An older American speaks to (L-R) Chief Deputy L.A. D.A. Jackie Lacey, Assistant Director for the Office of Older Americans Skip Humphrey, and EFPN founder Jenefer Duane.

Los Angeles, CA  - On Wednesday, November 2, 2011, Elder Financial Protection Network (EFPN) rolled out its six-month community outreach program to an audience of nearly 200 seniors and elder justice advocates, including Hubert “Skip” Humphrey III, Assistant Director for the Office of Older Americans;
State Senator Kevin De León; and L.A. County Chief Deputy District Attorney Jackie Lacey. The program will start in January 2012 and will include monthly grassroots outreach and education programs to low-income and minority seniors, their family members and caretakers. EFPN will also conduct rallies and symposiums to bring public awareness to the economic impact of financial fraud and abuse, to educate and advocate for the strengthening of current laws by the legislature, and to discuss issues that still need to be addressed.

Jenefer Duane, CEO and Founder, stated, “We believe that our program will make a great impact in protecting seniors from financial predators. We are excited about working with our partners to make 2012 the Year of Elder Protection in California.”

Volunteer Jade Lee hands conference materials to an older American.

As the population of California ages, it is imperative to ensure they are not vulnerable to fraud and abuse. According to the California Department of Aging, some counties in the state will experience close to 150% growth in its senior population by 2022. With such a rapid rate of population expansion, Elder Financial Protection Network seeks to educate, support and protect seniors, as well as provide educational tools to those sectors of the community that interact with them on a daily basis.

State Senator Kevin De León speaks to Helen Karr, EFPN Board Member, at Call to Action: Southern California.

“If we are going to be prepared to handle the issues that will come with the growth of the senior community, we need to expand the conversation concerning the financial, legal and caretaker questions posed in the Improving California’s Response to Elder Abuse, Neglect, and Exploitation report by the California Elder Justice Workshop”, declared Ms. Duane.  “I know we can make real changes for Older Americans, especially with the new leadership of Skip Humphrey, Senator De León, and Assistant District Attorney Jackie Lacey spearheading this initiative.”

Photos by Mona T. Brooks

Call to Action: Southern California
11th NATIONAL SUMMIT ON ELDER FINANCIAL EXPLOITATION
Wednesday November 2, 2011
The Center at Cathedral Plaza
555 West Temple Street, Los Angeles, California 90012-2707
8:30am – 3:30pm Registration

Hubert H. “Skip” Humphrey III, Assistant Director, Office of Older Americans to speak at the luncheon with Mickey Rooney. Also, please join us for a Town Hall Meeting with Mr. Humphrey to be held from 2:45-3:30 following the luncheon. This your opportunity to raise your voice!

Mr. Humphrey served as attorney general of the state of Minnesota from 1983 to 1999 and was a state senator from 1973 to 1983. He was President of AARP Minnesota and a member of the Board of AARP National. Mr. Humphrey leads the Office of Older Americans as its Assistant Director at the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB). He is the son of the late Vice President, Hubert Humphrey.

In a statement on the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau website, Humphrey referenced his father’s commitment to public service in talking about how he would run the new office.

“I grew up in a household where it wasn’t enough to just have a point of view,” he wrote. “My parents taught me that if I had a problem, I needed to do something about it. Here at the Office of Older Americans, we’ll be embracing this do-something attitude from day one.”

Money & Company, Tracking the Market and Economic Trends that Shape your Finances. Los Angeles Times | Business, October 19, 2011

Photo by AARP

Honorary Chair: Philip C. Marshall, elder justice advocate and grandson of Brooke Astor

On November 2, 2011, Elder Financial Protection Network (EFPN) will present Call to Action 2011: Southern California, its 11th National Summit on the Financial Exploitation of the Elderly. Bringing together hundreds of seniors with elder justice professionals representing financial institutions, law enforcement, social services, and the legal community, Call to Action 2011 seeks to educate seniors and professionals about the risks of elder financial abuse and to share best practices to prevent its occurrence. Actor and elder abuse survivor, Mickey Rooney, is the honorary event chairman and special guest speaker for the luncheon.

As the nation continues to struggle with the economic downturn, the growing cases of financial exploitation of the elderly become an ever more serious problem. Elder financial abuse costs American seniors $2.6 billion annually, and as greater numbers of baby boomers retire, the number of elder financial abuse cases will only increase.

