Who do I go to when I find out that my elderly Mom was swindled by organized scammers?
My mom is elderly and she was working with people that turned to be very crooked and took her money and forced her to sell her property to get her money.
Sad to say it but prosecuting these scammers will not likely get your mom's money/property back. You need to take steps to ensure that you are in control of whatever remains of her assets and proceed to make plans for her future that do not include the money she no longer has. I'm not sure how medicare (medicaid?) will view this if she needs help, better to discuss this with your lawyer.
Is your mother being threatened with bodily harm if she 'snitches'? Are these folks threatening to harm her family members? Does mom have someone she trusts, a pastor or minister? Will mom talk to the police or DA herself?
How were the monies transferred? If there is any chance that mom will require Medicaid in the future, it is important that you get this loss of funds on record as a crime, otherwise it will be counted as a "gift".
Just how elderly is your mom... if she was working she can't be too impaired either mentally or physically, but of course even the young and able bodied can be swindled. Sometimes people feel shame or embarrassment that they have allowed themselves to be taken in and would rather just accept the loss, but if no one challenges these scammers they are free to move on to their next victims. It sounds as though you are operating on info told to you by mom that someone "got my mom's trust and supposedly extorted my mom of her money.There's no proof of this as of yet...". I'm not surprised that the authorities aren't taking this seriously if all you are offering is second hand hearsay. You need to through your mom's bank statements etc and go to them with concrete evidence of the crime.
"some woman in that shop got my mom's trust and supposedly extorted my mom of her money.There's no proof of this as of yet..."
1. Who specifically is the "some woman"? Is she an employee, customer, supplier? Is she someone with whom your mother is in contact on a regular basis? You don't have to ask for names; just try to calmly discuss the issue to get more facts.
2. How did this woman "get" the Trust? If she obtained a copy of it, she would have access to information, but typically a trust doesn't itemize specific financial assets (or e.g., account numbers) unless allocations are delineated for specific heirs. So there would have to be a level of contact, documentation, etc., for someone to know what assets your mother has.
3. Does your mother actually has those kind of assets that could be manipulated by thieves? I'm not asking for details; I'm just wondering if someone working at a beauty salon has the level of assets that would attract a swindler.
4. The alleged thief/thieves would need more detail on what financial assets existed in order to swindle your mother, because if there were no assets available, there's nothing to steal. How did THIS happen? Were there any visitors to your mother's home who might have been suspicious?
5. Do you have a DPOA from your mother that would allow you to access her financial records to verify the thefts?
6. No proof - therein lies the problem.
If you have access to your mother's financial records, start there to build a paper trail demonstrating what assets have been swindled.
You'll also need to be more specific about the "organized scammers"... If it was a group, consortium...just a few people ...it's hard if your mother won't reveal details, but if there is an organized group, the state police might also need to be involved, after you get details.
If you discover information that they used your mother's ID to steal, that involves another level of criminal activity beyond the theft - identity fraud. I learned some years ago that some law enforcement agencies either have or participate in identify fraud task forces.
But first, you do need to find out exactly what was stolen, from bank statements, financial transactions, etc. Somehow or another, you'll need to have access to your mother's financial records.
If she sold property, what specific property? Household goods, a car, real estate? You can easily check for sale of real property by calling the register of deeds or treasurer's office of your municipality or county and asking what documents have been recorded in the last few years. Better yet, go there yourself and have someone in the register of deeds office show you how to do a property check.
On related issues....is your mother still working there? Is she being threatened? If so, are they physical or financial threats? Threats can be reported to the police aside from the theft issues.
I hesitate somewhat to raise this issue, but as I was reading that so many issues as well as proof are still nebulous, I couldn't help thinking what I've read repeatedly in other's comments here. If your mother is a little bit confused, or has some element of dementia, this may not have happened at all.
There's also the possibility that, like many other elders, she has been seduced into buying things online, participating in so-called charities, or other swindling methods and is embarrassed to admit this so has, in her own mind, believed these incidents to be theft.
Please don't take this as a challenge or insult; it's just a query whether there's anything else involved besides your mother's statement that she's afraid and was swindled.
You will have to proceed with caution so as not to upset or frighten your mother. In the meantime, if she's afraid, and it relates to that specific place she worked, perhaps you can help her find another shop to work at to alleviate her fear.
I would report it, because there is some chance that they could recover a portion of her money. In some cases, the state's Attorney General will accept complaints and they will prosecute. You might also seek relief on her behalf to any Victim Compensation fund. Some counties and states have these.
Do you live near mom? Is she competent? Have you tried calling Adult Protective Services? If not, do. Tell them your mom is not getting cooperation from the police or the district attorney and that she is afraid. Then when APS comes to talk with your mom make yourself available to support her.
