USA: Elderly Frequent Target for Financial Exploitation

Attorney says Pittston case is different in that alleged abuser, victim not related. WILKES-BARRE, Pennsylvania (The Times Leader), June 23, 2006: The case of an elderly Pittston woman allegedly bilked out of $240,000 by a personal care worker exemplifies a growing trend in senior citizens being financially exploited, said a local attorney who specializes in elder care issues. Charles Petrillo, an attorney with Legal Services in Wilkes-Barre, said he’s been sounding the alarm for years about what he calls a “silent epidemic” of financial abuse of seniors. He expects the problem will get worse in coming decades. “You have the baby boomer generation, the wealthiest in the world’s history, now aging and perhaps for the first time, their successors will not be as wealthy as their parents. This will explode in the next decade,” Petrillo said. According to a state Department of Aging report, 18.3 percent of all elder abuse cases reported statewide in the 2004-05 fiscal year were related to financial exploitation. In the 2000-01 fiscal year that figure was 12.4 percent. Locally, federal authorities on Wednesday charged Sherry Waligun Savage of Wilkes-Barre with bank and credit card fraud for allegedly stealing money and charging items to credit cards belonging to a woman who hired her as a personal care aide. Savage’s husband, Walter, was charged with one count of credit card fraud. Petrillo and other advocates for the elderly said the Pittston case differs in one key way from most other exploitation cases in that the alleged perpetrator was not related to the victim. “Primarily it’s relatives that do the exploiting,” said Linda Bottger, supervisor of adult protective services for the Area Agency on Aging for Luzerne and Wyoming counties. “They’re the ones older adults turn to to help manage their finances.” Petrillo and Bottger said cases involving family members rarely end with criminal prosecutions because often the victim is too incapacitated to testify, or, if they are mentally fit, don’t want to testify. “It’s a shame issue. They don’t want to admit their son, daughter, grandson stole money from them,” Bottger said. In the Pittston case, authorities say Savage, who was hired by the victim in 2001, forged checks and withdrew money through an ATM card she had obtained on the victim’s account without her knowledge. Savage and her husband are also accused of charging items to the woman’s credit cards. The thefts were discovered around 2003 by a family member who became suspicious when the victim asked for a loan so she could pay Savage’s salary, according to a prosecutor. Petrillo said the key to preventing caregiver theft is for family members to review their loved one’s financial records from time to time. That’s often easier said than done, particularly if the senior’s relatives don’t live nearby. “It’s difficult enough to provide oversight to an elderly parent if you’re living in the community, let alone if you are not living here,” he said. Petrillo said he often speaks about these issues with law enforcement and agencies that deal with elder issues. They’re trying to come up with ideas to better address the problem, but he acknowledges it won’t be easy. “There has to be some kind of concreted community or legal effort to resolve the issues,” he said. By Terrie Morgan-Besecker Copyright 2006 The Times Leader All Rights Reserved