Separating belief from suspicion in elder abuse investigations

Elder financial exploitation, or EFE, is on the rise, with vulnerable adults losing more than US$28 billion annually, according to a recent AARP study. Whether these frauds are perpetrated by family members and acquaintances or professional criminals unknown to the victim, financial institutions may find themselves in trouble if they don’t respond appropriately to being caught in the middle of a fraud scheme.

Financial institutions providing services to, or holding accounts for, a vulnerable adult have a series of steps to consider when suspicious underlying circumstances involving the individual are present: placing a transaction hold on transactions within the account and/or disbursements from their accounts, and/or filing a suspicious activity report with the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network or FinCEN.

The standard in many states for effecting a transaction hold is synonymous with whether the financial institution “reasonably believes,” after initiating an internal review, that the transaction will result in financial exploitation. If so, the institution may (but isn’t required to) place a hold on the transaction, pending further review and providing appropriate notification to specified state agencies.

A financial institution is required to file a SAR if it has a reasonable suspicion that a transaction (or attempted transaction) through the financial institution is an effort to facilitate criminal activity.

Read the full Bloomberg Law article, "Separating belief from suspicion in elder abuse investigations."

Reproduced with permission. Published May 13, 2025. Copyright 2025 Bloomberg Industry Group 800-372-1033. For further use please visit, "Bloomberg Industry Group Copyright and Usage Guidelines."