Financial exploitation of vulnerable adults has been on the rise generally within law enforcement, and especially within our agency.
The Washington State Gambling Commission (WSGC) has been at the forefront of investigating these crimes, often with a gambling connection. Prior to our engagement with Adult Protective Services, these crimes were under-reported to our agency. Theft from a vulnerable adult generally can be a complicated case; however, when the perpetrator uses the funds for their own gambling habit, it becomes easier to litigate as gambling provides no benefit to the vulnerable adult victim who rarely participates in the gambling activity.
Our investigations have led to several prosecutions. In many cases, the victim is bed-ridden or living in a nursing facility and not a gambler. Oftentimes, the perpetrator is a trusted family member or friend who has a power of attorney over the victims’ financial affairs and uses that position to withdraw funds from the accounts and spends the money gambling at a casino.
We have dealt with cases involving dementia and physical disabilities where the perpetrator depletes the victim’s accounts, sometimes to the tune of hundreds of thousands of dollars.
Imagine a person’s life savings drained on blackjack, roulette, poker and slots.
The victim is left with very little, often due to the addiction of the perpetrator, who sometimes justifies the criminal act by the assumption that they would inherit the money anyway.
Sometimes caregivers and family friends may be provided with more financial access than warranted, and when no one is watching, there is the issue of temptation and greed to use someone else’s bank account.
Evidence such as video footage may only be kept for a certain amount of time, which can make the case complicated; however, investigators have other investigative records that are kept by casinos. In some cases, the victim is not a reliable witness due to their degenerative cognition.
We try to be proactive with our education on these fronts, but it can be difficult. Our agency investigates cases connected to gambling as soon as we get them, but they have to be reported, turned over to our agents and investigated within a timely manner. Otherwise, the depletion of retirement funds will continue until nothing is left.
Our goal is to continue to educate the public on things to look for when considering elderly financial abuse:
• Is a caregiver being provided with too much trust over someone else’s debit or credit cards?
• Are loved ones frequently taking out their elderly companion to gambling establishments when the elderly companion has no interest beyond human attention?
• Is there a large sum of money debited from retirement funds with questionable origins, such as a house-banked card room or Tribal casino ATM?
All of these questions should be asked by those with a moral compass.
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Bryce Mack is a special agent supervisor for the Washington State Gambling Commission.
