ABA Foundation testifies on protecting older Americans from financial exploitation

During a Senate hearing today, the American Bankers Association Foundation outlined the critical role banks play in protecting older Americans from fraud and financial exploitation while calling for strengthened national coordination, expanded financial literacy efforts and clear federal authority for banks to intervene when exploitation is expected.

The Senate Special Committee on Aging held a hearing on financial education tools to help prevent fraud. In prepared remarks, Sam Kunjukunju, vice president for consumer engagement at the ABA Foundation, explained that banks are uniquely positioned to help older customers recognize and avoid scams due to their trusted, long-standing relationships and daily interactions with consumers.

Still, banks can’t fight fraud alone, he said.

“While the banking industry is investing significantly in protecting older people, the scale and sophistication of today’s scams require a strategic and coordinated national response,” Kunjukunju said. “America needs a nationwide public education campaign that brings together federal agencies, nonprofits, and the private sector to deliver a unified, consistent message.”

Legislative tools

A national effort to fight fraud must be grounded in a broader commitment to lifelong financial literacy, and it should align with key life milestones, including entering the workforce, managing credit, starting a family, purchasing a home and planning for retirement, Kunjukunju said.

He also called on Congress to consider legislation that would provide banks with clear authority and safe harbor protections to delay or hold transactions when elder financial exploitation is suspected to help safeguard older Americans at moments of heightened vulnerability.

“Through sustained investments in education, training, cross-sector partnerships, and responsible innovation, we continue to strengthen the frontline defenses to combat elder financial exploitation,” Kunjukunju said. “But as our population ages and financial crimes grow more sophisticated, these efforts must be accompanied by a policy framework capable of meeting the moment.”

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ABA Foundation testifies on protecting older Americans from financial exploitation 

Adults Facing Guardianship Need Adequate Legal Representation, AARP Tells Congress

By Natalie Missakian

AndreyPopov/Getty Images/iStockphoto

En español | AARP is backing legislation that would help states train and recruit law students to represent adults facing guardianship proceedings in court.

More than 1.3 million adults in the U.S. are living under court-ordered guardianship because they are unable to manage their own affairs. These adults may lose the ability to make decisions about where to live, how to spend their money or how to treat an illness. They may even lose their right to get married or vote.

Because so much is at stake, AARP is endorsing the Guardianship Grant Flexibility Act, sponsored by U.S. Sens. Mike Braun (R-Indiana) and Bob Casey (D-Pennsylvania). The legislation would allow states to use federal grants for programs to train and recruit law students to help these adults, either by providing legal representation or becoming court-appointed guardians ad litem, representing their best interests. The programs would be administered through law clinics supervised by a licensed attorney, according to the bill’s sponsors.

“Unfortunately, many people subject to guardianship proceedings cannot afford to hire attorneys to represent them, and states do not have adequate funding to provide representation,” Bill Sweeney, AARP senior vice president for government affairs, wrote in a letter endorsing the legislation. “These individuals are too often left without a voice in the system, or an advocate to protect their rights.”

Often, guardians are family members or friends, but public guardians are appointed when no one else is willing to serve in the role. While many guardians do their job well, over the years, cases of abuse, mismanagement and conflicts of interest have also made headlines around the country.

That’s why AARP has long called for stronger oversight of these arrangements, and the use of less restrictive alternatives, such as power of attorney agreements, when possible. We’ve successfully pushed to reform state guardianship systems in Virginia, Florida, Alabama and other states.

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Adults Facing Guardianship Need Adequate Legal Representation, AARP Tells Congress

Gaetz invites Britney Spears to testify before Congress

A judge this week denied Britney Spears' effort to end her father’s role in her conservatorship.

 

#FreeBritney activists protest at Los Angeles Grand Park during a conservatorship hearing for Britney Spears in Los Angeles. | Rich Fury/Getty Images

By BRITTANY GIBSON

Rep. Matt Gaetz of Florida and a handful of other Republicans have invited pop star Britney Spears to testify before Congress about her conservatorship.

"You have been mistreated by America’s legal system. We want to help," Gaetz wrote in a letter to Spears dated Wednesday. "The United States Congress should hear your story and be inspired to bipartisan action. What happened to you should never happen to any other American."

Gaetz said he and fellow Republican Reps. Marjorie Taylor Greene (Ga.), Burgess Owens (Utah) and Andy Biggs (Ariz.) have been following her conservatorship battle with “deep concern” and stand with the pop star.

Rumors about Spears' discontent with her conservatorship spread for years online and trended with the #FreeBritney hashtag. But last week, Spears spoke directly about the issue herself in court, describing her conservatorship as “abusive.”

