On National Senior Citizens’ Day, banking and financial service workers gathered for a workshop on financial abuse targeting the elderly in the Virgin Islands. The guest speaker at the Elder Justice Summit called it “a perfect day” to tackle the topic.
Thursday marked the second in a series of elder justice workshops sponsored by AARP-Virgin Islands State Office and the Department of Human Services. Police and other law enforcement officials joined the first session held jointly on St. Thomas and St. Croix.
A third session is in the works for September, where organizers say they will invite seniors and caregivers. Through its Adult Protective Services division, Human Services has tried to help those who have suffered loss at the hands of strangers, helpers, and loved ones. District Manager Heather Richardson-Henry said she has even received phone calls from witnesses reporting suspicious activity taking place in banks.
The director said financial exploitation has been on the rise since the recent COVID-19 pandemic, when many elderly residents were quarantined at home with their abusers. “We recognize the need for a more formal approach to this malady,” Henry said. “We are becoming elderly and living longer, and we become more vulnerable as we become more dependent on others.”
Lt. Gov. Tregenza Roach — who also holds the title of Commissioner of Banking and Insurance in the V.I. — agreed. “I think it’s great that we approach it from a collaborative place because no single person can solve it,” he said.
Those remarks prepared the audience for a presentation by Puerto Rico Banking Association President and CEO Zoime Alvarez Rubio. Listeners heard about common financial fraud schemes, protocols adopted at some Puerto Rico banks to assist fraud victims, and changes in the law adopted to combat wrongdoing.
But the most memorable part of Rubio’s presentation was images from the banking association’s financial abuse campaign. One image showed a white-haired woman in bedclothes aboard a watercraft. The narrative translated from Spanish said, “I am bedridden but I just bought a Jet Ski.”
The slogan used to drive home the elder financial abuse message is “No Me Cuadra” … it doesn’t add up.
Executives from two local financial institutions said they already have procedures in place to address suspected fraud when it appears. “We see a lot of elder abuse and financial exploitation, and the credit union does financial exploitation training because many of our customers are elderly,” said St. Thomas Federal Credit Union CEO Keisha Richards.
St. Croix Source
Local news
