Early Involvement Critical In Avoiding Financial Elder Abuse

The third in a series of editorials by the Contra Costa Times (Northern California) on elder financial abuse focuses on the importance of staying involved when the care of a loved one is turned over to a caretaker and being proactive when detecting signs of caretaker abuse. The following excerpts summarize the events, detailed in the editorial, that occurred when one woman hired what turned out to be the wrong caretaker for her 83 year old uncle:

• CARMEN PAREDES SEEMED like such a sweet, friendly person. "You just never would have suspected it," said Kathleen Whittaker, who hired the Peruvian native in 1998 to help take care of her 83-year-old uncle, William Fowler. The "it" is one of the worst cases of elder financial abuse in Contra Costa County history. During 2 1/2 years, the $10-an-hour caretaker siphoned more than $600,000 away from the El Cerrito widower. Paredes, 59, pleaded no contest to felony elder abuse and tax evasion in March 2004. She was sentenced to three years' probation. She got no prison time, although the judge could have given her as many as nine years. Her two adult sons and a daughter also were implicated in the scheme. They were convicted of misdemeanors. Obviously, the law in this area is far from robust.

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• Whittaker says her greatest regret is that she didn't get more aggressively involved. "My purpose now," she said, "is to publicize what happened to my uncle as a warning to others."

For more, see Theft of Elder Nation: An editorial series: (Getting involved early is critical).

For links to the other editorials in this series, see Elder Financial Abuse Flying Under The Radar?

Go here for all posts on this Contra Costa Times editorial series on elder financial abuse.

Go here , go here , and go here for other posts on elder financial abuse. xero