300 advocates gather to share best practices

SAN FRANCISCO — A geriatric physician, a lawyer, a retired L.A. police detective and a banker received awards last Thursday for their work in combating financial crimes against the elderly.

Dr. Laura Mosqueda of UC Irvine, Prescott Cole, senior attorney for California Advocates for Nursing Home Reform, Chayo Reyes, retired LAPD detective, and Roberta Wong of Bank of the West were honored by San Francisco based nonprofit Elder Financial Protection Network (EFPN) for their work in fighting the growing crime of elder financial abuse.

“A growing subset of our senior population are becoming victims of financial fraud,” said San Francisco District Attorney Kamala Harris, who opened “Call to Action 2008”, EFPN’s fourth annual conference in the Carnelian Room-Bankers Club.

The event drew 300 law enforcement officials, financial services executives, elder advocates and social service representatives from throughout California and the West Coast. Among the speakers: California State Treasurer Bill Lockyer, who during his tenure as state attorney general dramatically expanded support for investigating and prosecuting crimes against the elderly; Bill Cheney, president of the California Credit Union League; and Bob Blancato, national coordinator of the Elder Justice Coalition, which is seeking passage of the Elder Justice Act.

Theft and scams against the elderly are on the increase because seniors are an increasingly bigger share of the population. The elderly are also prime targets for predators “because they have lived a lifetime of productive work,” Harris said. “They have acquired assets — property, cash and jewelry. They are at a stage in life when they may be experiencing the onset of dementia. They may be vulnerable because they must rely on others for their physical care.”

The perpetrator may be a family member, caregiver, trusted financial advisor, telephone scam artist or unscrupulous insurance agent, such as the one who sold a $650,000 annuity to a 93-year-old man with dementia. Reporting and prosecution are hindered by harsh reality.

“The elders don’t report.” said Harris. “They don’t want you to think they can’t take care of themselves. They want to be treated with dignity.”

The Call to Action 2008 conference focused on best practices in banking, trends in insurance and real estate fraud and proposed changes in the law to make prevention and convictions easier to achieve.

“Call to Action is about building bridges and networks of support,” said Jenefer Duane, EFPN’s founder and CEO. “Together we can work to create a safer, more secure future for our treasured elder citizens”

EFPN is an award-winning nonprofit organization that works to prevent financial abuse of elders through innovative partnerships that build public awareness, drive community outreach and provide professional training. For more information, visit www.bewiseonline.org or call 415 956-5556.

The online silent auction is now live!

We’re looking forward to another extraordinary Call To Action event this Thursday! The morning conference will include luminaries such as litigation pioneer and former San Francisco City Attorney, Louise Renne, nationally-acclaimed elder abuse consultant, Lisa Nerenberg, longtime elder abuse advocate, Helen Karr, Esq.; and dynamic civil rights attorney, Liza De Vries,   In addition, a number of distinguished speakers are slated to speak at the luncheon including the Honorable Bill Lockyer, California State Treasurer; Bob Blancato, Elder Justice Coalition; and Bill Cheney, California/Nevada Credit Union Leagues and the wonderful StageBridge theatre group will perform. All will be presenting informative sessions addressing the latest trends in elder abuse prevention, litigation, legislation and prosecution.

Also, we’re excited to announce that an online silent auction is now live! Visit www.bewiseonline.cmarket.com to bid on a fabulous and diverse collection of elegant wines, exotic New Zealand accommodation, recreation offerings and more! The silent auction will continue at the Call to Action event and bidding will close at midnight on Sunday, April 13, 2008.

Call To Action is expected to sell out, but there are still a few tickets available, so register online today at http://www.bewiseonline.org or call 415.956.5556 to reserve your seat.

Note:  Thanks to our very generous sponsors, a few scholarship seats are still available for low income, or budget-challenged individuals. Call 415-956-5556 for more information.

This is going to be a great day and we look forward to seeing you there!

Confronting Elder Financial Abuse:
Building Bridges~Sharing Best Practices

Tickets and tables are selling fast!
Registration is open and sponsorships are still available.

EFPN is proud to announce the curriculum and presenters for the 2008 Call to Action conference. This year we are pleased to present four discussion panels and an interactive workshop for financial institution representatives.

Full curriculum and presenter information

The Elder Financial Protection Network, based in Novato since its inception, has moved its offices to San Francisco’s Financial District. The new office space is being donated by EFPN founding partner, First Bank.

The new location is 550 Montgomery St., Suite 485, San Francisco, CA 94111. EFPN may be reached by phone at 415.956.5556 and by fax at 415.956.5559. The Web site remains the same, www.bewiseonline.org.

