January 14 2018
In 2006, Philip Marshall had to make a critical decision: turn in his father for exploiting Philip’s grandmother, or do nothing. Philip’s decision to act revealed to the world what remains perhaps the world’s highest profile case of elder abuse. Ultimately, Anthony Marshall was convicted of defrauding his mother, the philanthropist Brooke Astor.
While the million-dollar sums involved in the Astor case were unusual, elder financial abuse unfortunately is not. Greater data sharing among financial institutions, along with specific safeguards against financial fraud, could root out this kind of exploitation of our most vulnerable citizens.