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S. HRG. 107–581

SCHEMER, SCAMMERS, AND SWEETHEART DEALS:

FINANCIAL PREDATORS OF THE ELDERLY

HEARING

BEFORE THE

SPECIAL COMMITTEE ON AGING

UNITED STATES SENATE

ONE HUNDRED SEVENTH CONGRESS

SECOND SESSION

WASHINGTON, DC

MAY 20, 2002

Serial No. 107–25

Printed for the use of the Special Committee on Aging

(

SPECIAL COMMITTEE ON AGING

JOHN B. BREAUX, Louisiana, Chairman

HARRY REID, Nevada

HERB KOHL, Wisconsin

JAMES M. JEFFORDS, Vermont

RUSSELL D. FEINGOLD, Wisconsin

RON WYDEN, Oregon

BLANCHE L. LINCOLN, Arkansas

EVAN BAYH, Indiana

THOMAS R. CARPER, Delaware

DEBBIE STABENOW, Michigan

JEAN CARNAHAN, Missouri

LARRY CRAIG, Idaho, Ranking Member

CONRAD BURNS, Montana

RICHARD SHELBY, Alabama

RICK SANTORUM, Pennsylvania

SUSAN COLLINS, Maine

MIKE ENZI, Wyoming

TIM HUTCHINSON, Arkansas

JOHN ENSIGN, Nevada

CHUCK HAGEL, Nebraska

GORDON SMITH, Oregon

MICHELLE EASTON, Staff Director

LUPE WISSEL, Ranking Member Staff Director

(II)

C O N T E N T S

Page

Opening Statement of Senator John Breaux ......................................................... 1

Prepared statement of Senator Larry E. Craig ..................................................... 4

PANEL I

Carl F. Fiosche, Gypsy Victim, Tacoma, WA (live via video teleconference) ...... 5

Gertrude Gingerich, Traveler Victim, Hartly, DE ................................................ 12

William Blevins, on behalf of Vaughan Blevins, Manassas, VA .......................... 17

Bradley R. Graham, Detective, Tacoma Police Department, on behalf of Marie

Bobo, Tacoma, WA ............................................................................................... 24

Justin Ray White, Prisoner, Idaho State Correctional Institute, Boise, ID ........ 30

Cesario ‘‘Chayo’’ Reyes, Retired Detective, Los Angeles Police Department,

Elder Person’s Estate Unit, and Elder Financial Protective Services,

Cerritos, CA .......................................................................................................... 36

Jane Brady, Attorney General, State of Delaware, Wilmington, DE .................. 42

APPENDIX

Statement from Thomas W. Richardson, Acting Deputy Assistant Director,

Federal Bureau of Investigation ......................................................................... 55

Letter from Somerset County Department of Social Services ............................. 59

Information submitted on behalf of the Family Welfare Research and Training Group, University of Maryland, School of Social Work, Baltimore, MD ... 61

(III)

(1)

SCHEMERS, SCAMMERS, AND SWEETHEART

DEALS: FINANCIAL PREDATORS OF THE

ELDERLY

MONDAY, MAY 20, 2002

U.S. SENATE,

SPECIAL COMMITTEE ON AGING,

Washington, DC.

The committee met, pursuant to notice, at 2:07 p.m., in room

SD–215, Dirksen Senate Office Building, Hon. John Breaux (chairman of the committee) presiding.

Present: Senator Breaux.

OPENING STATEMENT OF SENATOR JOHN BREAUX,

CHAIRMAN

The CHAIRMAN. The committee will please come to order.

I want to thank all of our guests and all of our panel of witnesses

who are with us, as well as our witness who is here via telecommunications for his testimony. I want to thank also the ranking

member of the committee, Senator Larry Craig, for his support that

he has given us throughout these hearings that we are undertaking.

Over the years, we in the Congress have focused on different

types of elderly mistreatment, including physical abuse and sexual

abuse, emotional abuse or psychological abuse, abandonment or neglect, to name merely a few.

This afternoon, we are going to focus on yet another form of elder

abuse: the financial and material exploitation of our elderly. Elderly abuse in general is difficult to quantify. There is a large disparity between the number of cases reported and the number of those

cases that are, in fact, unreported. This disparity is referred to as

the ‘‘iceberg theory,’’ which is indicated on a chart that I have prepared.

According to the National Elder Abuse Incidence Study, only 16

percent of all elder abuse cases are actually reported. As you see,

a large majority of the cases are not even ever reported to authorities. The financial and material loss is obviously devastating, but

as my second chart points out, that is also just the tip of the iceberg. Financial independence is shattered, and long-term psychological and emotional scars may never be overcome. There is even

data to conclude that a financially abuse elder has a higher risk

of premature death.

Let me take a moment to define the issue of financial and material exploitation. It is the illegal or improper use of an elder’s

2

funds, their money, their property, their assets. There have been

a few attempts to quantify this crime. Most recently, the National

Elder Abuse Incidence Study mandated by Congress was completed

back in 1998. In this study, it was determined that 30 percent of

all the reported and substantiated elder abuse cases were financial

exploitation while 25 percent were physical abuse. There also have

been studies outside of the United States, all of which indicate that

the predominant type of reported elder abuse, after neglect, is financial abuse.

Today’s hearing this afternoon will focus on those in our society

who exploit our vulnerable elder population, depleting their lifelong

savings and exposing them to financial ruin, to emotional despair,

and even death. The hearing will address several specific forms of

financial exploitation that the current system has difficulty in defining, let alone preventing.

It is not uncommon for these actions to evade the criminal justice

system. What our panelists will show is that there are many psychological pieces to this criminal puzzle, such as diminished capacity, undue influence, and inability to consent. Seniors, like anyone,

can be psychologically and intentionally manipulated for the purpose of taking their money. This is a tarnish on everyone’s golden

years, the period of our lives during which we all hope to be able

to enjoy the fruits of our lifelong labors.

This afternoon, we will hear a sampling of these cases involving

family, home repairmen, professional criminal groups such as Travelers and Rom Gypsies that target the elderly.

On this issue, let me say up front that it is not our intent to condemn all people who consider themselves Travelers or Rom Gypsies, but to focus on those within these groups where illegal activities are the main reason for their existence.

It has been estimated that 70 percent of our Nation’s wealth is

held by people 50 years of age or older. Over the next 10 years,

there will be $10 trillion in assets invested by the elderly, and financial predators, therefore, target the elderly for the same reason

that Jean Lafitte pirated ships and Jesse James robbed banks and

trains. That is where the money is.

Looking into the future, even more opportunities for fraud and

exploitation await senior citizens in the new millennium. A recent

AARP survey revealed that 85 percent of individuals 60 years and

older want to stay in their own homes and live independently for

as long as possible. We all have the right of self-determination and

to live as we choose. But when there are sharks in the water, someone needs to pull those at risk to shore.

As more and more of the baby boomers draw closer to senior citizen status, sons and daughters and grandchildren and our society

must exercise vigilance in protecting those who have protected us

during our vulnerable years.

What we have found is that in most States the protective system

currently in place, although very well intended, is fragmented at

best. Public service professionals across our country unanimously

agree that protection services, law enforcement, and prosecutors

lack the special skills and training and funding and legislative support to properly investigate and resolve increasingly complex cases

of elder financial abuse. With the lack of comprehensive, ongoing,

3

reliable studies regarding the extent and the nature of elder financial abuse, there is very little information to help us focus on designing specific services and remedies to these problems. This hearing this afternoon will help to lift the veil from elder financial

abuse and start us in a direction of creating a functional elder justice infrastructure.

[The prepared statement of Senator Breaux follows along with a

prepared statement of Senator Craig:]

PREPARED STATEMENT OF SENATOR JOHN BREAUX

Good morning. I would like to thank all of you, especially my fellow members, for

attending today’s investigative hearing. I would also like to thank the Committee’s

Ranking Member, Senator Larry Craig, for his support throughout this investigation. Finally, and most importantly, I would like to thank the witnesses for being

here today. Your testimony will assist the Committee greatly in determining how

best to address the vital issues raised today.

Over the years, we in Congress have focused on different types of elder mistreatment including physical abuse, sexual abuse, emotional or psychological abuse,

abandonment and neglect to merely name a few. Today we will focus on yet another

form of elder abuse: the financial and material exploitation of our elderly. Elder

abuse in general is difficult to quantify. There is a large disparity between the number of cases reported and those that go unreported. This disparity is referred to as

‘‘The Iceberg Theory’’ which is indicated on a chart I had prepared. According to the

National Elder Abuse Incidence Study, only 16 percent of all elder abuse cases are

actually reported. As you see, a large majority of these cases are not reported to

authorities. The financial and material loss is obviously devastating, but as my second chart shows, that is also just the tip of the iceberg. Financial independence is

shattered and long term psychological and emotional scars may never be overcome.

There is even data to conclude that a financially abused elder has a higher risk of

premature death.

Let me take a moment to define the issue of financial and material exploitation:

it is the illegal or improper use of an elder’s funds, property or assets. There have

been a few attempts to quantify this crime. Most recently the National Elder Abuse

Incidence Study, mandated by Congress, was completed in 1998. In this study, it

was determined that 30 percent of all reported and substantiated elder abuse cases

were financial exploitation while 25 percent were physical abuse. There have also

been studies outside the US, all of which indicate that the predominant type of reported elder abuse (after neglect) is financial.

Today’s hearing, will focus on those in our society who exploit our vulnerable

elder population—depleting their lifelong savings and exposing them to financial

ruin, emotional despair and even death. The hearing will address several specific

forms of financial exploitation that the current system has difficulty defining, let

alone preventing. It is not uncommon for these actions to evade the criminal justice

system. What our panelists will show is that there are many psychological pieces

to this criminal puzzle such as diminished capacity, undue influence and the ability

to consent. Seniors, like anyone, can be psychologically and intentionally manipulated for the purpose of taking their money. This is a tarnish on our Golden Years,

the period of our lives during which we all hope to be able to enjoy the fruits of

our lifelong labors. Today, we will hear a sampling of these cases involving family,

home repairmen, and professional criminal groups such as Travelers and Rom Gypsies that target the elderly. On this issue, let me say up front that it is not our

intent to condemn all people who consider themselves Travelers or Rom Gypsies,

but to focus on those within these groups where illegal activities are the main fuel

for their existence.

It has been estimated that 70 percent of our nation’s wealth is held by those 50

years old and above. Over the next 10 years, there will be $10 trillion in assets invested by the elderly. Financial predators therefore target the elderly for the same

reason that Jean Lafitte pirated ships and Jesse James robbed banks and trains—

it’s where the money is. Looking into the future, even more opportunities for fraud

and exploitation await senior citizens in the new millennium.

A recent AARP survey revealed that 85 percent of individuals 60 years and older

want to stay in their homes and live independently for as long as possible. We all

have the right of self determination and to live as we choose, but when there are

sharks in the waters, someone needs to pull those at risk to shore. As more and

more of the Baby Boomers draw closer to senior citizen status, sons, daughters,

4

grandchildren, and our society must exercise vigilance in protecting those who have

protected us during our vulnerable years.

What we have found is that in most states, the protective system currently in

place, although well intended, is fragmented at best. Public service professionals

across our country unanimously agree that protection services, law enforcement and

prosecutors lack the special skills, training, funding and legislative support to properly investigate and resolve increasingly complex cases of elder financial abuse.

With the lack of comprehensive, ongoing, reliable studies regarding the extent and

nature of elder financial abuse, there is little information to help us focus on designing specific services and remedies. This hearing will help to lift the veil from elder

financial abuse and start us in the direction of creating a functional elder justice

infrastructure.

