Kansas Task Force Protects Elderly From Financial Fraud
The Kansas District Attorney is watching out for our elderly. Rather, she is watching those who are "watching" our elderly. Citing a noted increase of "fiduciary abuse and exploitation", the Financial Abuse Specialist Team (FAST) was formed in October 2008. In fact, since July 1, 2008, 107 reports of suspected abuse have been reported and it is expected that number will climb significantly.
The Goal of FAST is to go after criminals and warn people through education about potential scams. FAST relies on the assistance of volunteers, such as bank tellers, postal employees, federal agents, and mental health specialists, as well as the Kansas Department of Social and Rehabilitation Services employees. These volunteers watch for elderly people doing things out of their normal routine, such as coming into banks regularly to make withdrawals with the assistance of a non-relative who does all of the talking or making unexplained withdrawals from savings accounts. These are signs that the elderly person may be taken advantage of. The scam artists find their prey by first working the telephones to locate vulnerable elderly people.
A financial crimes investigative team compiles the evidence and prosecutes the crimes. One such prosecution was the case of Mildred Patterson. In early 2004, Ray Patterson, Mrs. Patterson's son who lives in California, began to suspect that her caregiver, John Hartley, was taking money from his mother. Patterson alerted the authorities, but there was nothing in place at the district attorney's office at that time to prosecute a quick investigation. John Hartley was arrested in January 2008. Foulston's office estimates that he had taken as much as $67,000 from Mrs. Patterson through the use of her credit cards and taking items from her. He pled guilty and is currently on probation.
Kansas residents can contact FAST via email at FAST@sedgwick.gov.
