Palm Beach County detectives seeking physicians to help with elderly scam victims

Palm Beach County detectives seeking physicians to help with elderly scam victimsBy Sonja Isger Palm Beach Post Staff Writer

Updated: 12:24 a.m. Sunday, Oct. 16, 2011
Posted: 6:07 p.m. Saturday, Oct. 15, 2011

Sometimes a sheriff's badge isn't enough for Lt. Christopher Keane and his colleagues to solve a crime; sometimes he wishes there was a doctor in the house. Most recently, his financial crimes unit was handed a case in which a 79-year-old's live-in daughter was accused of stealing her mother's money to fuel a gambling and drug habit.

Not only did investigators have to sort out the details of the alleged crime, but they wanted to piece together the elderly woman's mental state at the time.

Usually, detectives turn to the alleged victim's doctors. But this time that didn't work.

The victim's neurologist provided medical records but told us the interpretation was up to the detective and not his job," Keane said.

Keane and his fellow detectives aren't headed to medical school, but the Palm Beach County Sheriff's Office is now on the hunt for a doctor who wouldn't mind volunteering when a case like this comes in.

The medical insight can lead to tougher charges against those who use their position of trust to scam an elderly person whose faculties aren't tack-sharp because of a mental impairment.

"Clearly, having a physician on board would be of great assistance to a police department," agreed Mark Riordan, spokesman for the state Department of Children and Families - which operates Florida's Abuse Hotline that fields elder abuse claims.

When claims of child abuse come to the sheriff's office, a multi-agency child protection team goes to work. That team includes medical experts from the health department.

But there's no similar requirement or arrangement for claims that come in regarding someone scamming an older person, Keane said.

Law enforcement agencies such as the Broward County Sheriff's Office say they rely instead on the victim's physician. But as in the case of the elderly suburban West Palm Beach woman and her daughter, not all physicians are eager to help.

But an effort to fill that role in Palm Beach County appears bolstered by the fact that more than 357,600 residents, or nearly 28 percent of the population, are age 60 years or older.

So this month, Palm Beach County sheriff's officials issued a request to the public:

"The financial crimes unit is searching for a licensed physician with training either in gerontology and/or psychiatry. Specifically, the doctor would be asked to evaluate medical records to determine the victim's mental and physical state at the time of the perpetration of the fraud. The doctor would help prepare both officers and victim for testimony, and might be called on to testify him or herself."

Without such help, Keane says officers are left to make judgment calls that can be challenged in court. The department rarely can afford to pay for a private consultant, he said.

Last year, the sheriff's office received about 101 allegations of what they term financial exploitation of the elderly - a crime against someone 60 years or older in which a caregiver or person of trust took advantage of their charge, Keane said.

The total alleged loss was estimated at $900,000, Keane said.

These cases do not include crimes against someone of sound mind. Florida defines elderly exploitation victims as "a person of 60 years of age or older who is suffering from the infirmities of aging as manifested by advanced age or organic brain damage, or other physical, mental, or emotional dysfunction" to the extent they can't take care of or protect themselves.

Most often the people who commit these crimes are home health care aides, relatives or a guardian. But they can also be a neighbor who sees an opportunity and worms their way into their victim's good graces, Keane said.

Officials at Florida's Department of Elder Affairs say they haven't heard of other law enforcement agencies seeking volunteer physicians to help build cases involving financial crimes against the elderly.

"That doesn't mean it doesn't happen," spokeswoman Ashley Marshal said.

Since the department issued its plea, about a dozen professionals have stepped forward. Keane is vetting the volunteers but is eager to hear from more.

"Because of the dynamics of the population - the number of elderly and the number of fraudsters who are quick to exploit them - South Florida is probably the epicenter of crimes against the elderly," Keane said. "We're hoping we can find someone who wants to do this out of the kindness of their heart."

How to help

Physicians interested in becoming a volunteer medical specialist, should contact sheriff's Lt. Christopher Keane at Keanec@pbso.org or (561) 688-3950


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Editor's note:  In your ProbateSharks wildest imagination, would this shark believe that the physicians who are the "whores of the county" would assist the dying, disabled and the helpless. No! they would contribute to the coffers of the crooked judges, lawyer and other court "hangers on" who habitate the corrupt Probate Court of Cook County.  Lucius Verenus, Schoolmaster, ProbateSharks.com