USA: Seniors fall prey to crimes, police say

Case highlights financial offenses MYRTLE BEACH, South Carolina (Sun News), August 30, 2004: An older Hilton Head Island couple was bilked out of as much as $20 million by a caregiver, police say. In Kershaw County, a widow lost her home and land, and she died with little left in her name after relatives were charged with siphoning her wealth. Financial exploitation of South Carolina's senior citizens is widespread and happens more than anyone can prove, say investigators and advocates for vulnerable adults. The crime, they say, is vastly unreported because: ~Most of the time it happens within families, and relatives tend to keep it quiet. ~Even when it is reported, police records cannot pinpoint it among other kinds of fraud, so tracking numbers is a guessing game. ~Many prosecutors either do not know how to win convictions or prefer to spend their time on other, more winnable cases. ~Few, including the media and advocacy organizations, bring attention to the issue - which is worsening as the baby boom generation ages. "It's probably on par with child abuse," said Randy Thomas, a Columbia consultant in the field. "The public doesn't recognize it. It's not recognized in the criminal justice system. There's no advocacy group." Eleanor and Bernard Breedlove, a retired Hilton Head Island couple in their 90s, are the state's highest-dollar victims, according to those who keep up with financial exploitation of the elderly. Two Bluffton police officers and another defendant are charged with fleecing the Breedloves. Police and prosecutors contend that in five years, Lisa Cramer, 34, used her relationship as a caregiver for the couple to divert money for herself and her husband. The Breedloves both are 94 and moved to the resort community from Boston, said Angela McCall-Tanner, the lead prosecutor in the case. They are known for their generosity in Boston and Hilton Head Island. Eleanor Breedlove inherited money from her father. Bernard Breedlove's wealth comes from helping invent parts used in water sprinkler systems for commercial buildings, the prosecutor said. Neither has any family. The investigation is only half complete, said Beaufort County Sheriff P.J. Tanner, the prosecutor's husband. So far, the tally is about $20 million, the Tanners said last week. Initially, the defendants were accused of draining $4.5 million to buy land, homes and cars. Further investigation has more than quadrupled that sum. The FBI and federal prosecutors are helping to decipher the maze of money transfers and to determine whether any were to banks outside of South Carolina. Critics like Thomas, president-elect of the National Committee for the Prevention of Elder Abuse, say the Hilton Head Island and Kershaw County cases illustrate the financial exploitation problem and the stress it puts on the criminal justice system. The Kershaw case is an example of a system failure, Thomas said. Lucille Reed was 80 when her relatives were indicted on charges that they took advantage of her age and near blindness to have her sign over her Camden home, another house and about 40 acres of land. Kershaw County detectives and a State Law Enforcement Division agent determined Reed, a childless widow, thought she was willing property to relatives when, in fact, she was signing deeds that turned over ownership while she was alive. A county grand jury in 1999 indicted Camden police officer Greg Pendleton, a great nephew of Reed's; his mother, Ann Pendleton, who was Reed's niece; Kathy Roscoe, Ann Pendleton's daughter; and Roscoe's husband, Roger Roscoe, a Camden firefighter. By 2002, charges had been dropped against three of the four, according to the state attorney general's office, which handled the cases. Kathy Roscoe cleared her charge after repaying about $20,000. James Bogle, the assistant attorney general who handled the cases against Greg and Ann Pendleton, said they were weak because Reed, then 83, was incapable of testifying. A psychiatrist, two real estate lawyers and a social worker said they felt Reed knew what she was doing. By Clif LeBlanc