ORANGE COUNTY PERSPECTIVE : Ripping Off the Elderly

It’s heartbreaking to hear about elderly people who have been swindled out of their nest eggs, especially when the victims already are faced with physical ailments and diminished capacities. Orange County agencies have done a better job in recent years of alerting the elderly to possible fraud and of prosecuting cases. They are on the right track, but too often these crimes are detected too late.

Last week, for example, a middle-aged woman who cared for about 20 elderly people was accused of stealing $118,000 from a blind woman under her care. The Laguna Hills victim, who was left penniless, at least is sharp enough to testify; too often, the victims are too feeble, physically or mentally, to help with prosecution, so the perpetrators get away. Local authorities last week also arrested a man accused of stealing $167,000 from an elderly Yorba Linda man.

In recent years, these crimes against older people have been taken more seriously by law enforcement as well as agencies that work with the elderly. New things are being tried. For example, Leisure World, home to thousands of retirees, now keeps a roster of care givers whose references have been checked and who are bonded.

In law enforcement, the district attorney’s office has for several years assigned a special deputy to cases involving abuse of the elderly. Police officers and sheriff’s deputies also are more alert to crimes against the elderly, and they get cases to prosecutors more quickly.

There are even a few banks that keep a special eye out for their elderly customers, alerting authorities if there are unusual large withdrawals of cash. More financial institutions should consider adopting such procedures.

In addition, for some years now, there have been monthly multi-agency meetings that bring together Orange County police officers and sheriff’s deputies, prosecutors, public guardians and various health and social services representatives to explore individual cases of suspected fraud and to exchange information that might assist in prevention.

All of these things help, but even stronger efforts are needed. For example, caring relatives of the elderly need to take a more active part in protecting them from financial harm. Also, greater effort should be made to alert the elderly about those who have victimized old people in the past, and who may try again.