The move to the historic First Bank building follows the expansion of the nonprofit organization’s reach outside the Bay Area. “For the past eight years, EFPN has been working with financial institutions, adult social service agencies, law enforcement organizations, senior groups and the public throughout California to raise awareness and step up the prevention, reporting and prosecution of financial crimes that target the elderly,” said Founder & CEO Jenefer Duane. EFPN is currently developing several new initiatives and plans to expand its advocacy to several other Western states in 2008.

The growing numbers of elders – and in many cases the increasing value of their assets – has left many prey to identify theft and scams as well as dishonest family members, caregivers and unscrupulous sales people. Victims of elder abuse, neglect and financial exploitation rarely recover financially and losses often lead to depression, physical decline, reliance on public benefits and even death; victims are 3.1 times more likely to die at an earlier age than those who are not abused or exploited.
www.bewiseonline.org

The following is a list of Call To Action 2008 Sponsors to date.
You can download Sponsorship Information (pdf: 100k)

For more information, call: 415.956.5556 or email: info@bewiseonline.org

As they left the bank, the elder man thanked him for helping them to not become victims of this potentially devastating scam.

Nothing is more gratifying than hearing from our partners and from elders themselves about how our work has made a difference by preventing a loss or, in the case below, even saving a life. EFPN’s partners are passionate and dedicated to our mission. We are truly blessed to work with such fine people who represent financial institutions that repeatedly go far beyond the call of duty to protect their elder customers and members.

This summer, we received a report from a credit union security supervisor in San Mateo. Her call center staff had taken a call from an elderly member who was being “coached” by someone in the background who became agitated and hostile after the employee referred the call to a manager. The elder sounded increasingly stressed and confused.

A review of the account activity revealed that several large, uncharacteristic withdrawals had occurred over the course of several weeks. The elder lived in Los Angeles so the credit union made a report to LA Adult Protective Services as per the new mandated reporting law. Unfortunately, the situation escalated and resulted in the security supervisor calling the LA District Attorney’s office. This triggered a call to local police who conducted a welfare check that found the elder malnourished, dehydrated and in very fragile condition. The home was filled with electronic equipment – allegedly purchased by the “caregiver” with the elder’s money. The credit union supervisor was told by the authorities that the elder was near death and that her diligence in following up had in fact, saved this elder’s life.

Another fine example is the dedication of Fremont Investment & Loan (FIL) whose CRA officer, Gary Dunn, has served on our Board of Directors for nearly five years and has contributed over $200,000 to fund our operations, training projects and special events. In September, FIL recently worked closely with EFPN to develop a public awareness campaign including statement stuffers with financial abuse prevention tips, and a large ad in the Orange County Register.

Shortly thereafter, an Orange County elder completed his transaction at a local branch and walked over to the manager’s desk with the newspaper ad in his hand. He asked the manager several questions about telephone calls his wife had been receiving. Since his wife was in the car, the manager encouraged him to bring her in. He explained to the wife that the callers were scam artists attempting to perpetrate a foreign lottery fraud. As they left the bank, the elder man thanked him for helping them to not become victims of this scam. He also mentioned how glad he was to be banking with FIL since they were able to help him stop his wife from falling for the scheme and jeopardizing their life savings.

These two “saves” demonstrate how valuable public awareness and the dedication of our partners are in protecting the elder members of our communities.

The two real-life examples presented here represent a few of the many calls we receive each year to tell us our work is having a positive impact on the lives of elder Californians. Although case investigations by APS and law enforcement are conducted in the strictest confidence, we hear enough to know that EFPN’s work in training, community education and public awareness has resulted in the savings of millions of dollars in elders’ assets.

Tragically, this problem is not going away; in fact, it’s getting worse. Now, more than ever, we need your support to continue the fight and spread the word to seniors through community education and public awareness events. Please give us a call to discuss how we can partner together to help your institution protect the elders in your community from this devastating crime.By

Jenefer Duane, CEO and Executive Director

“It was worth a million dollars!!!” wrote one of 190 seniors who participated in an EFPN community education program presented in Fresno last month. This year alone, several thousand California seniors learned how elder financial abuse is perpetrated, how it can be prevented, and how it should be reported thanks to educational programs made possible by our sponsoring partners and foundation grants. Helen Karr, an elder abuse specialist in the San Francisco District Attorney’s Office, believes that elder financial literacy is critical in the fight against this crime. She became involved in EFPN seven years ago, after attending presentations by EFPN CEO and Executive Director, Jenefer Duane. Since then, she has given many talks of her own. “I came to the conclusion that there is more elder abuse than we have police officers or courts for. It’s a social and health problem. When their money is gone, it’s gone. It’s devastating and life threatening.” Helen was the recipient of EFPN’s 2007 Sentinel Award for her commitment to fighting elder abuse.

EFPN’s community education programs provide seniors with empowering education and financial institutions with the opportunity to reach out to elders in their communities. “We’re all about community education and prevention,” said Duane. “And now that financial institutions are mandated reporters, they want to invest in prevention.”

