This story boiled my blood this morning. It's like a drunk driver that's put back on the road or a murderer paroled after too short a visit to Cedar Junction. Elders are easy prey to confidence men with an agenda. Often they are easily tired, many face chronic depression, still others so lack social contact that they seek friendship in all the wrong places. I can't tell you how many times we have had to come into a situation where the elder has spent their life savings on Home Shopping Network or QVC - just to hear the voices of the friendly operators. The alleged perpetrator in this story allegedly preyed on elders' pocket books with pure greed and disregard for his client's real needs. The opportunity to take advantage of elders was such low hanging fruit for this individual that even after getting caught for fraud he went back to the forbidden well and continued to abuse the trust that he conned elders into having in him.
The National Academy of Elder Law Attorneys as well as the Massachusetts Attorney General do not take kindly to those that abuse the elderly. It is a declared mission of elder law practice in Massachusetts, and for me personally, to serve the elders in our probate and elder law practice with the utmost compassion and concern for their overall well being. Antying less and we are a disservice to our clients and the communities we serve in the Boston area and across Massachusetts.
How can you help? I suggest that you ASK an elder that you know or care about if they have responded to any solicitation or "friend's recommendations" about changing their finances or investing in something too good to be true. Very often these con men give a free lunch at a local restaurant by sending "tickets" to elders to entice them to bring a friend to hear about the latest in financial and estate planning tools, only to be conned into high cost annuities or worse. For more information about elder abuse, you can also call in Massachusetts
State says Winthrop
Galvin alleges funeral, insurance scams netted more than $1 million
A
State officials said the case involving Joseph Gennaco, who allegedly carried out the schemes with his sons-in-law, John Langone of
Gennaco targeted his victims when they were emotionally fragile, such as after a family member had died or while they were planning for their own deaths, according to the complaint.
"This is a guy who appears to have deliberately gone after people he thought were vulnerable because of recently having lost a spouse," said Galvin, who called the case "sinister" and said he may refer it to state or federal prosecutors for possible criminal investigation.
A call to Gennaco was returned by his
Gennaco "feels that he's a professional with the best of intentions and he's not some fly-by-night operation," Hardiman said, adding that the complaint was based on "false and inaccurate information" provided to state officials by someone who "has a very personal agenda."
Langone and Salvitti did not return calls for comment.
According to the complaint, one of Gennaco's alleged scams, operated through a firm called Gennaco Associates, involved persuading senior citizens to purchase life insurance policies, and arranging for those investors to receive loans secured by those policies. But the loans carried interest rates of more than 100 percent over two years, which many investors were unable to pay.
In another scheme, the complaint says, Gennaco convinced senior citizens to exchange their old insurance or annuity policies for new ones, which he established through his business entity, GCT Trust. Galvin's complaint alleges that when the policies matured, Gennaco did not repay the money, and in at least one case invested it without permission in a hedge fund called Oceanview Life Settlements/Life Plus.
Oceanview supposedly pooled investor money to buy and sell life insurance settlement policies on the secondary market, according to the complaint. But Gennaco is alleged to have rarely, if ever, purchased such policies, and instead used new investor money to pay old investors or to pay himself.
Gennaco also preyed on funeral homes that allow people to prepay burial expenses, Galvin's office said. Funeral home directors are required to invest that prepaid money, so Gennaco allegedly solicited undertakers to invest it with him.
But after people who had prepaid for their funerals died, Gennaco did not immediately return the prepayment money to the funeral homes, and sometimes never returned it, according to the complaint.
Gennaco has been the target of state regulators before.
In 2001, the state Securities Division ordered him to close his
Gennaro is licensed by the Massachusetts Division of Insurance, which is currently investigating him, according to agency spokeswoman Kim Haberlin.
That Gennaco has allegedly continued to defraud investors despite previous action by the state, Galvin said, "shows that when an individual is cunning and unscrupulous, the regulatory process is unsatisfactory to stop their thievery."
Galvin said he is unsure whether Gennaco's alleged victims will be able to recoup their investments. But he noted that, in the past, Gennaco's investors have recovered some or all of their money when he was threatened with regulatory or legal sanctions.
In addition to Gennaco, the complaint names Gennaco Associates, GCT Trust, and Oceanview Life Settlements LLC. Gennaco allegedly operated his schemes under entities including GCT Trust Private Annuity, Oceanview Life Settlements/Life Plus, and Premium Financing Plus, according to the complaint.
1 comment:
Elder Abuse is difficult to spot, however when it is found it should be heavily punished!! Families put faith in people to look after the older relatives and people tackle advantage of the persons frail nature and trust put in them by the family! if someone is found guilty of elder abusethey should punishable in the same fashion a doctor is for medical negligence, however it should be remembered that elderly abuse is intentional and maliciously carried out!
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