Financial abuse of elders often leads to family crises, lasting harm

Frank Purdy, a disabled military veteran in Northbridge, has five words tattooed on the inside of his forearms. On the right arm, it says “Strength” and “Honor.” On the left reads “Loyalty,” “Family,” “Trust.”

A form of ALS, so far crippling his leg, is sapping his physical strength.

The harm to his sense of loyalty, family and trust, after his 30-year-old niece allegedly purchased and registered to herself a used Toyota RAV4 sports utility vehicle last October, using $20,000 from a Department of Veterans Affairs grant intended for a handicapped-accessible minivan for Mr. Purdy, is much worse.

“What I believed in deteriorated,” Mr. Purdy, 52, said in an interview.

“I’ve got to depend on others. I can only walk a couple of feet. My anger toward her is astronomical.”

In another Northbridge case last year, Gloria S. Morvan, 62, an informal caregiver for then-83-year-old Harold Swart, who is legally blind, wrote herself a check for $195,000 from Mr. Swart’s bank account and purchased a condominium.

She told police, “He said he wanted to help me because I helped him.” Mr. Swart denied that claim.

Ms. Morvan was charged in Uxbridge District Court, in April 2017, with larceny of more than $250 from a person over 65 or disabled. The case is currently awaiting a jury trial in Worcester’s Central District Court.

Cases of alleged financial abuse of seniors or disabled adults are only the tip of the iceberg, experts in elder services say.

According to the National Adult Protective Services Association, just one in 44 cases of financial abuse is reported.

Nationally, as many as five million seniors are robbed or defrauded of $36.5 billion annually, according to the National Council on Aging.

The Massachusetts Executive Office of Elder Affairs reported 9,799 confirmed abuse and neglect cases in 2017. More than one in eight, nearly 1,300, were financial abuse.

Maureen Siergie, executive director of Elder Services of Worcester, said her agency receives up to 200 reports of abuse a month from Worcester and 14 surrounding towns served by the agency. Roughly 15 percent of those, or 30 a month, are for financial exploitation.

As the regional elder protective services agency, one of 20 in the state, Ms. Siergie said, “It’s our job to get to the bottom of whether that person willingly made a decision (to give up resources) and whether they had the capacity” to make such a decision.

Elder Services of Worcester serves as the clearinghouse locally for allegations of abuse or exploitation for people age 60 and older.

The Disabled Persons Protection Commission investigates cases of abuse of people with disabilities under the age of 60.

If the loss is more than $250, the agency refers the case to the district attorney’s office for potential criminal prosecution, according to Ms. Siergie.

June 15 is the United Nation’s World Elder Abuse Awareness Day.

While many are aware of scams often perpetrated on the elderly, such as calls claiming to be from the Internal Revenue Service demanding money, or a grandchild needing emergency cash overseas, people find it harder to grasp exploitation or theft committed by trusted family members and caregivers.

“The people who are most likely to victimize you are the people closest to you,” said Sheriff Lewis G. Evangelidis. “Unfortunately, you have to be aware of the statistics.”

More than 90 percent of all reported elder abuse is committed by family members or trusted others, according to the National Adult Protective Services Association.

Common ways family members and trusted others exploit vulnerable adults, the association notes, include: using a power of attorney, given by the victim to allow another person to handle his or her finances, as a license to steal; taking advantage of joint bank accounts for their own use; using ATM cards and stealing checks to withdraw money from the victim’s account; refusing to obtain needed care and medical services for the victim in order to keep the person’s assets available for the abuser; threatening to harm or abandon the victim unless he or she gives the abuser what he or she wants; and keeping change from errands or improperly charging for services by in-home professional care providers.

“It’s more often than I’d like to see,” said Worcester lawyer Nicholas Daviau, who represents Mr. Purdy. “When money is involved, people act differently than they usually do.”

“We see a boatload of (adult) children who live with their parents, living off their parents’ Social Security, and then you see them with nice stuff,” said Michelle Edelstein, director of the Sutton Council on Aging.

“When you talk to the elder about it, they’ll say it’s a gift. They don’t want to get the person in trouble.”

With paid caregivers, she said, it’s not uncommon for jewelry, collectibles and other items of value to disappear from the home. The caregiver typically blames it on the elder being confused.

“It’s really hard to trust people in your home,” she said.

Ms. Edelstein encouraged family members concerned about a senior’s finances or property to regularly check their bank account and mail. It’s also a good idea to take a video around the senior’s home, so there is a record of what was there. And watch for questionable behavior of relatives or other caregivers.

Ms. Edelstein, a notary public, said she’s seen people asking a senior to sign a car over to a caregiver “for safekeeping.”

In another situation, a senior signed over their house to a caregiver, since the senior didn’t have children.

“Now the senior has to find a place to live because the caregiver wants to sell the house,” Ms. Edelstein said.

