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Multnomah County's Financial Elder Abuse Unit Helps Bring Con-Artists to Justice

Posted by: Phil Nelson
October 03, 2011
Topic: Elder Abuse

The heart of any advice provided by a Portland or Seattle business law attorney is aimed at the accumulation and the protection of wealth. Senior citizens have spent a lifetime attempting to accumulate wealth and, in their most vulnerable years, sometimes they need assistance protecting that wealth from would-be takers.

At that intersection lies the Portland financial elder abuse attorney.

Financial elder abuse cases are complicated matters. Financial elder abuse is almost always accompanied by (or accomplished through) a relationship of trust that often has been built over the course of many years or even many decades. Whether with a family member, friend or other trusted adviosr, these close relationships make it difficult for seniors who are susceptible to financial elder abuse to realize that they've become victims. Complicated relationships make complicated cases.

In addition to providing civil penalties, financial elder abuse is also a crime. Criminal investigations regarding elder abuse can not only put a stop to the wrongdoer's conduct (and hopefully put them in jail), but they can provide critical information to retrieving that money through the civil system. In Multnomah County, there is a dedicated team within the prosecutor's office whose task it is to investigate and prosecute financial elder abuse.

Over 110 elder abuse cases have been investigated and prosecuted by the Multnomah County District Attorney's Office and their elder financial abuse team. Over $3 million in restitution has been ordered with $500,000 for the victims.

As this blog has noted previously, Oregon's commitment to protecting Oregon's senior citizens from abuse is second to none. Multnomah County has followed suit and done a great job of ferreting out abuse and bringing the abusers to justice.