Financial elder abuseis unfortunately on the rise, happening more and more often to our aging population as the demographic gains a reputation for being an easy target for scams and/or theft. Therefore, the elderly need to be more careful about their finances and who they trust in their homes. As elder abuse lawyers, we sadly hear horrible stories about trusting people who get taken for their entire life savings because of one mistake. Make sure to keep all of your financial documents and checks in a secure, preferably locked, location where strangers or even family or friends cannot locate. Be careful of home health aides and housekeepers. Even those with good intentions may take advantage if given the opportunity.
Woman Arrested Twice for Stealing and Cashing Checks
Edna Lena Morales, 48, was arrested for the second time on Wednesday, November 9, 2011 for suspicion of elder abuse, forgery and possession of stolen property. She was arrested for the first time on October 17, 2011 after an investigation of her cashing several checks that belonged to an 83-year-old woman. The woman’s bank contacted her in September about the checks and she told them that Morales worked as her housekeeper, cleaning and cooking meals a few times a week. The elderly woman confronted Morales and she agreed to pay the money back. She wrote a check for $4,000 but the check bounced. Police also believe that Morales used the woman’s credit card charging more than $1,200, but Morales told them that the woman gave her permission to use the credit card.
A week later, a second woman went to the police to report that Morales cashed one of her checks for the amount of $5,000 leading to her second arrest. She is currently being held at the Merced County Jail on $130,000 bail.
Elder Abuse Lawyers in New Jersey and Philadelphia
If your loved one is currently being taken advantage of financially, or they are a resident of a nursing home or care facility and you are worried that the care they are receiving is negligent, abusive, or inadequate , our professional elder abuse lawyers can help you. Contact the Mininno Law Office for a free case evaluation. You may also call for a free consultation at (856) 833-0600 in New Jersey, or (215) 567-2380 in Philadelphia.
52-year-old Lynda S. Hutcheson is being accused of 
Amy M. Armstrong, 40, a hospice nurse in Woodstock, Georgia, is being charged with stealing medication from an elderly patient. After a family member went to the authorities with the possible theft of narcotic painkillers, agents with the Cherokee narcotics squad used video to catch Armstrong taking the pills from a patient. The agents then found more pills, including pain killers and anti-depressants, in her possession. She was arrested on August 23, 2011 and charged with two counts of felony theft by taking, two counts of elder abuse, two counts of possession of a schedule II controlled substance, and a single count of possession of a schedule III controlled substance. Armstrong is being held at the Cherokee Adult Detention Center under a $75,000 bond.
Milagros Angeles, 62, is being accused of theft by a caretaker, elder abuse, false imprisonment, and being in possession of altered checks. If she is found guilty, Milagros may be facing more than six years in prison. She worked as the caretaker of Navy veteran and Pearl Harbor survivor Arnold “Max” Bauer, 93, since 2009. When employees at Bauer’s bank noticed a series of suspicious checks drawn on his account during a 6 month period of absence, they contacted Adult Protective Services. Investigators were sent to check on him. Once in the home, they found that the elderly man was living in “filth and squalor,” with trash, rotting food and rat feces covering the house. According to San Diego Sheriff’s Sgt. Mark Varnau, Bauer was found disoriented and dehydrated and “It appears he has advanced Alzheimer’s … He can engage in conversation for a very short period of time and then he drifts off. He is very vulnerable and very much open to being victimized and manipulated.”
Kelvin Washington, 47, who works as an administrator at a Sugar Land nursing home in Texas, was arrested on August 4, 2011 and is being charged with conspiracy, health care fraud and violations of the anti-kickback statute. He is being accused of creating a plan where he billed federal health care programs for ambulance transport and received payments totaling approximately $20,000 for referring the dialysis patients to a Houston ambulance transport service between 2003 and 2007. He allegedly conspired to have unknowing doctors sign transport prescriptions for patients who were never even admitted to the nursing home. Medicare and Medicaid were billed almost $1 million in false health care claims. The maximum penalties for a violation of the health care fraud statue in Texas is a maximum of 10 years in prison. The maximum sentence for a violation of the conspiracy statue or the anti-kickback statute is five years. Each of the 10 counts charged also carry a maximum $250,000 fine as punishment upon conviction.
Ms. Sanders is now testifying in support of a bill authorized by Senator Fran Pavley that will enforce new regulations on the issuing of signature stamps. The bill would make it harder for caregivers with ill intentions to obtain the stamps by requiring that a bank employee witness and sign all requests for new signature stamps. Customers given the stamps will also be provided with information on the risks associated with them, in hopes that people will be more aware of the signs of theft or fraud, and also more careful of where the signature stamps are kept. The bill would also increase the punishment for financial elder abuse in California.
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The money will be distributed under the guidelines of the Affordable Care Act, and the National Background Check Program will begin in Alaska, Connecticut, Delaware, Florida, Missouri, and Rhode Island. Eleven additional states may be added to the program as early as November of this year.
By definition, an ombudsman is a government official who hears and investigates complaints by private citizens against other officials or government agencies.