Elder financial abuse

When I started my career as a CFE, my background had been primarily in auditing and accounting, and most of my cases were corporate matters. Fraud victims were usually corporate entities looking to quantify a loss and mitigate the lapse in controls. I rarely encountered an individual who suffered a real loss because of a fraud scheme.

That all changed in early 2009. I was working on the liquidation of a real estate investment firm when an unexpected phone call permanently altered my outlook on fraud. Working out of the shuttered investment firm’s office, I answered the firm’s main phone line and was met by a soft, almost frail voice. “I’d like to get some information about my investment. I was supposed to be receiving monthly interest payments, but nothing has come in a while.” I spent the next 15 minutes listening to the caller, asking a few questions but mostly processing everything I heard as I took notes. The phone call was my first exposure to the emotional loss that victims of financial fraud can suffer. No longer was loss simply a mathematical calculation, a procedural assessment of lax internal controls or documenting conduct subject to a governmental inquiry. Now a victim’s full financial and emotional toll were front and center.

Crooked investment advisor