PREPARED STATEMENT OF SENATOR LARRY CRAIG

Thank you Senator Breaux for holding this hearing on the financial exploitation

of the elderly. As you may recall, I held a hearing on the topic of Elder Abuse last

year. At that hearing, we heard testimony from JoAnne Hopper, a victim from

Idaho, who was financially exploited by her son. I am pleased that this committee

is continuing to examine various aspects of elder abuse, including financial crimes

perpetrated against our most vulnerable citizens.

For the elderly, losing the fruits of a lifetime’s labor can be devastating. Financial

crimes can strip away a victim’s independence, security, and dignity. These crimes

destroy legacies, and may lead to depression, hopelessness, and despair. To the Seniors who have lost their life savings, financial crimes are no less devastating than

violent crimes.

To effectively fight these crimes, it is critical that existing laws be vigorously enforced: Laws like the one that put Justin Ray White behind bars. Mr. White perpetrated crimes against seniors in at least five North Western states. In his long

and shameful career, Mr. White robbed seniors of literally millions of dollars in assets. His financial assaults upon the elderly came to an abrupt end when he was

caught and prosecuted by law enforcement officials in Clearwater County, Idaho.

Idaho laws also encourage banks to report suspected instances of elder financial

abuse to local authorities. Banks in Idaho, in cooperation with state agencies, provide training to their employees on how to identify and prevent financial crime.

Idaho is only 1 of only 5 states to implement such a program. I intend to have ongoing conversations with the Department of Justice on several issues.

We will discuss making training and technical assistance available to state and

local law enforcement on the effective investigation and prosecution of crimes

against the elderly .

We will also look at current resources and grant money that could target financial

exploitation and other aspects of Elder Abuse. And overall, we will explore enhancing the effectiveness of inter-agency cooperation and multi-disciplinary approaches

in responding to cases of elder abuse at both the state and Federal level.

These constructive steps will serve to put in place effective mechanisms for ensuring that our most vulnerable citizens are protected from financial abuse and other

forms of elder crime.

I want to welcome all of our panel of witnesses. We are going to

take Mr. Carl Fiosche. Mr. Fiosche, can you hear us? Am I pronouncing your name anywhere close to being to correct?

Mr. FIOSCHE. That is close enough.

The CHAIRMAN. Close enough. Well, thank you very much.

Mr. Fiosche joins us this afternoon from Tacoma, WA, and we

would be very pleased to have you give us your statement if you

would go ahead, Mr. Fiosche.

5

STATEMENT OF CARL FIOSCHE, GYPSY VICTIM, TACOMA, WA

Mr. FIOSCHE. My name is Carl Fiosche, and I am 79 years old.

I live in Tacoma, WA. I am a World War II veteran. I served in

the South Pacific in air-sea rescue.

I am the victim of a sweetheart scam by a woman named Angela,

who I later learned is a member of the Romany Gypsy clan. Angela

is probably about 50 years younger than me. In about 4 months,

we now estimate that she took about $70,000 from me. She got my

house worth more than $109,000. The damage would have been

worse except that someone called Adult Protective Services and I

got help. As it is, I had to file for bankruptcy.

Before I met Angela, I lived in my house alone. I have a few

friends and some good neighbors, but I really don’t have any relatives. Since my mother died about 12 years ago, I am by myself

a lot. I have always been a bachelor. I took care of myself. I drove

my car to go out grocery shopping. I had a lot of medical appointments at the American Lake Veteran Administration.

I had a sufficient amount of money that I saved over the years.

My only income is Social Security and a small veteran’s pension.

I owned my own home free and clear. I had almost no bills. I paid

all my bills every month on time. I had good credit.

I think it was around the spring or summer of 2001 that I had

just gotten out of the hospital for double pneumonia. That is when

I met Angela at my bank. When I was in the bank, I saw this guy

on a cell phone walking back and forth. I later found out it was

Angela’s friend, Nic. Now, Nic spotted me in the bank and told her

when I was coming out. When I went out to my car, Angela was

in the parking lot. She asked if I was Italian. I had an Italian

bumper sticker on my car, and I said yes. She said she is Italian,

too. We started talking and she asked for my phone number. I gave

it to her. That is how we met.

About a week later, she called me and asked me to go out for

lunch. She said she was falling for me right then.

It wasn’t long before she said she needed money. She asked if I could give her $600 for a telephone bill and rent. I said OK. I started to write a check, but she said she doesn’t take checks, just cash. I gave her $1,000.

Angela got romantic really fast. She would say she is falling for

me. She would kiss me and hug me. Angela said, ‘‘I will take care

of you the rest of your life.’’ She said, ‘‘You don’t want to go into

a nursing home. I will take care of you.’’ She said she was in love

with me. I said I loved her, too. I would say, ‘‘I love you.’’ She

would say, ‘‘I love you more,’’ and we would go back and forth like

that.

Angela would see me at least a few times a week. She took me

to some doctor’s appointments. She drove me to the bank. I would

take money out and give most of it to her right then and the rest

later. I heard her on the phone at my house one day, and I heard

her say, ‘‘He would just go in the bank and come out with a handful of money.’’ I sensed after a while maybe I was being taken. But

I wasn’t thinking clearly. I was sick and she said she would take

care of me. I trusted her.

She would ask me for money, but she would never let me write

checks to her. She said never put anything like that in her name.

6

She had to have cash. So I wrote checks to cash and gave her the

money. I gave her $27,000 in cash I had in a safety deposit box. She said she needed $25,000 to start a coffee business. Later she said she

needed $1,000 for coffee. I gave it to her in cash. One day I asked

her what happened to the money. She said they lost it gambling.

Sometimes Angela brought a young girl who goes to the fifth or

sixth grade. I heard Angela tell the girl, ‘‘This is how you do it.’’ Then Angela came and sat in my lap, and she would be sweet to

me.

I asked Angela about Nic. I don’t know if he was her husband

or what. She said he didn’t care, as long as she gave him the

money everything will be all right.

On September 12, 2001, the day after 9/11, Angela came over,

and when we were just talking, she asked me about the house. I

told her I was going to make a will and leave it to my neighbors

because they were good friends to me. Now that Angela was with

me, I said I would put her in the will. Angela went into the kitchen

and called someone. She said, ‘‘Let’s go for a ride, pick up Nic.’’ They took me to a house. A notary lived there. Nic was telling

the notary person what to write. I sat on the bed. I didn’t say anything. I felt sick—I mean, I was sick—and I couldn’t walk so I just

listened. I was awake but couldn’t comprehend. They said they

made a deed and they wanted me to sign it. I said I wanted to talk

to my attorney. They said that Nic knows what he is doing. It will

all be done here. I thought they were going to beat me if I didn’t

sign. I didn’t want to sign it, but I signed it. The deed put my home

in Angela’s name. They never paid me anything for my home.

Back then I couldn’t hardly see or read. I felt like I was in a fog.

I was pretty sick then.

Angela did a lot of shopping on my credit cards. She said she

wanted everything. She took me to the mall and put me in a wheelchair and left me sitting. When she bought things, she would wheel

me over and she told me to sign for them. What could I do? I

signed. I didn’t know what I was doing.

She got furniture, dishes, a sleigh bed. I don’t know what all she

brought. She got a watch for $2,000. But she took the watch back

and got the money for it. One time she left me sitting in the car

and had the salesman come out to the car.

Angela told me every place you go, you must always apply for a

credit card. But I didn’t need any more credit cards. Later, I found

out that about 20 businesses did a credit check on me during the

time I was with Angela.

Angela said she didn’t have any transportation. She said if I gave

her $10,000, she would get a pick-up truck from Nic. I gave her the

money. But she never bought the truck.

The way that I got help was that one day I fell down and had

to call for an ambulance. I must have said something about Angela.

Adult Protective Services came to see me, and then a couple of police.

My lawyer from legal services helped me to file a lawsuit to sue

Angela, but she probably doesn’t keep any property or assets in her

name. I got a protection order against Angela and Nic to keep them

away from me. My house will be sold in the bankruptcy to pay all

7

of my creditors. I don’t know what the police have done. They never

talked to me since the first time they came to see me.

[The prepared statement of Mr. Fiosche follows:]

8

9

10

11

The CHAIRMAN. Well, thank you very much, Mr. Fiosche, for that

statement. How are you doing today?

Mr. FIOSCHE. I am doing better.

The CHAIRMAN. Do you know if anyone has ever taken any kind

of enforcement action against Angela and Nic from the police

standpoint? Was she ever arrested or anything, do you know?

Mr. FIOSCHE. No, she never was arrested. I don’t think they had

any investigation or anything on her.

The CHAIRMAN. Did you ever go to anyone for any help during

this period when Angela was asking you for money? Was there

anybody that you could go to for advice as to whether this was the

right thing to do or not?

Mr. FIOSCHE. No, I didn’t have anybody to go to.

The CHAIRMAN. When the police—how did they get involved in

this case with Angela? Was it the Adult Protective Service that

brought them in to talk to you?

Mr. FIOSCHE. Yes.

The CHAIRMAN. But you don’t know if she has ever been prosecuted or arrested?

Mr. FIOSCHE. She has never been prosecuted or arrested that I

know of.

The CHAIRMAN. Do you have any idea, Mr. Fiosche, how much

money that you ultimately transferred over to Angela, approximately? A ball-park figure.

Mr. FIOSCHE. About $70,000.

The CHAIRMAN. I understand that you had to put your house—— Mr. FIOSCHE. Plus the house.

The CHAIRMAN. Plus your house you had to put up for sale, as

I understand it.

Mr. FIOSCHE. $109,000.

The CHAIRMAN. So around $180,000 she was able to get from

you. Over what period of time? How long was it, about? A year?

Or how long was it?

Mr. FIOSCHE. About 6 or 7 months.

The CHAIRMAN. About 6 or 7 months. I take it you were living

alone when all of this was occurring in your own home?

Mr. FIOSCHE. Yes, I had just gotten out of the hospital at the VA,

and I was alone, and I met her when I went to the bank.

The CHAIRMAN. Well, Mr. Fiosche, we and the Congress want to

say how sorry we are that this happened to you and that we are

back here in Washington, DC., working on legislation which will

hopefully create a system so that people like yourself will never

have to go through this type of experience again. I just want to say

thank you so very much for sharing your story. It is not easy to

tell the story you just told to this committee, but I think that what

you have done is give us an indication of what happens far too

often. Don’t feel like you are the only person that this has happened to. These groups in many cases are professionals, and a person like you or like any of us could be subjected to the same type

of scam and never really realize it. So don’t feel bad. You are not

the only one that this has happened to. There are literally thousands and thousands of Americans that have had the same type of

scam put upon them as you have suffered. So we thank you so very

much. You have been very, very helpful.

12

Mr. FIOSCHE. Thank you, Senator Breaux, for having this hearing.

The CHAIRMAN. Well, I appreciate it, and we will stay in touch

with you. We wish you the very best in the future.

Mr. FIOSCHE. Thank you.

The CHAIRMAN. OK. Bye-bye.

Mr. FIOSCHE. Good-bye.

The CHAIRMAN. We want to thank Mr. Fiosche for joining with

us. He was not able to travel, but we do have an excellent panel

who is going to share their stories as well.

I would like to welcome as our next witness from Delaware, from

Hartly, DE, Ms. Gertrude Gingerich. Now, Ms. Gingerich, you and

I have already talked, so we are glad that you are here. We just

want to hear your story, and just feel free to tell us any way you

want.

STATEMENT OF GERTRUDE GINGERICH, TRAVELER VICTIM,

HARTLY, DE

Ms. GINGERICH. My name is Gertie Gingerich.

The CHAIRMAN. Mr. Blevins, if you would help her with that

mike and put it right in front of her, there you go. That will be

fine. You probably haven’t spoken before too many mikes. Pretend

it is not even there.