My mom was making weekly withdraws ...in the thousands...Oh My God,hurts me to say this....and she did it many many times until that amount of the check from the sale of her property went to nothing!!!I called a close neighbor and she also revealed to me that"you know that your mom sold a condo"?This startled me and flew there where she is...and she knows now that I know something....but in that letter to my aunt that lives far away,she says she's scared......that "not to tell me anything at all"...now she's broke....all she worked for......the D.A's office says they need proof.Thy came to talk to my mom and she flatly refused.I need help..in resourceful information...please.Currently I'm paying all her rents.but i do plan to change those dees to my name ASSAP...Im now legally her power of attorney.and another thing,there's this woman who wanted to be my mom's p.o.a and that woman helped my mom sell that condo...that woman may be involved in all this.........and the DA needs proof they say....
Move. Mom. Out. She is either not safe or thinks she is not safe, and once she does feel safe maybe she can tell more of what is going on. For now, you only know her money disappears. Close all credit accounts to further expenditures, and change banks. You call each company and report unauthorized withdrawals and they freeze everything while they investigate. You go over all the accounts in detail and find the expenditures that are not your mom's and you make print outs for the hard evidence. The credit companies will often reverse charges that are clearly fraudulent. The scammers picked your mom because she is vulnerable. You, hopefully, are not too vulnerable or intimidated to get to the bottom of it; but if you can;t do that, you can get your mom out of the situation.
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How were the monies transferred? If there is any chance that mom will require Medicaid in the future, it is important that you get this loss of funds on record as a crime, otherwise it will be counted as a "gift".
It sounds as though you are operating on info told to you by mom that someone "got my mom's trust and supposedly extorted my mom of her money.There's no proof of this as of yet...". I'm not surprised that the authorities aren't taking this seriously if all you are offering is second hand hearsay. You need to through your mom's bank statements etc and go to them with concrete evidence of the crime.
"some woman in that shop got my mom's trust and supposedly extorted my mom of her money.There's no proof of this as of yet..."
1. Who specifically is the "some woman"? Is she an employee, customer, supplier? Is she someone with whom your mother is in contact on a regular basis? You don't have to ask for names; just try to calmly discuss the issue to get more facts.
2. How did this woman "get" the Trust? If she obtained a copy of it, she would have access to information, but typically a trust doesn't itemize specific financial assets (or e.g., account numbers) unless allocations are delineated for specific heirs. So there would have to be a level of contact, documentation, etc., for someone to know what assets your mother has.
3. Does your mother actually has those kind of assets that could be manipulated by thieves? I'm not asking for details; I'm just wondering if someone working at a beauty salon has the level of assets that would attract a swindler.
4. The alleged thief/thieves would need more detail on what financial assets existed in order to swindle your mother, because if there were no assets available, there's nothing to steal. How did THIS happen? Were there any visitors to your mother's home who might have been suspicious?
5. Do you have a DPOA from your mother that would allow you to access her financial records to verify the thefts?
6. No proof - therein lies the problem.
If you have access to your mother's financial records, start there to build a paper trail demonstrating what assets have been swindled.
You'll also need to be more specific about the "organized scammers"... If it was a group, consortium...just a few people ...it's hard if your mother won't reveal details, but if there is an organized group, the state police might also need to be involved, after you get details.
If you discover information that they used your mother's ID to steal, that involves another level of criminal activity beyond the theft - identity fraud. I learned some years ago that some law enforcement agencies either have or participate in identify fraud task forces.
But first, you do need to find out exactly what was stolen, from bank statements, financial transactions, etc. Somehow or another, you'll need to have access to your mother's financial records.
If she sold property, what specific property? Household goods, a car, real estate? You can easily check for sale of real property by calling the register of deeds or treasurer's office of your municipality or county and asking what documents have been recorded in the last few years. Better yet, go there yourself and have someone in the register of deeds office show you how to do a property check.
On related issues....is your mother still working there? Is she being threatened? If so, are they physical or financial threats? Threats can be reported to the police aside from the theft issues.
I hesitate somewhat to raise this issue, but as I was reading that so many issues as well as proof are still nebulous, I couldn't help thinking what I've read repeatedly in other's comments here. If your mother is a little bit confused, or has some element of dementia, this may not have happened at all.
There's also the possibility that, like many other elders, she has been seduced into buying things online, participating in so-called charities, or other swindling methods and is embarrassed to admit this so has, in her own mind, believed these incidents to be theft.
Please don't take this as a challenge or insult; it's just a query whether there's anything else involved besides your mother's statement that she's afraid and was swindled.
You will have to proceed with caution so as not to upset or frighten your mother. In the meantime, if she's afraid, and it relates to that specific place she worked, perhaps you can help her find another shop to work at to alleviate her fear.
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