CARMEN PAREDES SEEMED like such a sweet, friendly person. "You just never would have suspected it," said Kathleen Whittaker, who hired the Peruvian native in 1998 to help take care of her 83-year-old uncle, William Fowler.
The "it" is one of the worst cases of elder financial abuse in Contra Costa County history. During 21/2 years, the $10-an-hour caretaker siphoned more than $600,000 away from the El Cerrito widower.
Paredes, 59, pleaded no contest to felony elder abuse and tax evasion in March 2004. She was sentenced to three years' probation. She got no prison time, although the judge could have given her as many as nine years.
Her two adult sons and a daughter also were implicated in the scheme. They were convicted of misdemeanors.
Obviously, The Law in This Area is Far From Robust.
One brazen caretaker stole $80,000 from a blind 77-year-old mother of a former San Jose acting police chief. Another took more than $35,000 from the ailing mother-in-law of an Alameda County Superior Court judge.
It happens all the time to all kinds of people.
Sadly, there comes a time for many elderly people when they are no longer able to continue living at home alone. Perhaps chemotherapy has destroyed their bodies or Alzheimer's has ravaged their minds.
That time came upon William Fowler, a retired sea captain, all at once. Going into his early 80s, Fowler was still going strong. He took walks and swimming lessons. He dated women he met in dance class.
The last thing she wanted to do was put him in a nursing home. So, she set out to help Fowler hire an in-home caretaker. Someone to help with bathing, dressing, keeping track of medications, shopping for groceries, preparing meals, cleaning the house and driving to doctor appointments.
Licensed home health care agencies cost a bundle. They charge $30 an hour and up. Some conduct background screenings that include a criminal records check. Others don't bother to check for local convictions. There are no guarantees that the person sent to your loved one's home isn't a sociopath.
Most people can't afford $30 an hour, so that point is moot. They end up hiring cheaper workers who aren't affiliated with agencies. They average $10 an hour and have no license or training.
The problem is we know nothing about these strangers we invite into our vulnerable loved ones' homes. They could be criminals for all we know. There have been documented cases in which people sent for in-home care have had criminal records.
Caretaking is hard, low-paying work. People with criminal records don't have many employment options.
It doesn't take a genius to figure that convict plus vulnerable elder spells trouble. Paredes didn't have a criminal record that we know of, but she definitely had a criminal mind. At first, things seemed to go well.
One day, Whittaker got a call from the Richmond Police Department. Someone from Wells Fargo Bank had reported that a Spanish-speaking woman was trying to cash a $9,000 check on Fowler's account.
Fowler told his niece that he knew about the check and had written it for "house cash." Whittaker later found out that Fowler gave Paredes a check for $50,000 seven days later.
Paredes started taking frequent trips out of town. She left Fowler in the care of her adult children. The house and garden began to deteriorate.
Whittaker was appointed his temporary conservator. She froze his accounts and reviewed his bank registers: She discovered that $679,000 in checks had been written to the Paredeses.
Whittaker filed a civil suit on behalf of the estate after her uncle's death. But she dropped it after running up $60,000 in legal fees. The Paredeses settled for $45,000.
Whittaker says her greatest regret is that she didn't get more aggressively involved. "My purpose now," she said, "is to publicize what happened to my uncle as a warning to others." To that end, we offer the box in the next column detailing telltale signs of caretaker abuse.
Abridged please read the un edited and un abridged version here = >>