Ms. GINGERICH. My name is Gertie Gingerich, and I am 72 years

old. My husband is 77 and confined to a wheelchair after his last

stroke. We live alone, though some of our children live close by.

On December 19, 2001, my husband was away at the center. It

was an unusually warm day, and as I was eating my lunch, there

was a knock on the door. As I got up to answer, a young man

walked in and asked if I had any roof leaks. I said I do. He said

he would go get some more materials and be right back. He wasn’t

long. He went up on my roof and was spraying some black tar stuff

on the roof. He also had two other men with him: one older man

who claimed to be his father, and another man.

The father came into the house, and he was talking to me, and

he told me how he had high blood pressure, and he talked about

his son, that he had just got married, and that he would give me

a good price on the work that he was doing. Then he went back

outside, and when I looked out the window, I saw them scrubbing

my car. They had gotten tar all over my car. In about an hour and

a half, they were finished and brought me a bill. It had his name

and cell phone number on it and it had a 5-year warranty. The

amount was $4,850. I said, ‘‘My goodness.’’ But I wrote him a check

for the amount he wanted. He said he would be back the next day

to put up a gutter for me over the back door.

He did come back the next day with his helper. They put up approximately a 16-foot piece of gutter and one downspout. He

brought me another bill of $750, which I paid by check. I saw that

he ran the downspout on my deck, and I said I didn’t want it like

that. He said if I didn’t like it to call him later and he would fix

it like I wanted it.

A few days went by, and my daughter-in-law asked me what

those guys were doing on my roof, and I told her that I got the roof

fixed. She didn’t ask what it cost and I didn’t tell her.

13

However, I did tell my sister that I got the roof fixed, sprayed

off, and I told her what it had cost me. She then told her daughter,

my niece, who had a fit. Her husband, who is a contractor, checked

out the work that was done. He said they had used driveway sealer

and that it was not intended for using on asphalt shingles. He said

that I was intentionally misled by materials they had used. My

niece then asked me if I would mind if she would check into this

and see what she could do about getting my money back. I said,

‘‘No, I don’t mind.’’ I didn’t tell my husband or the children or anyone else about this because I felt kind of dumb.

My niece called the Delaware State Troop 3 and spoke to a trooper who then transferred her to a detective. He didn’t seem at all

interested and told her to call back the second week in January.

She then called 911 and they again placed her to Troop 3, and they

again told her to—put her through to the detective’s desk. She told

her story to the trooper there. He said she would need to speak to

a detective. She told him she did earlier and he didn’t seem interested, that he told her to call back the second week in January. So

he gave her the name of Lester Johnson and his phone number.

Mr. Johnson works for the Attorney General’s office, a unit which

specializes in crimes against the elderly. She then called Lester

Johnson and gave him my story, and he said to call 911 and get

an officer out there to do a report. She did that, and they told her

I had to call myself. When I called, they just gave me a runaround.

I told my niece what they said, so she called Lester Johnson again.

Mr. Johnson seemed irritated with the police and said he would

take care of it himself. I wasn’t long in getting a call from Troop

3. An officer was on his way to take a report.

Mr. Johnson, the trooper, and my niece all wanted to be there

when this guy would come back. I called this guy, and he said he

would come back out once the weather got nicer.

I called him a second time and left a message asking him to give

me a day and time to be there. I told him I needed to know so I

could be there.

I came home almost noon on January 29 when my daughter-inlaw called me and told me I had just missed the man who had

fixed my gutter. I called him on his cell phone right away, and he

said he would be there in about 5 minutes. I then called my niece

and told her, and I called Lester Johnson and left a message for

him. I called the trooper, and they said they would get someone

right out. Mr. Johnson called back and said he was on his way, try

to keep them there, keep them long enough for everyone to get

there. All three of the men were here again. My son, who lives next

door, came over. They fixed the down spout. Then they pointed out

how uneven my basement was. They took me down to show me

what they needed to do to fix it. They wanted to get to work on

the basement right away. Of course, I wouldn’t let them. My niece

came over and took pictures of the truck and wrote the tag down,

trying not to be seen. Then the trooper came, and soon after that

Mr. Johnson and his assistant, who is a senior volunteer, were

there. Another trooper came out also. All three were checked out,

and one of them was arrested. The other two were free to go. The

guy who was arrested pulled out a big roll of cash from his pocket

and gave some to the police officer, who counted it and gave it to

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Mr. Johnson, who also counted it, and then passed it on to me and

told me to count it. It was every dollar back that I had paid to the

guy. The guy was handcuffed and placed in the back seat of the

trooper’s car.

I want to thank the officers and especially Mr. Johnson for all

their help. If it wasn’t for Mr. Johnson, this guy would still be out

there taking advantage of the elderly. Mr. Johnson is here with me

today, right here.

[The prepared statement of Ms. Gingerich follows:]

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The CHAIRMAN. Ms. Gingerich, thank you very much. That was

an incredible story, and you told it very clearly, and you did a terrific job, and we thank you very much for sharing that experience

with this committee and with an awful lot of Americans.

Next we are going to hear from Mr. Bill Blevins on behalf of, I

understand, your cousin, I think, Vaughan Blevins?

Mr. BLEVINS. That is correct.

The CHAIRMAN. Mr. Blevins, go ahead.

STATEMENT OF WILLIAM BLEVINS, ON BEHALF OF VAUGHAN

BLEVINS, MANASSAS, VA

Mr. BLEVINS. Mr. Chairman, members of the committee, I am

Bill Blevins from Prince William County, VA. I was born and

raised in Fairfax County, VA. I am pleased to represent my cousin,

72-year-old Vaughan Blevins, of Fairfax County, VA, and over 200

others who have been exploited financially by a career con man— Larry C. Henderson. At present I am the legal guardian and conservator for Vaughan Blevins.

On November 12, 1997, I was notified through the Manassas

Park Police Department that Vaughan had been found lost and

confused adjacent to their headquarters building. He was very hungry, had only $3 in his wallet, along with instructions to contact

a Mr. Larry Henderson in case of emergency. Larry was notified

and came to pick him up. The officers on duty were suspicious and

contacted Vaughan’s insurance agent whose card fortunately was

also in the wallet. This led to me being called.

When I confronted Larry—that was the next day—about his financial dealings with Vaughan, he denied everything. When Larry

denied knowing anything about any previous dealings, Vaughan

threw up his arms and charged Larry, not unlike a caged animal

turned loose, and began shouting, ‘‘You know Larry, you know.’’ Vaughan Blevins is a very timid, friendly individual. I had never

seen him in this type of rage in my lifetime. Even Larry was obviously very surprised.

After that, I took Vaughan to stay with me at my mother’s home

in Fairfax County, VA. I also notified Adult Protective Services of

Fairfax County. That was on November 13, 1997.

In the next few days, the following became very evidence:

Vaughan only had $14.21 in the bank, with the account being

emptied out monthly as soon as Vaughan’s pension was automatically deposited; there were numerous outstanding loans using

Vaughan’s property as collateral; Vaughan was checked out medically and found to be severely malnourished, lacked necessary medical supervision for at least 2 years, suffering from dementia and

mental abuse; Adult Protective Services made me aware that Larry

Henderson was being investigated by Fairfax County Criminal Investigation Division regarding another victim and had been taking

advantage of another victim for approximately 3 years who also

had dementia, and had a history of seeking out that type of victim.

He had a prior history with APS, not only in Fairfax County but

in other jurisdictions.

I interviewed with Fairfax County CID and was told it would

take about 60 days to formulate a case. I was told Vaughan made

a poor witness because of his dementia. I was reminded that Larry

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Henderson had certain rights, including the right to face his accuser. My response was the Constitution’s guarantee of equal

rights and protection for everyone. Let’s let a judge and jury decide.

I was reminded more than one that it wasn’t a crime for someone

to ‘‘give their money away.’’ I found and still find this comment unsuitable and demeaning to a victim with diminished capacity.

I asked around and I heard of more past and present victims of

Larry Henderson in Fairfax County and other jurisdictions. When

notified, the Fairfax County Police Department seemed disinterested.

I was astonished to find that Larry Henderson had a civil and

criminal background unrivaled by few, if any. I contacted as many

victims as possible. All were very helpful. Nearly all were elderly.

They in turn knew of others who had bad experiences with Larry

Henderson. I asked many why they hadn’t gone to the police. Some

had, with few results. Some victims were second generation. Some

victims were related. It was obvious Larry Henderson sought out

a certain victim profile: elderly, preferably a widow or widower;

diminished capacity; rural and/or older communities; they often

had a recent obituary listing; small social group with other elderly

persons; older residences in need of some repair or maintenance;

and some religious interest.

To accommodate these profiles, Larry Henderson would often

portray himself as: a former friend or business associate of a recently deceased loved one; a preacher or minister; a contractor

down on his luck; and a nice guy, often buying a round of coffee,

while sorting out a potential victim.

Larry began exploiting Vaughan as early as 1991, as well as each

year thereafter, cleaning out nearly his entire bank account—in

fact, his entire bank account for each year thereafter. Bonds

cashed, existing bank accounts empties, subsequent earnings and

money from unknown sources were laundered through Vaughan’s

account approaching $600,000. That is probably a very conservative

estimate. I am still finding money, still finding assets. They come

in periodically.

Larry Henderson developed a certain hold over Vaughan.

Vaughan was conditioned to think he had to ask for permission to

eat, to go somewhere, to use the bathroom and perform simple,

everyday tasks. In the 6 weeks it took him to get him

deprogrammed and to get his house habitable again with the assistance of APS, it was always, ‘‘Do I have to ask Larry?’’ ‘‘Where’s

Larry?’’ ‘‘What will Larry say?’’ et cetera.

During the 6 weeks of deprogramming sessions, Vaughan would

sometimes, especially at night, want to talk. He would want to confide in me. He would ask, ‘‘Why did Larry do that to me?’’ ‘‘What’s

going to happen to me?’’ ‘‘Am I going to die?’’ Sometimes, as reality

would set in, he would cry or sob and blame himself for allowing

things to occur as they did.

Larry Henderson didn’t confine himself to the extreme Northern

Virginia area. He has a history in approximately the upper onefourth of the State of Virginia, particularly Fairfax, Prince William,

some in Arlington, Fauquier, Loudoun, Clarke, Frederick, and Warren counties, as well as the independent cities and towns. He has

a history in eastern West Virginia—he is a serial bankruptcy filer;

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the three filings would all bear that out—as well as Maryland,

Delaware, New Jersey, southern New York, and Louisiana. I was

told that he once took approximately eight to ten widows and widowers for about $100,000 in the Route 28 corridor in western

Prince William and Fauquier County. All those names appeared on

prior bankruptcy filings. Only the amounts were diminished. Two

of those people lost their country store. One lost a farm. All the

names appeared on Larry Henderson’s previous bankruptcy filings,

as I just pointed out.

Larry Henderson did a small amount of work for the homeowners’ association president in the affluent Mantua Subdivision in

Fairfax County. He gave her name as a reference and scammed

several other homeowners in the community. She served as a prop

for his many schemes in that community. He had one reported and

he had to refund the money or face a conviction, and he was convicted in another jurisdiction, as that was where the money

changed hands and technically that is where the crime occurred.

That jurisdiction is the city of Manassas Park, VA. If not for the

effort and diligence of Investigator Tony DeFelice, Larry Henderson

would probably not be in jail today. Investigator DeFelice is sitting

behind me today. He is very well thought of in the community, I

might add, as a law enforcement officer.

It was Investigator DeFelice who was called in when I discovered

Larry Henderson had a 186-day-old felony warrant in Fairfax

County and he had it served on him. This is the only conviction in

Fairfax County and they had sat on it for over 6 months.

