ATTORNEY NEWSLETTER
Caregiver Stole To Spend On Gambling
Targeted Vulnerable Victims
Protecting Older Loved Ones From Financial Elder Abuse
Gambling and alcohol and drug addiction can drive people to criminal behavior. People who act as caregivers may be gamblers or addicts, just like anyone else. If a caregiver with those traits has access to an elderly patient’s money, the risk of theft is very real. Dishonest caregivers (whether gamblers or drinkers or drug addicts or not) strike quickly when they get their hands on a card and run up numerous unauthorized charges in a short time. This is especially true if the senior is confined to bed or one room of the home or otherwise unable to know what is going on around them. Patients in skilled nursing facilities or assisted care facilities are also at risk of caregiver fraud/caregiver theft as a case discussed below illustrates. 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 financial elder abuse or caregiver fraud/caregiver theft in Tiburon or elsewhere in Marin County, call us today at (415)441-8669. Our toll-free number is 1-888-50EVANS (888-503-8267).
Case Example of Caregiver Fraud/Caregiver Theft
In one reported case*, a court has sentenced a caregiver to two years in jail for stealing $22,551.00 from elderly and vulnerable people to spend on gambling and takeouts. According to reports, a family member of a victim spotted unusual banking account activity, which led to a police investigation. The police probe revealed that the caregiver created multiple online accounts in the names of the residents at the care home where she worked before shifting money from their bank accounts. According to police, she then transferred the money from the online accounts into her own account, using the cash to spend “huge sums of money on gambling websites,” takeouts, clothes, and gifts for her family. “The victims and her former colleagues have been left utterly devastated by her actions, and it is right that she faces the consequences of her crimes,” according to the prosecutor who handled the case.
Protecting Older Loved Ones From Financial Elder Abuse
Careful monitoring of all a senior’s accounts – not just the household checking account – may have caught the reported fraud in this case sooner than many months. 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.
Contact Us
If you sense any kind of financial elder abuse of an older loved one, 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 and care facility staff in Tiburon or elsewhere in Marin County. 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).
*Evans Law Firm, Inc. was not involved in the reported case in any way.