Bank of the West produced the Fresno event as well as programs in Fairfield and San Jose. The Northern California programs together drew an audience of 400, in large part because the bank went out of its way to identify its elder customers and inform them of the events. “The response rate was phenomenal. We were striking a chord; people want to know more,” said Roberta Wong Murray, Bank of the West’s Senior Vice President for Corporate Communications.

More partnership successes in elder education this year:

• EFPN worked with Travis Credit Union in Solano County to present two programs for more than 200 seniors in partnership with local advocates.
• In Contra Costa County, we worked in collaboration with Assembly Member Loni Hancock’s office produce financial literacy seminars for several hundred seniors with sponsorship support from Contra Costa Federal Credit Union.
• Wells Fargo Bank provided $10,000 to support outreach efforts in Marin County.
  A $20,000 grant from the Bank of America Consumer Education Foundation provided much-needed operational support and made possible several additional Community Education programs, including a presentationto a group of deaf seniors in Walnut Creek and 100 members of the Sons In Retirement (SIRS) chapter in San Pablo.
• In November, Far East National Bank and First Bank will co-sponsor a presentation — in Cantonese — for more than 100 elders at the Chinatown Service Center in downtown Los Angeles.
• California National Bank is sponsoring a senior financial literacy event in Seal Beach that is expected to draw close to 100 participants.
• Patelco Credit Union presented four community education events in San Francisco that were primarily geared to the Chinese-American community and presented in collaboration with the San Francisco District Attorney’s Office.

Be part of the solution by sponsoring an elder financial literacy program!

We make it easy by providing the keynote presentation, coordinating the venue, arranging appearances by local law enforcement and Adult Protective Services agencies, and providing comprehensive informational packets for the participants. For more information, call 415.956.5556.

EFPN’s award-winning ‘Be Wise’ video training program is only $59 or 2/$99. (The regular price is $149 each.) Purchasers of the training
program will be entitled to an additional 10% off ‘Be Wise’ consumer brochures, statement stuffers and other educational materials. To order, contact Western Payments Alliance at www.wespay.org or 415.433.1230, or call EFPN at 415.956.5556 for more information. This offer expires January 30th,

Proceeds from the sales of staff training and consumer materials provide much-needed operational support for our programs to prevent elder financial abuse & exploitation.

“A lifetime of generosity can also make seniors prey to phony charity pitches”.

Financial abuse of elders is on the rise, says veteran San Francisco prosecutor Alan Kennedy, an Assistant District Attorney in the office of District Attorney Kamala Harris. Kennedy heads the office’s Elder Abuse Unit. Both anecdotally and statistically, he said, the financial bilking of seniors has increased markedly in the past three to four years. And, he predicts, it’s going to get worse if for no other reason than demographics. “Starting in 2011 there will be a huge group of people becoming elders.”

California seniors are particularly attractive to perpetrators.
“The assets of California seniors, and particularly those in the Bay Area, are so great,” especially the value of their biggest asset, their homes. Factor in the isolation of many seniors, loneliness, the greater trust they have in their fellow man, con man or not, declining health or disability, and seniors are more vulnerable.

“Scams have been around since the beginning of time, but it’s safe to say that a lot of seniors who are victimized live alone. There’s nobody in the family to act as interference, to investigate, to protect the senior,” Kennedy said.

Seniors victimized by a family member may not want to prosecute, to put his or her son in prison. They think, ‘I brought him into the world, if he turned out bad it’s my fault but he’s my child.’” If a caregiver is involved, the senior may realize she’s been taken advantage of, but also feel dependent on the caregiver.

A lifetime of generosity can also make seniors prey to phony charity pitches. And a weakness for gambling can leave them vulnerable to a range of lottery and related get-rich-quick scams. “People who perpetrate these crimes are very astute,” Kennedy adds. “They pick their victims carefully. They have ways of targeting these people.”

Age and infirmity can make elder abuse cases difficult to prosecute, Kennedy said. Fraud cases can take a long time to take to trial.

In addition, the 1st District Court of Appeal last year overturned the conviction of a San Mateo County lawyer who had befriended a mentally incompetent man and used “undue influence” in order to help himself to more than $600,000 over the course of several years. The appellate panel, while agreeing that “undue influence” had been exerted, ruled that “undue influence” is too ambiguous a conduct for jury instruction, likening it to “over persuasion.”

And some people become too infirm — or die — before their cases ever make it to trial.

What would help?

“A legislative change that would allow us to do video conferences by making motions to the court,” Kennedy said. Such two-way video linkups — complete with judge, defendant, defense counsel and prosecutor — would enable interviews with victims to be taped anywhere, on the other side of the country or at a hospital bedside, and give the victim a crack at justice down the line, when he may have no voice.