I asked CID, by the way, if they would like a list of the victims

that had occurred in that 6-month-plus period.

Investigator DeFelice was instrumental in getting Prince William

County to prosecute two other cases against Larry Henderson.

Unfortunately, Fairfax County could have added at least one year

to Larry Henderson’s present Virginia prison term. Despite the

presence of five representatives from other jurisdictions, some on

their own time, they dropped charges on a felony. In short, in the

overall scheme of things, for whatever reason, Fairfax County has

been very kind to Mr. Henderson.

I am told Larry Henderson will be out of the Virginia State Penitentiary next March 2003, having served 3 years of a 6-year sentence. He will then begin serving an 8-year Federal sentence.

Looking back, it has been very frustrating getting assistance and

the proper representation for Vaughan Blevins, who, I might add,

is a veteran and a former civil servant himself, and one of the victims that Mr. Henderson took advantage of, Dorothy Robertson, is

also a former civil servant for years for Fairfax County. Her husband was a veteran.

I would recommending the following to Congress: Federal statute

or statutes to protect people with diminished capacity; a national

registry for those who victimize people with diminished capacity;

mandatory statutes to make banks and lending institutions report

suspicious activity and/or suspicious loan applications; and strict

guidelines governing loan applications.

I would like to point out that Mr. Henderson often used the very

weak statutes and guidelines in the State of Virginia governing

contracting fraud. They are among the weakest, if not the weakest

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in the country. Despite complaints to State delegates, the State Attorney General’s office, the Crime Prevention Bureau, the Director

and Assistant Director, not one law in the last five general sessions

since 1997 has been strengthened. If anything, some have been

weakened.

I ask what will be the result of today’s hearing. Others and I

have been forced to settle with disappointment in the last 5 years.

I often wonder if this will be another disappointment, and I will

anxiously await the results.

[The prepared statement of Mr. Blevins follows:]

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The CHAIRMAN. Well, thank you very much, Mr. Blevins. I hope,

too, that you won’t be disappointed, and that is going to be our real

effort here.

Next we will hear——

Mr. BLEVINS. Could I point out one thing, please? I don’t mean

to interrupt.

The CHAIRMAN. Sure.

Mr. BLEVINS. Each day, that is, the end of today, tomorrow, and

each day thereafter, $1 million passes hands in the State of

Virginia—and that is a very conservative number—through contractor fraud.

The CHAIRMAN. Thank you. Strong statistics.

Next we will hear from Detective Brad Graham with the Tacoma

Police Department. Mr. Graham, thank you very much for being

with us.

STATEMENT OF BRADLEY R. GRAHAM, DETECTIVE, TACOMA

POLICE DEPARTMENT, ON BEHALF OF MARIE BOBO,

TACOMA, WA

Mr. GRAHAM. Thank you. Good afternoon, Mr. Chairman. I am

a detective with the Tacoma, WA, Police Department assigned to

the Special Assaults Unit. In January of this year, I became involved in the case of State of Washington v. Margaret M. Bobo, a

case of criminal mistreatment.

The victim, 81-year-old Marie Bobo, lived in a single-family home

in Tacoma. She retired from her civil service job over 20 years ago

and lived solely on her retirement check. There is no record of her

ever applying for or receiving any State public assistance.

On January 14 of this year, the victim’s daughter, Margaret,

made a 911 call asking for assistance with her mother who had

fallen in the house. Margaret told the dispatcher she was unable

to pick her mother up. When Fire/Rescue arrived, they found

Marie, naked from the waist down, on the floor inside the home unable to move. They found her in that first picture you see, sir.

Fire fighters had to remove the outer door from the hinges and

climb over stacks of garbage and household trash that in places

went from floor to ceiling. They found her literally stuck to the

trash by her own feces. Pieces of her skin were pulled from her

body as they lifted her for transport to a hospital. The home was

filled with feces and rodents.

Police were summoned to the hospital to interview the victim.

The responding officer was required by hospital staff to don a protective suit because the victim had unidentified inset life coming

out of the wounds on her body. She was clearly disoriented and unable to give officers a clear picture of what had happened.

The victim weighed 88 pounds, was malnourished and dehydrated. She suffered from a condition called contracture of the legs

and hips. This condition results when a limb has not been moved

for a significant period of time. In this case, the legs and hips were

stuck in the fetal position, as you see, sir. She got this way from

having been left, unmoved, for several months. The skin around

her toes was blackened and dead. Any attempt to manipulate her

legs was and still is painful to her. She had bedsores on her butVerDate 11-MAY-2000 11:55 Sep 26, 2002 Jkt 000000 PO 00000 Frm 00028 Fmt 6633 Sfmt 6633 C:\DOCS\80873.TXT SAGING1 PsN: SAGING1
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tocks and elbows. Her skin was dry and scaly and began to come

off as it was being cleaned for the first time in months.

There is no hope now that her legs will ever function again.

There was concern that she would require some amputation to prevent infection. Only now, after 5 months of treatment and evaluation, is she able to be placed into a reclining chair. The medical

plan calls for treatment of the tendons in her legs to release them

to point of getting her into a wheelchair, hopefully. This will give

her something she really has not experienced in over a year—mobility.

Interviews with the victim were limited due to her mental state.

She was able to recall that her daughter lives with her but doesn’t

spend the night. Her daughter visits her daily to bring her food

and water. She was not able to recall where she slept, when she

last used a bathroom, when she was last able to move her legs, or

how much money she got from a retirement check which she did

know she received.

Her daughter was arrested for criminal mistreatment and criminal abandonment. In a post-arrest interview, the daughter admitted that she shared a joint bank account with her mother. A direct

deposit of the mother’s retirement check of approximately $910 was

made monthly to that account.

Asked to account for the money being withdrawn, the daughter

said she used the money to repay a home loan in her mother’s

name, her mother’s utility bills, and for food. Reminded of her

mother’s malnourished condition, she still insisted that roughly $200 a month went to feed her mother. She further indicated that

her mother wanted to contribute enough money to pay for the

daughter’s rent on an apartment across town.

The daughter indicated that she visits the home daily, in the

afternoon, to bring her mother a meal consisting generally of soup,

sandwiches, and cookies. Asked what her mother did for meals

when there was no one there to help, she said, ‘‘My mother just

doesn’t eat breakfast.’’ A check of the home’s utility records showed

that the home’s power and water usage were significantly below

normal. At times during the past year, there were months when

the home showed no measurable water usage. The home’s gas was

shut off some time ago, thereby cutting off the primary source of

heat.

Subpoenas to the victim’s bank showed a shared account between

the victim and the daughter. Records show that each month a retirement check was deposited into that account and on the exact

same date that entire amount was withdrawn in cash. This left a

constant balance of less than $5 in the checking account.

Financial records show that in early 2000, at the age of 80, the

victim was given a loan against her home for household repairs.

The deed shows the loan to be for $20,000 payable over a 25-year

period. Her monthly payments on that loan were $350 a month.

Proactive intervention in elder abuse by law enforcement is, at

best, difficult. Last year, Tacoma PD responded to approximately

175,000 calls for service. Nearly 2,000 offenses were reported to be

against victims age 62 and older. When police have to struggle to

keep up with reported crime, any proactive efforts will suffer. Most

crimes-against-persons cases must be triaged by detectives to deVerDate 11-MAY-2000 11:55 Sep 26, 2002 Jkt 000000 PO 00000 Frm 00029 Fmt 6633 Sfmt 6633 C:\DOCS\80873.TXT SAGING1 PsN: SAGING1
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termine the level of solvability before investing time and resources

into an investigation. Sadly, the threshold of what is solvable tends

to be inversely proportionate to the increase in our caseload.

I believe a big part of the solution lies in public awareness. We

need to make people as focused on elder issues as they are to child

abuse issues. We must teach people with regular elder contact to

be more attuned to the signs and symptoms of this problem. Educating people like letter carriers, power meter readers, neighborhood shop owners, and beat cops could go a long way toward early

intervention and prevention.

Financial abuse is a particularly difficult case to work. The suspects are often relatives, close friends, or caregivers who have been

given access to the funds, such as was in the Bobo case. Twenty

years of retirement payments and the bank account had a nearzero balance. Of additional concern has to be the loan and the lack

of guidance in her obtaining of it. We have here in this case an 80-

year-old woman who was given a 25-year home loan with monthly

payments in excess of 30 percent of her monthly income. There has

to be some way to exercise some oversight against predatory lending agencies who see the elderly as an easy target.

In my 15 years of law enforcement, I have never experienced the

same roller-coaster ride of emotions as I did with this case. I will

never forget the images indelibly printed in my mind of this poor

old woman lying crippled in her own little chamber of horrors there

and my bewilderment as to how this could have happened right in

front of us.

Thank you, sir.

[The prepared statement of Mr. Graham follows:]

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The CHAIRMAN. Mr. Graham, that story is almost too difficult to

tell. Just unbelievable.

Mr. GRAHAM. Yes, sir.

The CHAIRMAN. Thank you very much for telling it because it is

very important.

Next we are going to hear from Mr. Justin Ray White who is

with us from the Idaho State Correctional Institute in Boise, ID.

Mr. White.

STATEMENT OF JUSTIN RAY WHITE, PRISONER, IDAHO STATE

CORRECTIONAL INSTITUTE, BOISE, ID

Mr. WHITE. Hello. My name is Justin White.

The CHAIRMAN. Mr. White, pull that mike down a bit closer so

we might hear it more clearly.

Mr. WHITE. My name is Justin White, and I am an ex-Traveler

from the Pacific Northwest. I am an inmate at the Idaho State Correctional Institute, and I am currently serving a 10-year sentence

for grand theft and using a false ID. I was born in Idaho into the

Traveler way of life.

When I was a young boy at the age of 10, I can remember peddling flowers and candy and cheap leather wallets at bars, stores,

and beauty salons. I would get a percentage of whatever I sold for

the night from my father, who was a Traveler. I was a poor salesman at the time, but as the years advanced, I got better at it.

When I turned about 13 years old, I started working on the road

with my father, and I can still remember him telling me if anyone

asked where we were from, tell them we lived at such and such

town, lane and address. We always had a story ready. I remember

my dad having me roll down the windows so I could hear him talk

to the elderly people and pick up pointers on how to hustle them.

When we were looking for a job, I would watch out my side looking for old people while my father paid attention to his side of the

street and drove. We would pick our houses by the looks of them:

old cars, no toys lying around, yards that are kept up real nice, single names on the mail boxes. By the time I was 15 years old, I had

heard enough and seen enough to know this was a great life and

an easy life. I didn’t need much schooling or any kind of education

as far as that went. All the Traveler kids hardly ever went to

school. We learned what we had to do from our fathers, and that

was to lie and cheat and scam for the almighty dollar. All I ever

wanted was to be like my dad and my uncles and be like a high

roller.

The Traveler’s way of life was the only way of life, easy money

all the time. You wore the best of clothes, $500 to $1,000 western

boots, gold rings on all your fingers, gold watches, bracelets on your

wrist, new trucks all the time, all chromed out, and you had new

Lincolns and Cadillacs, Lexuses. What more would you need to see

to know that this was the way of life that you wanted, all the Travelers telling you camp fire stories on how much money they had

made on some old mark they had found somewhere out in the

country and how easy it was to take them for their money.

Most Travelers when I was a kid would stay in a town for about

a week or two, then move to another town as soon as they worked

the area or did a real good job where they made a couple thousand

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dollars and were scared it might draw a little heat. So the Travelers’ kids never had time for school. They learned that the only way

to make a living was to lie, cheat, and scam.