Special Guest Speaker: Mickey Rooney, Honorary Chair and Jenefer Duane, Founder & CEO EFPN

“In today’s economic climate, elders are at greater risk than ever of being targeted for fraud and financial abuse,” said Jenefer Duane, founder and CEO of EFPN. “The wealth of information shared by Mr. Rooney and our other great speakers at the Call to Action 2011 event will expand our insight and wisdom about how to prevent this growing problem.”

“You can be in control of your life one minute and in the next minute, you have absolutely no control,” said Mr. Rooney, who recently filed a lawsuit against his stepson, Christopher Aber, accusing Aber and others of breach of fiduciary trust, elder abuse, fraud and other crimes over the past decade. “If elder abuse happened to me, Mickey Rooney, it can happen to anyone.”

Call to Action 2011 will run from 8:30 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. at the Center at Cathedral Plaza, 555 West Temple Street in Los Angeles, and will feature speakers on diverse aspects of elder financial abuse. The program will also include EFPN annual awards to leaders in the fight against elder financial abuse.

Building Bridges ~ Sharing Best Practices
Seniors and Professional Symposium 

The Center at Cathedral Plaza

555 West Temple Street, Los Angeles, California 90012-2707
Wednesday November 2, 2011 – 7:30 am Registration
8:30 am – 3:00 pm Conference, Luncheon, and Awards Ceremony

Special Guest Speaker:
Mickey Rooney,
Honorary Chair

Master of Ceremonies:
Honorable Kim R. Hubbard

Presented by Elder Financial Protection Network

On Wednesday November 2, 2011, Elder Financial Protection Network (EFPN) will present Call to Action: Southern California, our 11th annual national summit on elder financial abuse prevention. Call to Action is EFPN’s signature annual event and offers an innovative conference program and awards ceremony honoring leaders in the fight against elder financial abuse.

Call to Action: Southern California brings together hundreds of seniors and professionals representing financial institutions, law enforcement, social services, elder justice advocates, and the legal community to share best practices to stop the financial exploitation of elders.

Speakers

Jackie Lacey, Chief Deputy District Attorney, L.A. County District Attorney’s Office
Pat Huddleston, CEO Investor Watchdog
Michael R. Augustine, Esq., Augustine & Seymour
Mary Twomey, MSW, Co-Director, National Center on Elder Abuse, UC, Irvine
Steve Vallejo, Director of Corporate Security, Bank of the West
Mary Ellen Snider, AVP Risk/Compliance,Meriwest Credit Union
Susan Montoya, Corporate CRA Officer, First Bank
Vivian L. Thoreen, Esq., Holland & Knight
Ingrid Evans, Esq., The Evans Law Firm
Debra Deem, Victim Specialist, FBI
Lou Holtz Jr., Deputy District Attorney, Los Angeles County DA’s Office
Jackie Wiley-Sistrunk, Outreach Speaker, California Department of Corporations
Molly Davies, MSW, Vice President, Wise and Healthy Aging
Gina Satriano, Deputy-in-Charge of the Elder Abuse Unit, Los Angeles County D.A.’s Office
Helen Karr, Elder Justice Advocate
Zelda P. Hutcherson, Senior Assembly Member, California Senior Legislature
Conference sessions
Many thanks to our generous sponsors
Hilton Checkers & Omni Los Angeles Hotel at California Plaza

Reports of suspected elder financial abuse on the rise

Senior Woman in Wheelchair

A state law mandating that bank and credit union employees report suspected financial abuse of elders has resulted in a rising number of reports, including one that led investigators to a Sacramento-area attorney accused of squandering a 94-year-old man’s wealth while gambling, golfing and dining out.

The 2005 law, which is scheduled to fall off the books in 2013, requires bank employees to report suspicious financial activity to a local Adult Protective Services office.

Such reports filed with the county offices are on the rise, with 1,730 filed in the first four months of 2008 compared with 2,132 filed during the first four months of this year, according to data compiled by the state Department of Social Services. Since 2005, the number of confirmed cases of elder financial abuse went from 1,375 to 1,654, records for the first four months of each year show.

Jenefer Duane, founder of the San Francisco-based Elder Financial Protection Network, said the law has been critical to identifying abuse and is likely to be renewed by the Legislature this session. Sen. Joe Simitian, D-Palo Alto, carried the 2005 bill and the pending legislation to renew the law.

The 2005 law ultimately spurred a report from a fraud analyst at the Addison Avenue Federal Credit Union, which has a Roseville branch, setting off an investigation that led to the April arrest of a Roseville attorney who specializes in Medicare set-aside processes.

