Joe Roubicek has investigated over a thousand exploitation of the elderly crimes over the past 25 years, primarily during his 20 year career with the Fort Lauderdale Police Department. Throughout his career he has testified in numerous criminal trials and depositions. He also testified in the 1990’s as an expert in related probate hearings.
So What is Financial Exploitation?
In a sentence, Florida’s exploitation law (FSS 825.103) states that when someone maliciously takes the property of an “elderly person,” they are committing exploitation. That’s the essence of the law.
But there is also an important requirement: Within this law, an “elderly person” is defined as someone 60 years of age or older who is suffering from the infirmities of aging to the extent that their ability to adequately care for and protect themselves is impaired. The law states that the elderly person must suffer a physical or mental infirmity. Therefore, exploitation is based primarily on infirmities or disabilities and not deception.
This is why exploitation is not fraud and why it can be much more devastating and offensive. Fraud is generally defined as deception that is carried out for the purpose of achieving personal gain while causing injury to another party. Exploitation requires more than that. It requires that the victims suffer disabilities that make them more vulnerable. And when the victim is more vulnerable, the victim impact is far worse.
To compare exploitation to fraud would be like comparing robbery to larceny. If you told a police officer that robbery is the worst type of larceny, he or she would correct you and say that they are two different crimes. Larceny simply means the taking of another’s property, while robbery requires the taking by force or threat. In the same sense, exploitation and fraud are also two different crimes. While scammers focus on things that their victims want with deception, exploiters focus on things victims need through the dependency caused by their infirmities.
Source:
Exploitation of the Elderly
NASGA highly recommends Joe's books:
Thank you, NASGA. And for protecting the rights of those who are abducted into an abusive guardianship situation. "For whom the bell tolls"...For all of us. :) Joe
ReplyDeleteJoe is the greatest and I am so happy he wrote the booklet on guardianship abuse. I use it all the time.
ReplyDeleteI have the book too and I show it around every chance I get. I appreciate Mr. Roubiceck's work very much.
ReplyDeleteWish Joe lived in my state!
ReplyDeleteI've learned alot from Joe's book and his new website is great!
ReplyDeleteThanks Joe for all you do to raise awareness of financial exploitation.
ReplyDeleteLove Joe!
ReplyDeleteGuardianship abuse is both fraud (when they lie about the family to get the guardianship going) and exploitation (when they drain the ward's estate).
ReplyDeleteThank you! Joe Roubicek for your expert publications. We especially are grateful for your commitment to expose and educate society with information that is not routinely or widely publicized. Information that we the people need - now - in order to make informed decisions to better protect our loved ones and ourselves.
ReplyDeleteWishing you the very best, always .....
Joe is a great asset to our cause as well as the specific subject of financial exploitation. It's a problem that has touched our families or someone we know. The more I advocate, the more people want to tell me what happened with their ancestors such as great aunts and uncles or grandparents. Taking advantage of the elderly and helpless has been going on for such a long time. And it gets worse.
ReplyDeleteLearn about the Matter of Helen Harper. Delaware County Pa. is a very bad corrupt place. Knucklewalkers. Time for change
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