Most of your Travelers today are all home owners with homes that range from $70,000 to $500,000. They stay in one place longer,

have their kids in school part of the time, and have businesses

such as car lots, blacktop paving, RV sales, and septic tank pumping. When things slow down and the money isn’t coming in every

day, they will start tripping off, away from the house to other

States and scam for money from the senior citizens.

You can always spot a Traveler by his outfit, known as his truck.

Most of them like fancy 1-ton’s with fancy wheels and tinted windows, with the front plate off so you can’t tell where he is from.

They don’t like older vehicles because they can’t depend on them.

When it is time to leave town, they want something dependable

that will get them out real fast. Some of the Travelers like to put

magnets on their license plates, so all they have to do is pull the

plate off. When they get a job, they tell the senior citizens that

they just bought the truck and haven’t had time to put plates on

it.

Most of the Traveler girls are very beautiful women, and when

it is time for them to marry, the fathers hook them up with good

Travelers or ‘‘hummiechill’’ boys who will be good providers and

will take care of her in the way that she is accustomed.

Traveler girls are also sold to their husbands, and sometimes that is a very large sum, $20,000 to $30,000 if she is a good hustler

and can make money every day. They do all kinds of scams but

mostly shoplifting or conning old men out of hundreds of even thousands by playing with their hearts.

The reason the elderly are a good target is because they are very

trustworthy. They are very lonely and want someone to talk to.

They also save their money more than younger people. The elderly

like their house in good shape because of all the good memories

they have with their family there. The main target of the Travelers

is an elderly person who lives alone. There is no one they can confide to, so they are very easy to trick.

When a Traveler or myself works for an elderly person, we try

to quickly learn as much as we can about their lives. One way is

by asking about their yard: ‘‘Who does your yard work for you?’’

‘‘You have a beautiful yard.’’ They will tell you anything and everything about how they have to do it themselves, how their kids

moved away, and how this new generation doesn’t want to work

and how lazy the kids are today. When you ask that one question,

they usually tell it all.

Fake IDs are a must when you do this kind of work because if

you get caught scamming somebody out of their money, you don’t

want to bring heat on your real name. Nothing like a good piece

of ID with a different name. Almost all of your Travelers have good

driver’s license numbers under a fake name. That is a very important tool. I myself had as many as 60 aliases, and once I used an

alias just to get out of jail. When I got pulled over by the police,

they would run a check on the alias. It would come back clean, and

they would let me go. The aliases are very important, and I would

use them more than my own name.

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The Travelers could make anywhere from $50,000 to $500,000 a

year, depending on how good he was. I know of a Traveler that got

$50,000 from one mark in one day and probably about $250,000 in

a year’s time off the same mark. The most I ever made in one day on a job was about $8,400. I remember a lot of $2,000 days, and

there were days I never made a cent. I am not sure what I made

in a year’s time, but if I was to guess, I would say probably $60,000 or $70,000 a year. I was too busy spending it to keep an account

of it.

There are many Traveler scams floating around the country, and

when one gets burnt, they think of new ones to do. My favorite was

getting into attics and spraying for termites. I would take an old

piece of wood with me and put bugs in it. I would then show it to

them and tell them that the wood came from their attic and that

I could fix the problem by spraying and they could save a lot of

money. Over the years, I have been involved in all kinds of scams:

blacktop paving, blacktop seal coating, roofing, home repair, septic

tank pumping, tree trimming, yard care, and pest control. There

are probably a few more, but these are my favorite and the most

common ones that the Travelers do to the senior citizens.

What I would suggest to all senior citizens is to never hire anyone to do work for you that shows up on your doorstep. They are

there to steal your money. They don’t care about you at all. All

they want is your money. Another thing I would suggest is to buy

a few toys and lay them around in your front yard so it doesn’t look

like an old person lives there, like a tricycle or a swing set, a basketball or Tonka toys. Just a couple of these is enough to throw a

Traveler off.

Never have anything done on the spur of the moment. I suggest

calling up friends, family, police, or your sheriff’s office and ask

them what they think. Never let anyone talk you into anything. If

it sounds too good to be true, that is because it isn’t true. Nothing

is for free. Travelers don’t get rich doing stuff for free. They get

rich by the kindness and by you trusting them.

[The prepared statement of Mr. White follows:]

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The CHAIRMAN. Thank you, Mr. White, for your statement.

Next we are going to hear from a retired detective of the Los

Angeles Police Department and their Elder Person’s Estate Unit,

Mr. Cesario ‘‘Chayo’’ Reyes.

STATEMENT OF CESARIO ‘‘CHAYO’’ REYES, RETIRED DETECTIVE, LOS ANGELES POLICE DEPARTMENT, ELDER PERSONS

ESTATE UNIT, CURRENTLY ELDER FINANCIAL PROTECTIVE

SERVICES, CERRITOS, CA

Mr. REYES. Again, thank you, Mr. Chairman. My name is Chayo,

and I am a retired detective from the Los Angeles Police Department, and developed the Department’s first Elder Estate Unit back

in 1987. I am also a co-founder of the Los Angeles County Financial Abuse Specialist Team, and co-authored, along with Los Angeles attorney Marc Hankin and my former partner Dave Harned,

California Senate Bill 1742, enacted in January 2001, which enables investigators to secure the assets of vulnerable elder and dependent adults during the course of a criminal investigation in

order to prevent further losses. I have remained active in this field

as a consultant and instructor, and currently on the Board of Directors for the National Committee for the Prevention of Elder

Abuse here in Washington, DC.

Ever since vulnerable elders and dependent adults have had assets, there have been individuals to financially exploit them. Our

elders are the fastest-growing segment of our society, and they are

also the financial backbone of our country’s economy. They are living longer. I should say ‘‘we’’ are living longer, and saving more

than ever before. But we as a society do not always recognize this

population as being at risk. There are a number of circumstances

that put an elderly person at risk. There are physical and mental

health issues such as stroke, Alzheimer’s, depression, isolationism

and other causes still exist in spite of our best efforts to protect our

seniors.

Throughout my 15 years in working elder abuse cases, there has

been a common theme. The victims generally live alone, may be in

poor health, and in 95 percent of our cases, suffer from diminished

mental capacity. These conditions make them at risk to exploitation through undue influence or duress. They are easily swayed

and are likely to place their entire estate in the control of befriending suspects.

It was not until medical experts such as Dr. Margaret Singer of

Berkeley, CA shed light in the phenomenon of undue influence

were we able to begin to understand how this all happens. Undue

influence is when people use their role in power to exploit the

trust, dependency and fears of an individual to gain control over

the decisionmaking of that person. Training from medical experts

in the field of undue influence is paramount for investigators of

elder abuse cases.

The most common suspects I have come across have been family

members, in-home care providers, friends and neighbors, but anyone in a position of trust who can exert undue influence over a vulnerable person. It may be a fellow church member, attorneys, accountants, befriending strangers, ex-con caretakers and predators

who specifically target the elderly. It is troubling to conclude that

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if there is an endless list of silent culprits. There is also an endless

list of silent victims.

The suspects often isolate and/or will relocate the victim in order

to obtain complete control. The suspects then create what my

former partner, Dave Harned, and I refer as a civil mirage, by coercing the victims into signing powers-of-attorneys, contracts, quitclaim deeds, wills, living trusts, and adding their names onto the

victims’ bank accounts and obtaining numerous credit cards under

the victim’s name. In some cases the suspects marry the vulnerable

elder as another means of obtaining total control of their estate

through community property.

Once in so-called legal control of the estate, the suspects operate

as though they have a license to steal. They withdraw the victim’s

life savings, obtain loans on the property, making it subject to foreclosure, and max out the credit cards. They may even file bankruptcy to conceal the theft.

Ultimately, the elder becomes a double victim, first, by not having the benefit of their assets which were depleted by the suspect,

and second, the victim is responsible for any accumulated debt and

tax penalties.

Most people who discover or suspect these matters, and that includes social workers, law enforcement and prosecutors, often do

not have the training or experience in gathering evidence to support the allegation. They too often assume that the documents

show the suspect had legal access to the elder’s estate. For these

reasons many reporting person are automatically misinformed by

authorities that it is a civil matter, when in fact they are hidden

and silent crimes. It is imperative that anyone in the position or

recognizing elder abuse or exploitation be given specific training so

they can adequately protect our vulnerable population.

Due to the victim’s age and poor health and the suspects’ ability

to quickly deplete the estate, timely preliminary investigations and

court proceedings are extremely critical. Unlike other financial

crime victims, these victims are not able to financially, and many

times emotionally, recover. As a result of being swindled, the victim may go into depression and ultimately suffer from a condition

known as self neglect. They start out as productive, self-sufficient

citizens and ultimately end up relying on government and/or family

aid for the rest of their lives. Financial abuse is also related to

more elder homicides and suicides.

Our mission at LAPD was to network with multiple government

and private organizations in order to maximize resources and utilize experts from different fields in an effort to pro-actively put a

halt to the exploitation, while at the same time address the elders’

long-term needs to prevent them from falling victim again.

From 1987 through 1999, along with members from the Los Angeles County Area Agency on Aging Financial Abuse Specialist

Team or FAST, our unit prevented the loss of and/or recovered over

$91 million in victims’ assets, which includes homes, vehicles and

life savings. This figure only reflects LAPD cases. It does not include the millions of losses prevented or recovered while networking with law enforcement agencies across the country. The LA

FAST team was the first in the country, established in 1993 and

is coordinated by WISE Senior Services in Santa Monica, CA.

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With the growing elder/dependent adult population, the abuse of

this vulnerable population will continue to be a growing problem

and major concern for social workers, law enforcement, prosecutors,

financial institutions and health care providers.

There is a nationwide lack of training, expertise and resources to

properly investigate, prosecute and litigate these cases. For example, most states lack legislation to address consent by victims who

may be subject to undue influence or duress.

It is imperative that such matters involving victims suffering

from dementia, subject to undue influence or duress be handled

with the same attention, sensitivity and resources given to juvenile

and domestic violence crime victims.

This hearing, Mr. Chairman, it is a very important step to protect and serve those who have taken care of us, and I thank you

for having me here today, sir.

[The prepared statement of Mr. Reyes follows:]

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The CHAIRMAN. Thank you very much, Mr. Reyes.

We now will conclude and very honored to have the Attorney

General of the State of Delaware with us, whose office did such

good work on behalf of our first witness, Ms. Gingerich, when she

testified, Ms. Jane Brady, Ms. Attorney General.

STATEMENT OF JANE BRADY, ATTORNEY GENERAL, STATE OF

DELAWARE, WILMINGTON, DE

Ms. BRADY. Thank you, sir, and thank you for hosting this event

and this hearing and for looking at this issue.

It is a very, very secret and private crime that occurs, and we

are glad to help shed some light on it. I do serve as the Attorney

General of Delaware, and Delaware is one of three states in the

country where the Attorney General is also the DA, so I actually

handle the cases within my office of criminal acts against the seniors.

This issue is a personal one for me. I moved in to help my grandmother for a few days when my grandfather died, and ended up

staying 7 years and caring for her until just a few months before

her death, and in that time we were the victims of a not-leaky-roof

fix by some people who were Traveler scam artists while I was at

work one day.

She developed Alzheimer’s and I understood what it meant to

lose confidence in your capacity to manage your affairs, and she

lost a son, and I understood what it meant to be isolated emotionally for her, and to try and help her with those things. So I think

I have an appreciation personally of some of the issues our seniors

face.

