and Accountability Act) compliance and sexual harassment. They have meetings every other month, and a member of the District Attorney’s Office usually attends, along with law enforcement, Legal Aid [of Marin], APS and the ombudsman, who oversees nursing homes. “Unfortunately, we don’t get as many cases as we should,” he says, because older adults are often afraid that they’ll be seen as incompetent and fear repercussions. In addition, “They may trust their abuser,” he Elder financial abuse is an underreported crime, and
protecting elders from all forms of abuse. “We partner very closely with [Marin County District Attorney] Lori Frugoli and the DA’s Office, and that’s extremely important to the success of the team,” says Vanderscoff. FAST was formed in 2005, and the current model has been in place since 2015. “Our volunteers are vetted by the county’s volunteer department,” says Vanderscoff, so they are fingerprinted, and background checks make sure they don’t have criminal records. They’re also trained in HIPAA (Health Insurance Portability
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Carla Rodriguez, Sonoma County district attorney
says, especially if the suspect is a family member. He recalls a Marin woman in her 90s who gave financial power of attorney to her nephew, a New York City resident who started spending her money on Broadway shows and trips to Africa. “It was pretty obvious,” he says, and APS found out and referred the case to law enforcement.
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Seeking justice In Sonoma County, the Elder Protection Unit in the District Attorney’s Office includes a
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prosecutor, investigator and victim advocate who are trained to work with elders and handle felony cases of financial abuse, as defined by California Penal Code Section 368. A case must involve $500 or more to be a felony, and cases that meet that threshold can be difficult to prove. A FAST team is invaluable in investigations, and District Attorney Carla Rodriguez explains that volunteers who are retired CPAs and lawyers help detectives wade through financials and help prosecutors explain how a theft or embezzlement occurred. “They help us present it to a jury, and they testify as expert witnesses,” she says, and sometimes they create pie charts to illustrate where the money went. In one case, a contractor who was installing solar panels for two clients strung out the work for several years and kept asking for more money. He bilked a combined $900,000 out of his elder victims, and FAST members found all his hidden accounts and showed that
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February 2025
NorthBaybiz 31
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