Trusting the Wrong People

When her mother was swindled by a "friend," Peggy Friedenberg, 66, of Richmond, intervened. She backs AARP's efforts to pass a new law to protect older people from this kind of financial manipulation. — Jared Soares

Peggy Friedenberg wondered why a woman who appeared at her mother's Richmond condo building was willing to cook, clean and drive her mother on errands around town.

Soon there were troubling incidents: Friedenberg's mother, then 84, fired her longtime housekeeper and hired the woman. Jewelry disappeared. Large credit card bills mounted.

Finally, after two years, Friedenberg found a check that her mother wrote to an attorney.

Her mother tearfully confessed: "I'm not sure what I signed."

Those papers transferred the deed on her mother's condo to the woman and created a new will with the woman as a major beneficiary.

Experiences such as this are heartbreaking, said Friedenberg, 66, of Richmond, an AARP volunteer at the state legislature. The victims "haven't done anything to bring it on themselves except trust someone."

High price for trust

Trusting the wrong person can be costly, according to a 2010 University of Virginia study of 54 older adults across the state who were victims of financial abuse. It showed they lost an average of almost $88,000, typically when someone close to them exploited their finances. Some losses were as high as $750,000.

The problem is getting worse. Reports of financial exploitation of the elderly made to the state Adult Protective Services office increased 38 percent from 2009 to 2011.

For the fifth year in a row, AARP Virginia will lobby the General Assembly next year to pass a bill that would make it a crime for family members, caregivers or others in a position of trust to manipulate another adult's finances for their own benefit. The penalty for conviction would be up to 20 years in prison.

Currently, "it's not particularly clear in the law how to prosecute these abuses," said Michael Huberman, a deputy commonwealth's attorney for Henrico County who trains law enforcement officers and other prosecutors about financial exploitation of older people.

Charges such as larceny or embezzlement don't always apply, even in cases where suspects claim an adult, determined to be incapacitated at the time, willingly signed over a power of attorney or gave money or property as a gift, he said.

Next: Victims fear reporting crime. »