Every state has a Medicaid Fraud Control Unit that has responsibility, in addition to any Medicaid fraud, to investigating patient

abuse and neglect, and so we actually have some resources in the

states to look at people who are residents in facilities receiving

Medicare funds, but there really is no dedicated resource for the investigation, detection and prosecution of crimes against seniors

who live in the community. One of the first things I did when I became Attorney General was seek Victim of Crime Act money,

VOCA funds, to help hire Mr. Johnson, about whom you have

heard and two others, into my office to investigate and work as a

liaison with law enforcement for crimes against seniors. I have to

say that I was not involved in Ms Gingerich’s case during the time

that it was pending, I was made aware of it after it had been resolved, but the program worked exactly as I had hoped, because we

had a trained and dedicated law enforcement professional, and the

people I hired into this job were retired police officers to liaison

with the police. Mr. Johnson had worked at Troop 3, which is why

when he made the phone call, Troop 3 came out to Ms. Gingerich’s

home.

They liaison with law enforcement. They make sure they know

about the social service agencies that are available and they coordinate the delivery of services on a very comprehensive basis to the

seniors who are victims of crime in the community.

With regard to financial exploitation, that most often happens in

the community, and some of the stories you have heard today are

unfortunately played out over and over in our country, day after

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day. Particularly, you saw the emotion during the press conference

and during some of this testimony. That is because the people who

victimize seniors in financial exploitation most largely either have

a long-term relationship or have developed a relationship of trust

that is breached. They question their judgment. They worry for

fear of reporting it that they will lose confidence of their other family members in their ability to manage their affairs. They worry

that they will be taken from their home and placed in a facility if

they report the crime, and there are huge emotional issues tied to

financial exploitation for the victims of those crimes that we cannot

underestimate because it is part of the reason that you only see 16

percent of them, because people are embarrassed and they are

afraid they will lose their independence if they report them.

Let me talk about the police officer’s response, or law enforcement responding. One of the problems is—and Chayo touched on

this a little bit—is that in most cases involving dispute over who

owns a piece of property, who had the right to write a check, who

has the right to exercise the power of attorney and under what circumstances, most of the kinds of cases involving financial exploitation, whether there is rent owed, are related to matters that between any two other parties would be referred to a civil court. So

it takes the training and attention to those specific facts relative

to the financial exploitation of the elderly to take it out of the context out of if it were anyone else and put it into the context of the

reality, that it is not just anyone else. It is someone with whom a

person had responsibility, who had entrusted responsibility in care

of their resources and assets. So it is one of the reasons law enforcement I think has been reluctant historically to become involved.

I appreciate the opportunity also to talk about some of the things

that we either can do or have done in Delaware, and we have not

done everything, believe me, but we have worked really hard on

this issue, because as I said, it is personal to me.

I have brought a number of materials that are outside. Some of

the brochures that we have developed to help with public education

on financial abuse of the elderly, investment scams. We hold consumer universities and investment education seminars. We have

developed a program for volunteer senior advocates. I handled a

rape case in 1979 involving a 73-year-old rape victim, who said to

me, when I told her I understood something about her story, said,

‘‘You know, you are a very nice young lady, but you have no idea

what I am going through.’’ I brought senior peer advocates

trained—we specially train them to work with seniors who are victims. They go out with Mr. Johnson and his peers into the community to the interviews. They are somebody that provides a little

extra phone contact, sits with and accompanies these victims to

court to make them feel more comfortable, one way to expand our

resources without costing a lot of money.

The other is we have a senior volunteer program. We are replicating one that Joe Hynes, the DA in Brooklyn has, where he has

retired senior attorneys take the cases at the Grand Jury level for

senior victims of crime, and provide extras services and a little better understanding for them of what the process is.

44

We have put together a Senior Victim Task Force and brought

everything from Meals on Wheels, who are great eyes and ears in

the community on what is happening in the homes of seniors who

are victims of crime, to the government agencies like Adult Protective Services, Division of Aging, the bank commissioner, private

nonprofits that work for seniors, ER physicians, and put them all

at the same table. We are developing a report. Law enforcement

developed a model policy on how to respond to crimes involving

seniors in their communities.

Delaware has been fortunate. We have actually the Clearinghouse for the Abuse and Neglect of the Elderly for the country located at the University of Delaware. Karen Stein runs that, and it

is a resource of information. They responded to nearly 300 inquiries last year for resources, journals and documents and things that

have been done or relating to information about the abuse and the

neglect of the elderly, which I think would be a great compliment

to what you are doing with the training information, the training

resources you want to provide.

We also have adopted some good laws that help us, and we have

revamped our home improvement laws and some of our mortgage

laws, and our door-to-door sales laws and our charitable solicitation

laws, to make them better. We have provided enhanced penalties

for crimes when seniors are the victims of those offenses. We have,

I think, one of the few laws in the country relating to emotional

abuse of seniors and infirm adults, and we have a law that allows

a hearsay exception in proving cases in court for seniors and infirm

adults, also dealing with the mentally disabled. We have actually

had one case where the victim never went to the courthouse, and

we got a conviction.

So those are the kinds of things we are doing. I think that this

is the most secret of crimes, as I said, the kind of physical violence

that occurs in the homes of some of these seniors is the most secret

kind and hidden kind of domestic violence that there is.

I appreciate the opportunity and the wonderful work that this

committee has undertaken to try and help raise the national

awareness, the professional expertise, and the integrity with which

we look at these cases.

[The prepared statement of Ms. Brady follows:]

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The CHAIRMAN. Well, thank you, Madam Attorney General, and

obviously, Delaware is a real leader in this effort through your efforts, and we congratulate you for what you have done.

I think that I want to particularly thank every one of the members of the panel who have been with us all afternoon, and many

have come from long distances to present their stories. I think that

what we have heard today, that a crime can be committed with a

pencil as well as with a gun. It depends on the type of activity, but

it is still a crime, whether it is with a pencil or a gun or by some

other type of scam that is perpetrated on people who are very vulnerable.

Ms. Gingerich, yours was a roof. How did you figure out that

something was wrong, that these people were not really honest,

what they were doing to you?

Ms. GINGERICH. Well, I do not know. I did not really figure it out.

I just—well, it was a lot of money and I just did not say anything

to my kids and my husband. I was talking with my sister, that is

when it all started.

The CHAIRMAN. I guess because of the efforts of the Delaware Attorney General’s Office, I forgot—were these people prosecuted, or

they gave you your money back?

Ms. GINGERICH. Yes.

The CHAIRMAN. Do you know if they were prosecuted, Ms. Brady,

do you know, Attorney General?

Ms. BRADY. They paid her back everything including no compensation for the work they had done, in lieu of prosecution in this

particular case. One of them was, however, arrested and taken into

custody because he was wanted out of the State of Florida for other

crimes.

The CHAIRMAN. Were they part of a pattern? This was not their

first effort in this type of endeavor I take it?

Ms. BRADY. No. We do see them come through. As I say in 1977,

1978 my grandmother was the victim of the same kind of thing, a

roof, tar on the roof, not driveway sealer that time, but just goop

on the roof.

The CHAIRMAN. Well, Ms. Gingerich, we thank you very much.

Do not feel bad about what happened to you. I mean do not blame

yourself, because there are specialists out there that try to do that

to an awful lot of people in your situation, so you should not feel

bad. They were real professionals in what they were trying to do.

Mr. Blevins, your story, thank goodness you were there for your

72-year-old cousin. I was really interested. Was there no other family there; I guess you were sort of it, or was not in a position to

help or did not?

Mr. BLEVINS. Vaughan’s parents died in the late 1980’s about 9

months apart, and we check on Vaughan. You have to remember

he and his family was a very private, reclusive family and people

that lived in a remote area, somewhat remote area of Fairfax

County, a rural area. We checked on him from time to time, and

to be honest, I feel terrible that I did not get an eye awakener at

some point in time earlier.

The CHAIRMAN. I think the most astounding thing that I got from

your testimony, that when you first went to, I guess, the local poVerDate 11-MAY-2000 11:55 Sep 26, 2002 Jkt 000000 PO 00000 Frm 00051 Fmt 6633 Sfmt 6633 C:\DOCS\80873.TXT SAGING1 PsN: SAGING1
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lice I guess in Fairfax County, that someone said to you, in essence, that it was not a crime for people to give their money away.

Mr. BLEVINS. That is exactly what I was told. I just could not believe what I was hearing, to be honest about it.

The CHAIRMAN. You were talking about the information that we

need to get out there, and the training that we need to get to law

enforcement officials. It is not a crime to give your money away,

but if you are scammed out of it, it is a crime, and it is just like

if you had a gun pointed at you, what they were doing to—Mr.

Henderson was doing to your cousin.

Mr. BLEVINS. We are talking about a person here with diminished capacity, who cannot reason with that particular line of

thinking anyway. That logic means nothing to him or her.

I would like to point out that in the past Mr. Henderson has run

his various scams, et cetera. He took advantage of lawyers in the

past. Two sitting judges in Northern Virginia were duped by Mr.

Henderson in the past.

The CHAIRMAN. Henderson must have been quite a character. He

was a real pro, was he not, at this?

Mr. BLEVINS. We are talking, and two members of a local city

council, and I think a vice mayor, and members of a historical society. So when you look at that, the people, with elderly and the people with diminished capacity, did they really stand a chance with

Mr. Larry Henderson?

The CHAIRMAN. What did he pose as? What was his come-on to

your cousin and others?

Mr. BLEVINS. He developed a friendship with my cousin in the

local—I have several eyewitness accounts and written accounts,

where he would have these little coffee circles like at McDonald’s

or a drugstore, a little dairy bar or something of that nature, little

meeting at hardware stores. There was 5. He got victims at every

one of them.

The CHAIRMAN. But he was not trying to sell anything to them.

He was just becoming a friend and then getting money from them.

Mr. BLEVINS. Isolating, studying his victim, and then he would

maybe pick a victim out. Maybe he would not even cozy up to them

at that point in time. Then he would find out where they live or

reside or whatever. Then he would often go door-to-door and solicit

his home improvement services. This was his usually main avenue

to these people.

The CHAIRMAN. Was that what he did to your cousin? Did he try

to sell him services or what?

Mr. BLEVINS. He did solicit, I was told one time, at his residence

for home improvement repairs, yes.

The CHAIRMAN. Well, thank you very much for telling us his

story.

Mr. Graham, as I said, the work that you did, the congratulations for performing the services that you did. I mean the conditions that that 81-year-old women was required to live in are just

almost unbelievable. You think about something like that happening in America, you cannot imagine it happening anywhere in the

world, but particularly in our country, that that was something

that was so shocking. I mean the daughter, what was her problem?

Was this woman a person who had any sense of being a human?

49

Mr. GRAHAM. She did. She said that is the way her mother wanted to live.

The CHAIRMAN. Was she determined to be capable mentally to

stand trial? Did she know what she was doing?

Mr. GRAHAM. She was found competent to stand trial, and a

week ago a jury convicted her of both counts, criminal mistreatment and abandonment of a dependent adult. She awaits sentencing at the end of this month.

The CHAIRMAN. Just out of curiosity, it sounds like a very technical thing, statute that she was tried under, criminal mistreatment of a dependent person and abandonment of a dependent person. To me it looked like this was a crime as violent as anything

you can imagine. What is the potential sentencing for this? Is this

a felony?

Mr. GRAHAM. It is a felony. It is a low-grade felony. Sadly, the

standard sentencing range for this is 12 to 14 months.

The CHAIRMAN. This woman was killing that woman just as if

she had taken a pistol and shot her, but it was probably much

worse because it was gradual.

Mr. GRAHAM. We believe that she was trying to crawl out of

there, and that is when the fall took place. Had that not happened,

she most likely would have died in that residence.

The CHAIRMAN. How old was the daughter?

Mr. GRAHAM. 42-years-old, sir.

The CHAIRMAN. Did she have a family?

Mr. GRAHAM. She has a daughter and grandchildren of her own,

and there were 3 adult male sons of the victim, who have moved

out of the area. No one else in the family has had contact with the

victim in years.