Delbert Joe Modlin is accused of two counts of theft from an elder, embezzlement by a trustee and unlawful taking of a vehicle. Deputy Attorney General Steve Muni of the Bureau of Medi-Cal Fraud & Elder Abuse said the investigation is ongoing.

Neither Modlin nor his attorney returned calls or an e-mail Monday or Tuesday. Modlin has not yet entered a plea in Placer County Superior Court, where the case is moving forward.

According to a declaration in support of Modlin’s arrest, he earned $40,800 in “excessive” attorney and trustee fees while handling the affairs of an elderly Auburn couple.

The declaration says the couple received medical care at Kaiser Permanente Roseville Medical Center, where Modlin’s wife was a patient discharge planner who referred the couple to a senior placement agent. That agent arranged for the couple to move to an elder care facility and suggested that the family make financial arrangements with Modlin, records say.

Kaiser Roseville said in a statement that it has cooperated fully with the attorney general’s investigation, is not a target of the probe and no longer employs Modlin’s wife, who was an on-call discharge planner.

Court records say that once Modlin began working as a trustee with the family, he charged high fees to move and re-invest the couple’s assets and sell their home. Court records show the home was sold against the owners’ wishes.

Modlin also arranged for his brother to sell the couple’s annuities, earning a commission of $15,000, half of which he paid back to Modlin as a “kickback,” court records say.

Modlin hired a son-in-law to move the couple’s belongings out of their Auburn home, filling three rollaway Dumpsters and keeping a china cabinet and dishes, the affidavit says. Modlin also parked the victim’s 1998 Oldsmobile at his home and tried but failed to get the vehicle put in his name.

Modlin also relied on a power-of-attorney document signed by the 97-year-old wife of the elderly man, who at the time believed that it was 1994 and that Lyndon Johnson was president.

An investigator for the attorney general’s office also reviewed bank accounts and found that Modlin routinely withdrew $500 to $7,000 of the man’s money at Thunder Valley Casino and also used his money for dining, golf outings and gas.

The older man already has testified about his experience, a technique employed in elder abuse cases and meant to document testimony of people who may not survive a lengthy legal process.

Duane, an elder financial abuse expert, said her organization’s website has a number of tip sheets for those concerned about elder financial abuse.

Read the Proclamation and sign the iPetition to join those in support of Stamping Out Elder Abuse.

CONTACT: Jenefer Duane, Elder Financial Protection Network Office, (415) 956-5556, jduane@bewiseonline.org

MICKEY ROONEY TO SPEAK AT THE 8TH ANNUAL CALL TO ACTION SUMMIT
The Elder Financial Protection Network is very pleased to announce that Mr. Rooney will speak at Call to Action to raise awareness of elder financial abuse.

“If elder abuse happened to me, Mickey Rooney, it can happen to anyone.”

Who: Presented by Elder Financial Protection Network and CapitalSource Bank and other corporate sponsors

Community Partners: National Committee for the Prevention of Elder Abuse, National Adult Protective Services Association, California Department of Financial Institutions, Consumer Attorneys Public Interest Foundation, California State Sheriff’s Association, Elder Justice Coalition, Civic Research Institute, San Francisco Department of Aging and Adult Services/Adult Protective Services and Marin County Division of Aging and Adult Services

What: One-day conference and awards ceremony. Call to Action brings together hundreds of professionals representing financial institutions, law enforcement, social services, elder justice advocates and the legal community to share best practices and express our collective determination to prevent elder financial abuse

Where: Mission Bay Conference Center at UCSF
1675 Owens Street, San Francisco, CA

When: Thursday, March 31, 2011
8:30 am – 5:00 pm

We are honored to present Dave Jones, Insurance Commissioner of the State of California as our Keynote Speaker.

“My overarching goal is to make the California Department of Insurance the strongest consumer protection agency in the nation. Bar none. We will set the standard for other consumer protection agencies. I am determined to define my tenure as Insurance Commissioner by a single word: action.”

This will be an historic event, a conference that you do not want to miss! Information |  Register online

“It is clear that seniors in America are disenfranchised and need assistance. Due to their lack of allies in society and voice in government, they are being financially exploited by those they trust and not receiving the education and protection they need.”

Having been born in South Korea, brought up in Hong Kong, and attended college in the United States, Daeho has a multicultural background and wide roots. A recent graduate from the University of California, Los Angeles, with a Bachelor of Arts in Political Science and Geography, Daeho believes that his undergraduate studies have made him aware of the needs and difficulties of disenfranchised segments of society such as the elderly. Daeho is passionate about social justice and hopes to attend law school and become a civil rights advocate.