FOX 5 Special: Elderly Abuse
Deidra Dukes/Leigha Baugham
February 17, 2010
Fox 5 Atlanta
http://www.myfoxatlanta.com/dpp/news/fox-5-special:-elderly-abuse-021710
ATLANTA (MyFOX ATLANTA) – Caregivers can be hired to help care for the elderly, but authorities say some help themselves to their clients’ life savings instead. Some of these caregivers commit the ultimate betrayal and some pay for their crimes with prison time.
“My aunt developed Alzheimer’s, I needed extra help at home,” said Eleanor Flanagan of her aunt Frances Lindsey.
Lindsey’s family turned to caregiver Felicia Harvey in 2006, when their then 87-year old aunt needed around the clock care.
“People are hard to find you feel like you can trust like that,” said Flanagan.
Flanagan said she knew Harvey well, since she had once cared for her own mother. Flanagan said she was thrilled when Harvey agreed to care for her aunt. “We really trusted her, she was like family.”
Nearly a year after Harvey took the job, the elderly woman’s family made a devastating discovery. Thousands of dollars were missing from Lindsey’s account.
“We were stunned when I first found the evidence on the bank statements. I thought the bank made a mistake. It honestly never crossed my mind that Felicia would do that. I just did not want to believe it,” recalled Flanagan.
Flanagan said Harvey admitted to the family and Gwinnett County authorities, that she stole over $17,000 dollars from Lindsey over a seven week period in 2007.
Harvey admitted to investigators how she duped the elderly victim into giving her access to her account.
“When she got to the bank she would fill out the deposit slip and she would tell my aunt it had $20 and get her to sign it then she would take out like $900 and she would give my aunt $20 and keep the rest,” said Flanagan.
“We’ve seen a lot of abuse and exploitation by professional caregivers,” said Jeanne Canavan of the DeKalb County District Attorney’s Office.
Troubled by the reports of financial crimes against the elderly, the DeKalb County District Attorney’s Office started aggressively prosecuting elder abuse cases in 2004.
Canavan heads up the legal team. “We have had three cases that we have prosecuted recently, successfully. All of them have been in the $100,000 to $200,000 range. Where caregivers who had implicit trust given were stealing from them, forging checks, and doing it everyday, every week and doing it in such a way that they were taking most of these people’s life savings,” said Canavan.
“I would have trusted her with my life,” said Harold Williams.
Williams’ caregiver Rukhsana Burton struck a plea deal with the DeKalb County D.A.’s office after admitting she stole $180,000 while working for him in 2007.
The district attorney’s office now tapes victims’ testimony before trial because many victims are in various stages of Alzheimer’s or dementia. Sadly, some even die before the case goes to trial.
“With the professional caregivers it is so important that we professionally prosecute them because they will go out and do it again,” said Canavan.
Harvey is a classic example.
DeKalb County was prosecuting Harvey for defrauding and drugging an elderly client in 2008, when they learned she was charged with the crimes against Lindsey in Gwinnett County, just a year earlier.
“I just felt sick. We did everything we thought of to do and I thought, ‘What could we do to stop this?’” said Flanagan.
Flanagan’s aunt died last year. She never recovered any of the stolen money.
There are steps the elderly can take to reduce their risk of being victimized.
•Make sure you always receive and review your bank and credit card statements and check the accounts for unusual activity.
•Stay on top of the household finances.
•Make sure your caregiver is licensed and bonded, so you have a better chance of getting your money back if you’re victimized.
•Have a criminal background check completed.
Estate of Denial® provides news, analysis and commentary on abusive practices occurring in probate courts and via probate instruments (wills, trusts, guardianships, powers of attorney). We provide original perspective to educate the public regarding this growing threat to both individual freedoms and property rights.