The CHAIRMAN. That is, I mean we have had some tragic stories,

and this is right up there with absolutely the worst that I have

ever heard. It just shows you that this is, as I think Madam Attorney General mentioned in her statement early on, a silent crime

in many cases.

Mr. GRAHAM. Right under our noses.

The CHAIRMAN. How long had this been going on, maybe not to

that extent; how long had this problem been in the condition that

you found it in?

Mr. GRAHAM. In talking to neighbors and canvassing the neighborhood, nobody around her had seen or heard of her in years.

The CHAIRMAN. Even next-door neighbors?

Mr. GRAHAM. Even the next-door neighbor. A gentleman across

the street had indicated to us that he could not remember ever seeing a light on in this house.

The CHAIRMAN. Well, this is just a horrible, horrible story, but

the committee thanks you very much, Detective, for coming and

sharing it, because it is only by making these type of silent crimes,

if you will, public can we get the Congress and all of us to be involved in trying to find a solution. One of the press questions was

why has it taken so long? I do not really have a good answer for

that, but perhaps the public has not understood it. To the extent

that we are now understanding it in the year 2002 and your story,

and all of your stories certainly have contributed to making that

case, as to the necessity of doing something about this. I mean we

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are very glad that you all were informed and took action. Twothousand offenses you said reported?

Mr. GRAHAM. Yes, sir.

The CHAIRMAN. Against elderly?

Mr. GRAHAM. Against people aged 63 and older.

The CHAIRMAN. That is just in Tacoma?

Mr. GRAHAM. That is just our city.

The CHAIRMAN. All right, Mr. White. We are glad to have you

here. What is, if you can tell me, what are the Travelers? You used

the term ‘‘Travelers.’’ What does that refer to?

Mr. WHITE. Well, what they are is they are American Gypsy, a

lot of them. You have got some clans that are Scottish, and then

you have got some of your Irish Travelers, and then you have got

your regular American Travelers, and they just live here in the

United States and travel around the United States.

The CHAIRMAN. I said in my opening statement that we are not

trying to indict all Travelers or Roamers or whatever term we use,

but is there a large percentage of Travelers, in your opinion, that

are engaged in the type of activities that you described?

Mr. WHITE. Why sure, there are thousands, I would say probably

around 50,000.

The CHAIRMAN. Of the ones that you knew, what percentage of

them were engaged in the type of activities that you talked about,

all of them, half of them?

Mr. WHITE. A good half of them.

The CHAIRMAN. This is all you ever learned, was it not?

Mr. WHITE. Yes. Ever since I was a little kid, I have seen it all.

I was brought up into it.

The CHAIRMAN. Where did you learn it from?

Mr. WHITE. From my family mostly, my uncles, father, and cousins.

The CHAIRMAN. Are you the first one in your family to be convicted of this type of activity?

Mr. WHITE. Yes.

The CHAIRMAN. Are the rest of the ones that you associated with

still doing their work?

Mr. WHITE. Yes, pretty much so. There are a lot of them, they

got real businesses now that they work at, and then in the wintertime they take off and go out and do their scamming in home and

repair work.

The CHAIRMAN. Is there any type of activity that is done more

than other type of activities? Is it repair work, I mean is that the

basic?

Mr. WHITE. Yes. Repair work is mostly what is done. Usually the

roof, a lot of them, they like to do roof work, driveways. But the

roofing and the driveways is probably the biggest part of their

scams.

The CHAIRMAN. Did you all do enough to make it look like it was

a normal job, or you just got the money and took off?

Mr. WHITE. Well, we would do enough on a job, and we kind of

played a role like you were playing in a movie or something. You

know, everybody had their own little part. You had your guy up on

the roof. You had the guy inside the house, talking to the elderly,

finding out what he could in information, and find out where the

51

family was at, find out about how well they were financially wise.

Then they would go ahead and go in there and charge a big

amount of money, sometimes 4 or $5,000, and if they had seen that

the money was easy to get in these cases down here, well, then

they would go back. Well, that is too good to pass up. They would

go back again and do it again. Then if it was really good that time,

well, then they might start buddying up and being friendly and

taking them out to eat, and the next thing you know, they are signing over houses and putting their name on accounts.

The CHAIRMAN. You were convicted of what, Mr. White?

Mr. WHITE. I was convicted of grand theft. What my charge was,

I was doing pest control work, and what I was doing is I was

knocking on the doors, getting the elderly to the door and explaining to them that they had shingles out and they need to get them

put in, and I had shingles that I could put in there if they would

want it done. I would do it for free. I was around the corner putting

on a new roof, and I was just finishing up, and if they wanted it,

well, I would do it for free.

The CHAIRMAN. You never finished high school?

Mr. WHITE. No, sir.

The CHAIRMAN. You ever went to grammar school?

Mr. WHITE. No, sir.

The CHAIRMAN. In a way you are a victim, are you not?

Mr. WHITE. Well, yeah, you might put it that way.

The CHAIRMAN. Well, we appreciate you being here. I mean obviously you have done a great deal of damage to a large number of

people, but hopefully your story can help enlighten a lot of people

about the problems that are out there and for that we thank you

for being with us.

Mr. Reyes, I was interested in one of your comments about some

of the law enforcement think that this is a civil matter, and the

State’s Attorney General also spoke to that same problem. Like I

said it is theft with a pencil, but just as violent as a theft—I mean

theft with a pencil is just as violent as theft with a gun. But a lot

of people think that well it is just a civil matter because they did

not use a pistol. This is sort of a scam, but it is not a crime, and

go sue them for it. Is that—I guess that in itself is a problem because a lot of law enforcement people do not want to get involved.

Mr. REYES. It is true. Part of the problem is the way we are all

trained because some of the elements of theft is to permanently deprive. Well, how do you permanently deprive when you have documents that show the suspect has legal access to everything, you

see? The other part is, then who do we have to report the crime?

Any of us in here, when we are victimized of a theft, we can report

the elements regarding it, but what has been discussed here is we

are talking about vulnerable elders or dependent adults, where because their own financial situation, house situation, their living

conditions, well, they become vulnerable, and the suspects take the

time to give that extra attention to them to explore, to find out

what that situation is, the way Mr. White explained here, and use

it to their advantage, and that is when they start finding out the

likes, dislikes and start tapping into their heart, their feelings. The

devastating side effect of this, Senator, Mr. Chairman, is that it is

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ship that is established in some of these cases, they feel as if it was

their own daughter or son, someone that close that committed the

theft from them.

The CHAIRMAN. It is a personal thing as well.

Mr. REYES. Pardon me, sir?

The CHAIRMAN. It is a personal involvement that causes problems in addition just to the loss of the money.

Mr. REYES. Right. So along with the pencil part, it is who has

that pencil versus the gun? It is someone that they have that close

relationship with.

We have one suspect who was Hispanic and he was Catholic, and

he got so close to his mark, his victim, that he changed faiths. He

changed his last name, and became Jewish. He would accompany

the victim to the synagogue for services, everything, and then hit

him hard, hit him hard financially, and that was very devastating

for the victim.

The CHAIRMAN. You really make the point very well. I kept saying to Ms. Gingerich, do not feel bad about being a victim because

there are literally thousands of people. I think people are sort of

embarrassed by feeling that someone has scammed them out of

perhaps their life savings, and they hesitate to report it, and they

just say, you know, I should not have been that dumb, when they

really were not, because they were being taken advantage of by a

professional who in many cases, like this Mr. Henderson, was very

good at what he did.

Madam Attorney General, I guess the question for you, we talked

about trying to outline what our legislation, the Elder Justice Act

of 2002 was going to do, was to try to put into the Health and

Human Services Administration and within the Department of Justice agencies that would be directing their activities at elder abuse,

and one from the standpoint of defining it and from a health standpoint in the Health Department and the other from a prosecution

standpoint in the Department of Justice. Do you think there is a

legitimate role? Can you maybe comment on that, for Federal Government to play, or do we just let the states do it on their own?

Ms. BRADY. Well, I have to say that I generally believe that prosecution of crime belongs with the local jurisdictions, and firmly

committed to that principle.

I do believe that historically and also approximately, the Federal

Government has a role with regard to research and development,

technology support, training support, and in those roles I see the

Federal Government as having a very legitimate and important

role that it could play.

I think that while I was able to get VOCA funds and made that

a priority for me in developing the Elder Abuse and Exploitation

Project within my office, there are many DA’s offices that do not

have access to as much of the VOCA money as I do because I am

a statewide jurisdictional office and they are local county jurisdictional offices. So I think providing training through, even through

the NDAA and the American Prosecutors Research Institute would

be a wonderful way to assure that they get trained.

I think too that there is a good avenue for training for law enforcement, and we have talked about that, but I do not think you

can leave the prosecutors out of it. It is important that they have

53

an understanding of the special emotional needs of these particular

victims. The proof issues with regard to their ability to recall and

relate events. We often, in a case involving a very elderly individual who is not mentally capable and may be incompetent to testify

as a witness, have to evaluate the case much like we would a very

young child who has never learned to speak, in terms of what we

can prove, whether we can prove the elements, how we can use creativity to establish the elements of the crime, and portray a sense

of the loss of the victim without the victim necessarily being a participant in the case.

The CHAIRMAN. Well, that is exactly what we are envisioning,

not to have Federal prosecution, but maybe a Federal information

library and technical resources and training, so that people out

there will know exactly what we are tackling here and what the

challenge is and not to take over the prosecutions, but in order to

better allow information to flow and funds to flow to the local jurisdictions to take whatever steps are necessary.

I want to thank each and every one of you individually for being

with us. Each one of you has made a unique and I think a very,

very special contribution to this panel this afternoon. I want to

thank the U.S. Marshals for their cooperation in providing Mr.

White being with us, and for his statement as well. But each one

of you had a very unique perspective on this and you have really

clearly told a story, and that story needs to be heard by everyone

in this country, and certainly everyone in this Congress in order to

do more than just have another hearing.

I pledge my total support to getting this done and not just having

another hearing for the sake of a hearing, and you all can know

that you all have made a major contribution in helping us reach

that goal.

With that, this committee will stand adjourned.

[Whereupon, at 3:46 p.m., the committee was adjourned.]

(55)

1Source‘ ‘‘Criminal and Consumer Fraud Activity of Nomadic Groups,’’ South Carolina Department of Public Safety Booklet, April 1995. 2 Chicago Tribune Tempo, ‘‘The highway is their home,’’ March 17, 2000. 3Source: John Nicholas, Jr., Special Deputy U.S. Marshal, Court Security Officer, U.S. Marshal’s Service, Los Angeles, CA.

A P P E N D I X

STATEMENT OF THOMAS W. RICHARDSON, ACTING DEPUTY ASSISTANT DIRECTOR

FEDERAL BUREAU OF INVESTIGATION

Good Morning Mr. Chairman and Members on the Committee of Aging. I am

pleased to appear today on behalf of the Federal Bureau of Investigation and share

with your committee a brief overview of what are referred to as ‘‘transient’’ or ‘‘nomadic’’ criminals. The two groups that your committee especially requested be addressed are the ‘‘Travelers’’ and the ‘‘Gypsies.’’

First of all, I would be remiss if I did not stress from the onset that there are

no law enforcement agencies alleging or implying that all or even a majority of

either of these groups are criminals. Historically both groups have endured centuries of prejudices and persecution. In fact, the Gypsy race was targeted by Adolph

Hitler for genocide. However, there are criminal enterprises have a preference for

certain types of criminal activities. The criminal elements within the traveler groups

and Gypsy groups participate in a variety of fraudulent schemes to include ones

that target the elderly.