Spears’ father, Jamie Spears, has been the legal manager of his daughter’s multimillion-dollar estate since 2008. He was also the conservator “of her person” until 2019, when he stepped back from this part of the legal agreement for his own health reasons. Since then, Jodi Montgomery, a private professional fiduciary, has been in charge of Spears’ person.

In last week’s testimony to Los Angeles Superior Court, Spears described how her conservatorship thwarted her desires to have another child and remove her IUD contraception, get married and take time off from her concerts and touring schedule.

"I truly believe this conservatorship is abusive," Spears told the judge. "I just want my life back. It's been 13 years and it's enough.

Judge Brenda Penny denied Spears’ request to end her father’s role in her conservatorship on June 30.

But because of the revelations in Spears' public testimony, Bessemer Trust, a private wealth management firm, said in a court filing on July 1 that it wishes to resign from its role in managing her estate. Bessemer Trust was added as a co-conservator along with Jamie Spears last fall, but it has not yet received any of her assets or taken any fees, according to the New York Times.

In recent months, a number of conservative lawmakers have taken up Spears' cause, using it to highlight what they have called conservatorship and guardianship abuse.

“Britney Spears wants to tell her story,” Gaetz told conservative TV network OAN on Wednesday night. “She’s not someone who wants to just crawl under a rug a pretend this didn’t happen. She wants accountability and justice, and I can think of no better place than the United States Congress to really tackle this problem and … bring people together from all sides of politics to solve it.”

Gaetz also told OAN that the "Free Britney" movement is part of a broader movement on conservatorship and guardianship reform in Congress.

In March of this year, he and House Judiciary ranking member Jim Jordan (R-Ohio) wrote a letter to Chair Jerry Nadler (D-N.Y.) to ask for a hearing on conservatorship and Spears’ case.

POLITICO asked Spears’ court-appointed attorney whether his client has received the letter and intends to respond, but he has not yet replied.

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Gaetz invites Britney Spears to testify before Congress

Congress Is Getting Serious About Preventing Elder Fraud

Fraudsters could soon face tougher consequences for elder financial abuse.

Older Americans lose as much as $37 billion each year to financial fraud, but new legislation in the congressional pipeline would impose tougher penalties for these crimes in an effort to combat the rising rate of exploitation.

Senators Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa) and Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.) announced in a hearing Wednesday that they are developing federal legislation that will introduce tougher penalties for scammers who target older consumers. The bill will also promote interagency coordination around elder abuse cases—including the improvement of investigation and prosecution—and enhancement of survivor assistance and data collection.

“We need to make sure that government at all levels is working to spread the word on financial exploitation, that individuals on the front lines receive proper training, and that those in the position to combat these crimes have the necessary tools and authority to do so,” Grassley said Wednesday. He added that he hopes to unveil the bill “soon.”

Fraud schemes targeting older Americans are estimated to rise, especially because the number of people over 65 is expected to more than double from 46 million now to 98 million by 2060, according to the 2016 Population Reference Bureau report. And while the total damage incurred through these schemes is in dispute, the emotional and financial turmoil of victims is very real. A 2015 report from True Link estimated seniors lose $36.5 billion each year to fraud and financial abuse. A similar 2015 report by the AARP found financial exploitation robs older Americans of $3 billion annually.

Older Americans may not be defrauded at higher rates than younger consumers, but certain types of scams are more likely to impact them, says Lois Greisman, who heads the Division of Marketing Practices for the Federal Trade Commission’s Bureau of Consumer Protection. The most common of these scams are around lotteries and prize promotions, as well as fraudsters posing as technical support to “fix” non-existent computer problems.

Early detection is the key to combat these schemes, Connecticut State Ombudsman Nancy Shaffer said in Wednesday’s hearing. “Giving law enforcement more tools, more preliminary kinds of assistance in how to identify it as it’s happening, is an important piece,” Shaffer said.

This is not the first time lawmakers have attempted to pass legislation that would address elder fraud.  Senator Amy Klobuchar (D-Minn.) introduced the Seniors Fraud Prevention Act last June. It aims to set up an advisory office within the Bureau of Consumer Protection of the Federal Trade Commission specifically to combat elder fraud. Another measure, the Senior$afe Act of 2015 introduced by Sen. Susan Collins (R-Maine) last October, would help financial professionals, including financial advisers, report elder financial fraud. But legislation tracking site Govtrack.com estimates Klobuchar’s bill has a 44% chance of being enacted, while Collins’ bill rated only a 7% chance.

“All too often the quiet, invisible, heartbreak of financial elder abuse fails to make the headlines, but it happens every day and it’s a scourge that needs to fought and conquered,” Blumenthal said Wednesday.

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Congress Is Getting Serious About Preventing Elder Fraud