Northbridge Police Chief Walter J. Warchol, whose department brought charges last year against the two alleged perpetrators of larceny on an elderly or disabled person, said he hears of about a dozen such cases a year.

“A lot of time, it’s a family member. They don’t want to press charges,” Chief Warchol said. “They just want it resolved and let it go. They feel, who is going to take care of them?”

He added it can be a delicate subject for older adults, who still feel independent, to share personal financial information with their children. If children aren’t familiar with their parents’ finances, it’s hard to detect wrong-doing.

A public-private partnership among the state Office of Consumer Affairs and Business Regulation, Executive Office of Elder Affairs, Division of Banks, Office of the Attorney General, district attorneys, Massachusetts Bankers Association and the Cooperative Credit Union Association have updated training materials to assist financial institutions in detecting and preventing elder financial abuse.

Marla Snyder, senior vice president and compliance officer at The Savings Bank in Wakefield, has spoken extensively as a trainer.

“Once you get into a fixed income situation, once you start losing money, it’s almost impossible to get the money back and their earning power is gone,” she said.

Financial exploitation can have physical impacts, affecting medical care and basic necessities, as well as emotional impacts. Seniors affected by financial abuse may suffer from fear, depression, hostility, inability to trust and other mental health issues.

Some studies looking at the relationship between elder abuse and mortality have found that abused elders die sooner.

Financial institutions have gotten savvy, Ms. Snyder said, with software aimed to monitor and flag transactions that look suspicious. When such transactions are detected, a bank employee will usually call the account holder.

Account holders can file a claim of fraudulent activity if they contest a transaction.

“Hopefully, if they didn’t catch it on the front end, they’ll catch it on the back end,” Ms. Snyder said.

But some small transactions fly below the radar. That’s why she encourages seniors to also monitor transactions and statements themselves, and alert their bank of any suspicious activity.

Even seniors living in assisted living facilities or nursing homes can be victims of financial abuse by someone close to them.

Richard Gordon, public relations specialist for SALMON Health and Retirement, said, “We usually get a sense that there may be something going on when we start to see our residents’ billing go into arrears.”

It also shows up when people are looking for senior living options. Family members might not want “to make the decision that’s right for their loved one because it’s their inheritance that’s being spent,” he said.

Mr. Gordon said all staff are trained when they’re hired and at least annually on all forms of abuse, including financial exploitation. When abuse is suspected, state agencies are contacted immediately.

Cases referred for prosecution, particularly involving abuse by a family member, are “some of the most gut-wrenching stuff we see,” according to Worcester District Attorney Joseph D. Early Jr.

He said, “This generation (of seniors), they’re a very trusting generation. They want to believe people.”

Prosecuting a case can be difficult. “We have to prove the defendant knows it to be a false statement,” when endorsing a document that diverts resources from the senior victim, Mr. Early said.

And some arrangements between an elder and a defendant are not formalized, but “built on trust.”

Restitution is always ordered when a case is successfully prosecuted. But sometimes, according to Mr. Early, “It’s like getting blood out of a rock.”

In the case involving Mr. Purdy, the disabled Northbridge veteran, criminal charges against his niece, Toni Silva of North Brookfield, were dropped May 2. The motion to dismiss, co-signed by Mr. Purdy’s lawyer and the assistant district attorney, indicated the vehicle had been returned and Mr. Purdy plans to pursue the matter civilly.

Mr. Daviau said the prosecutor explained, “They would have a tough time proving the elements of larceny.”

Mr. Purdy acknowledged he had given Ms. Silva his power of attorney last May, when he was told by the VA - incorrectly, he later learned - he needed to assign a power of attorney to deal with contractors renovating his house through a VA adaptive housing grant.

He revoked the power of attorney in November after he learned Ms. Silva purchased, insured and registered the RAV4 to herself.

Neither Ms. Silva, nor her lawyer, returned calls for comment.

Mr. Purdy’s plan is to trade in the RAV4, which was driven 11,000 miles since Ms. Silva purchased it in October, depreciating its value by an estimated $3,500, for a large minivan that can be used for his transport

“She’s my godchild. I gave her money for her house,” Mr. Purdy said. “I gave her the world and she took it and stabbed me right in the back.”

He continued: “I just want justice. I served my country; I did my time.”

- Elder abuse reports can be filed either online at www.mass.gov/report-elder-abuse or by phone at (800) 922-2275. Elder abuse includes: physical, sexual, and emotional abuse, caretaker neglect, financial exploitation and self-neglect. Elder Protective Services can only investigate cases of abuse where the person is age 60 and over and lives in the community. To report abuse of a person with a disability under the age of 60, call the Disabled Persons Protection Commission at (800) 426-9009. To report abuse of a person by nursing home or hospital, call the Department of Public Health at (800) 462-5540.

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Financial abuse of elders often leads to family crises, lasting harm