind of abuse. If you or a loved one has been the victim of financial elder abuse in San Francisco or anywhere in the Bay Area or throughout California, call us today at (415)441-8669. Our toll-free number is 1-888-50EVANS (888-503-8267).
Retirement Home Caregiver Charged
In one reported caregiver case,[1] a former employee of a retirement home was arraigned with allegedly stealing money and intentionally withholding care and medical attention from elderly people in three separate facilities. The individual was originally arrested on 99 felony charges and 11 misdemeanor charges, which included stealing jewelry, money and drugs from residents of an assisted living facility according to police. Subsequent to her arrest, the caregiver reportedly admitted stealing from residents at facilities where she previously worked. The caregiver gave police about 275 pieces of jewelry she had admitted to stealing from residents in care facilities where she was employed in the past five or six years, according to police. She also reportedly admitted withholding vital and medically necessary medication from 44 vulnerable and elderly residents who were in her care.
Steps To Prevent Caregiver Theft
Whether your senior loved one lives at home under the care of an in-home caregiver or is in a nursing home, attending caregivers should never have access to jewelry, cash, checks or credit cards or any financial information like bank account numbers and Social Security numbers. Any other valuables like silver, guns, electronic devices and the like also may disappear. Remove all valuable possessions from your older loved one’s home or assisted care facility room to prevent valuables from disappearing. Never leave cash or credit cards around and monitor credit cards and bank accounts online as frequently as possible. If you suspect anything wrong, do something about it right away. Have financial statements and important papers mailed to your own address so others do not have access to you loved one’s business mail. Never, ever grant a power of attorney to a caregiver or nursing home staff member. Accompany older loved ones whenever they go shopping or go to the bank or have any sort of meeting about financial matters.
Contact Us
If you suspect financial elder abuse of a loved one, friend or neighbor in San Francisco, or elsewhere in California, call Ingrid M. Evans at Evans Law Firm, Inc. at (415) 441-8669, or by email at info@evanslaw.com. Our toll-free number is 1-888-50EVANS (888-503-8267). Ingrid pursues all available remedies for families and injured seniors against those responsible, including mandatory awards of attorneys’ fees and costs to victims and families in financial elder abuse cases under Cal. Welf. & Inst. Code § 15657.5.
[1] Evans Law Firm, Inc. was not involved in any of these cases in any way.