The information I am providing was developed through a review of FBI investigative efforts, queries of other law enforcement agencies and from insurance investigators. Most of the FBI’s investigative efforts concerning this crime problem has relied

heavily on assistance from other law enforcement officials, particularly local and

state, who have more extensive experience in crimes involving members of these

transient criminal enterprises.

The Travelers are an ethnic group whereas the United Nations recognizes the

Gypsies as a race. The Travelers consists of three subgroups, the English Travelers,

the Scottish Travelers and the Irish Travelers.1

Although, one Chicago tribune article alluded to a fourth group called Welsh

Travelers.2

The majority of the traveler groups migrated to the United States in the mid to

late 19th Century from the British Isles and are labeled according to ethnic background.

The Gypsies have two subgroups, both of which operate in the United States.

These are the American Gypsies, the majority of whom immigrated to the United

States in the late 18 hundreds, and the European Gypsies, who have been in North

America for 30 years or less. The 1984 changes in the Canadian Refugee program

resulted in an influx of Gypsies through Canada, particularly from Poland and

Yugoslavia. The Anglicized pronunciations of the more accurate terms for Gypsies

are ‘‘Rahm,’’ spelled ‘‘R-O-M’’ or ‘‘Rahma,’’ spelled ‘‘R-O-M-A.’’ We were advised by

a law enforcement officer, who is a Gypsy, that the term ‘‘ROM’’ is singular (usually

for a male) and Roma is plural.3

However, among the law enforcement community the terms are becoming interchangeable. Consequently, I will refer to this group as either Rom or Gypsies.

The Rom are believed to have originated in the Punjab Region of Northern India

and then migrated to Europe beginning in the 14th Century. It is also thought they

migrated through Egypt and, as a consequence, may have been called Gypsies as

a form of the word ‘‘Egyptian.’’

It is unknown how many Travelers and Rom are in the United States. Estimates

for the Travelers range from 7,000 to as high as 50,000, depending on the source.

The estimate for the Rom living in the Untied States is about 500,000, but there

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was also one estimate claiming the number could be as high as 1,000,000. There

is no accurate census data available so these figures are basically educated guesses.

Some anthropologists believe that the English and Scottish Travelers may have

Rom ancestors due to the slightly darker features of some members. The Rom were

known to have traveled and settled in these regions several centuries ago. In fact,

some the earliest Rom to migrate to America were those deported in the early 1700s

from Scotland to Virginia. The Irish Travelers, on the other hand, may have predated the celts and are not believed to have evolved from any Rom migration into

Ireland.

The Travelers and Gypsies have similar cultural practices for example: both maintain a ‘‘closed society’’ wherein the family and group rules are more important than

laws of the jurisdiction in which they live.

Both have nomadic lifestyles. Most Travelers essentially are migrant workers who

travel throughout the United States performing tasks such as painting, roofing,

pressure-washing and home repair work. Many traveler groups have permanent

residences, such as Murphy village in North Augusta, SC, but will spend between

40 and 70 percent of the time on the road. The traveler groups favor rural America

for both legitimate and illegitimate work. The American Rom tend to live in or near

the big cities. European Rom, many of whom are here illegally, are usually nomadic,

but also favor the larger cities to travel to. Welfare and relief programs of the 1930s

are believed to have been responsible for the American Rom establishing permanent

residences in metropolitan areas. Additionally, it is easier for the Rom to blend into

larger cities where there is cultural, ethnic and racial diversity.

Both groups tend to marry within their own culture to include through arranged

marriages. Many of the Rom women get married between the ages of 12 and 16.

The Travelers and the Rom have a distinct language or dialect unique to each

subgroup. The Gypsy language is often referred to as ‘‘Romany.’’ The Travelers have

more Gaelic oriented dialects with a mixture of English and possibly some

bastardized romany. The Travelers dialects are referred to as ‘‘cant,’’ ‘‘gammon’’ and ‘‘shelta.’’ These transient cultures have patriarchal family structure with a male serving

the head of each family or extended family.

The family livelihood of these groups, to include criminal activity, is passed down

among family members.

The traveler children usually attend school for some of their early life, but seldom

go beyond the high school level. The Rom, particularly the European Rom, tend to

have little formal education.

Those criminal enterprises within the various traveler and Gypsy groups participate in similar illegal activities which fall into, more or less, the categories of insurance fraud, burglary (and theft), and the one most applicable to the elderly, consumer fraud. Both groups typically avoid violence or the threat of violence.

The goal of the insurance frauds and consumer frauds is usually to ‘‘con’’ rather

than use a ‘‘strong arm’’ tactic. Both groups are aware that consumer frauds are

not often a law enforcement priority, which reduces their risks of prosecution unless

they aggravate a ‘‘con’’ with the use of violence or threats, or get too greedy. Related

illegal activities that furthers the theft and fraud schemes include:

Tax evasion. Travelers view themselves as U.S. citizens and many file tax returns,

but usually understate their income. As a rule, the Rom do not consider themselves

U.S. citizens and usually do not file taxes. Many of the Rom do not have legitimate

social security numbers. Both groups prefer cash payments for their work, which facilitates the tax evasion. Many of the Rom groups, particularly the European Rom,

do not maintain accurate records of births, marriages and deaths. They also avoid

census efforts. Consequently, the transient nature and lack of accurate identification

makes tracking of the suspected criminal elements of these groups all the more difficult.

Both groups make use of fraudulent documents to include false identifications, Social Security numbers, date of births, business permits and so forth. The Travelers

are known to practice identity theft to both elude police and effect other crimes.

The Rom are known to use bribery of law enforcement officials to assist in getting

cases dismissed or in learning of existing investigations.

Travelers have impersonated government officials, such as posing as IRS agents

to collect ‘‘taxes’’ in cash.

Many European Rom as either illegal aliens and/or assist in smuggling other Rom

into the United States, particularly from Canada.

A known traveler scheme is to sell inferior products, such as travel trailers, at

inflated prices with fraudulent bills of sale. This was particularly lucrative in the

1980s among the English and Scottish Travelers and appears now to be making a

comeback.

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The Travelers are suspected of various forms of financial institution frauds to assist in other schemes, such as setting up accounts with phony names and/or addresses on a short term basis.

The Rom are particularly adept at working as police informants in order to eliminate competition. For example, they may provide information on illegal fortuneteller

activities of persons that have moved into their ‘‘turf.’’ The insurance frauds typically are for staged accidents, false claims for weather

damage to vehicles and trailers, and ‘‘slip and fall’’ scams. With respect to crimes involving the elderly. Older Americans are often targeted

because they are vulnerable. The Travelers and Rom use salesmanship and pressure

tactics to take advantage, particularly if it appears the victims suffer from any form

of diminished capacity due to aging, senility or related ailments. Often the elderly

do not know they have been swindled or are too embarrassed to report it. The uniform crime report does not have a vehicle in place to capture victims age date (except for murders), so it is unknown the percentage of elderly that comprise that portion of the population who are the victims of various consumer frauds. The primary

crimes employed by the Travelers and Rom against the elderly include:

Home repair scams wherein the transient criminals will use a variety of methods

to approach the elderly and offer to make certain repairs or provide certain services.

Home repair scams usually involve, painting, roofing, driveway projects, sealant

type work, pest extermination or tree pruning. The work and/or materials used are

inferior, or the work is not performed at all. If the victim seems particularly gullible,

then the scam may continue over a period of time with claims of additional costs,

telling the victim they need to collect taxes for the work, and so forth.

Burglary is a common offense. Often the burglaries occur during home repair

projects or by distracting the homeowner. The Rom will use Women and Children

to gain access to a home through a ruse. The Women will distract the homeowner

while other women and/or the children steal cash and jewelry. That is, they steal

harder to trace items and usually try to leave the home undisturbed so that it may

take a while for the victims to know they have been robbed.

Fortuneteller scams (now referred to as ‘‘psychic readings’’) are commonly used

against the elderly. The Rom manipulate clients, often by preying on any superstitions they may have. The concern over ‘‘evil spirits’’ is a prevalent theme among

Gypsy fortunetellers. One scam is for the fortuneteller to ask for ‘‘clean’’ money to

burn in a handkerchief and then through sleight of hand, substitute the original

handkerchief and money for an identical handkerchief and paper. These are the

easiest scams in many respects since the victim usually seeks out the psychic reader. In other words, the victim is predisposed to become a victim. There were reports

of losses to single individuals in a Los Angeles case of nearly $500,000 and in

Deland, FL of $350,000.

Sweetheart swindles are a growing Rom favorite wherein young female Gypsies

manipulate elderly men into providing money, extravagant gifts, access to bank accounts and so forth. These are difficult crimes to prosecute due to the victim frequently being ‘‘willing’’ participant. Law enforcement often has to be creative to find

a prosecutive strategy.

In respect to FBI cases and initiatives, there is no specific initiative or agenda

targeting the transient criminals within the FBI. There have been cases opened

against group members and there have been successful prosecutions for a variety

of offenses. A New Orleans case resulted in the prosecution of two Irish Travelers,

a third member is a fugitive, for the type of home repair fraud against the elderly.

The Columbia, SC, office prosecuted seven members of the Irish Travelers for various insurance related fraud schemes. The Oklahoma City office helped in the prosecution of English Travelers who not only did a home repair scam, but later posed

as IRS agents to obtain an additional $14,000 from the same elderly victims. The

Newark office helped prosecute a Rom leader for attempting to bribe a police official.

The Detroit FBI prosecuted a police officer and members of a Gypsy group for corruption and bribery. This particular Detroit case also helped solve a buffalo, New

York, home burglary investigation with losses in excess of $400,000. The FBI had

had recent cases in Omaha, Pittsburgh, Miami, Oklahoma City and several other

cities. However, usually these types of FBI cases are in the smaller offices of within

smaller resident agencies. Generally, FBI offices do not have the resources to pursue

these scams and often do not have federal jurisdiction.

The criminal elements of these groups are without a doubt a type of organized

criminal enterprise usually comprised of family members related by blood and/or

marriage. However, they are not typically targeted as organized crime by federal authorities. The overall losses to consumers are often very significant but the individual losses, with some exceptions, are comparatively small, and usually there is no

violence. Consequently, the resources within the federal law enforcement community

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are most often devoted to other criminal enterprises where there are more significant monetary losses and/or the criminal enterprises are more prone to using violence.

There are federal tools and statutes that have been and can be used to pursue

the types of offenses peculiar to the transient criminals. These include: interstate

transportation of stolen property, IRS violations, immigration violations, fraud by

wire, mail fraud, unlawful flight to avoid prosecution, and fraudulent use of social

security numbers. In particularly egregious circumstances, rico statutes could also

be employed. The unlawful flight to avoid prosecution statutes could assist local law

enforcement agencies pursuing major burglary cases, theft by deception matters and

similar state law violations. Overall, Since 9–11 the FBI does not have the resource

to pursue these groups as a national FBI initiative. A viable option however could

be assistance to local agencies or as part of task forces in regions where these

crimes are prevalent. As noted previously, in many of the FBI cases the matters

were and are pursued jointly with other law enforcement entities.

The FBI is cognizant of all the difficulties facing the Senate’s Special Committee

on Aging in protecting the elderly from persons who prey on them simply because

they are vulnerable. It is hard not to feel personally outraged at persons who target

older Americans in much the same vein as when persons target children. One recommendation for the committee would be to consider amending current sentencing

guidelines that would include significant enhancements for criminal enterprises that

target the elderly, or a person with mental or physical handicaps. California, and

a few other states, have instituted such legislation.

The FBI is committed to protecting all segments of society to the best of its abilities. However, in light of the many criminal enterprises, most of whom use violence

and intimidation as part of their criminal activity, it would be difficult to institute

a national initiative to target the transient criminals without more resources, particularly personnel, and without the assistance of other law enforcement agencies,

both federal and state.

Thank you.

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