After her grandmother died, Amanda Cassel never expected to be picking up the pieces from a relative’s fraud as well.
With Pennsylvania’s older population growing, so is the risk for financial exploitation. Secretary of Aging Robert Torres held a briefing Tuesday on behalf of a financial exploitation task force that looked at the issue. Mr. Torres, along with number of other panelists — including David Shallcross from the state attorney general’s office and Jen Ebersole, director of state government affairs for the Pennsylvania chapter of the Alzheimer's Association — outlined goals to attack the problem.
The task force worked from December 2020 to April 2021 and set 15 recommendations over four categories: education, operations and procedures, training and legislative action.
Mr. Shallcross said the attorney general’s office is working to create a reporting portal with one universal form to report suspected financial exploitation, as well as training events for law enforcement on topics such as how to put together a financial exploitation case. The task force also recommends updating Pennsylvania’s Older Adults Protective Services Act.
Ms. Cassel, whose grandmother was victim of financial exploitation, shared the story to emphasize the importance of preventing the financial exploitation of elders.
She said her grandmother became responsible for the finances of the household after her grandfather passed away, but then began to struggle with dementia. Eventually her grandmother was moved into an assisted-living facility and signed over power of attorney to Ms. Cassel’s uncle.
“We got along quite well, including all 23 grand- and great-grandchildren,” she said. “At that time, the red flags were not apparent.”
According to Ms. Cassel, her uncle told the family that her grandmother was almost out of money but, after the nursing home filed a lawsuit against him for an unpaid bill over $100,000, it turned out he had been transferring money directly to himself.
“He used the money for everything except what it was primarily intended for,” she said. “We were just all devastated and in disbelief.”
Ms. Cassel said he was arrested and recently pleaded guilty and she’s hoping that some of the task force recommendations can help avoid such situations.
Mr. Shallcross said that while Ms. Cassel’s case ended with a criminal trial, many financial exploitation crimes of elders go unreported. He said the attorney general’s office is working to develop a video project to educate people on the signs of financial exploitation and how to deal with it.
“We want to make sure this is easily comprehended,” he said.
Ms. Ebersole said the risk of financial decline is usually preceded by other memory-related symptoms, and memory issues may prevent older populations from recording or recognizing financial abuse. Additionally, only half of those with memory-related diseases have been diagnosed, she said.
She said the Pennsylvania chapter of the Alzheimer's Association’s goals are to increase public awareness of financial exploitation, to increase training on detection of diseases and their relationship to the risks of being exploited, and to educate professionals who routinely work with older adults.
Ken Potter, of the elder law section of the Pennsylvania Bar Association, said laws need to be effective and efficient, while also implementing training to stop exploitation before it reaches the court.
The task force will reconvene in September to monitor and discuss progress on the issue.
Emma Skidmore: eskidmore@post-gazette.com
First Published: June 16, 2021, 9:54 a.m.
