My parents were turning 84 and had many health issues. My parents owned a small manufacturing company that they owned for 50 years with the property. My mom had COPD and cardiac issues, and she required oxygen 24/7. My dad had his health issues, but he had been an avid golfer most of his life until he began to develop cognitive issues. Dad had heart and cancer issues, and we started to see signs of forgetfulness. My parents did not live large and always put money away for their retirement. My mom would pay the home bills weekly and always gave to 5-8 charities weekly as well as she believed this was very important to her. They had paid all their liabilities on time and had an 800-credit score as their financial reward for their good fiscal lifestyle.
I would still pick up my dad every day and drive him to the office and back home. My mom was a housewife and maintained the house. My dad's cognitive issues started to get worse as things were leading into a severe case of dementia.

An old friend of my late brother came back into our lives and within 9 months he used his trusted position as a good friend of the family and as a financial advisor to frighten them to make a financial choice to protect against the estate tax that could liquidate their estate if they both passed to pay the estate tax. (As we now come to understand, their estate wasn't large enough to have high estate tax ramification. This was the ploy to scare all of the seniors to purchase large life insurance policies.) He suggested they were "underinsured "and he proposed a large life insurance policy as a solution and told them that there would be no out of pocket expense. They were told this can be done using something called "Life Settlement" and that one of the 2 policies would be sold within 3-6 months on the secondary market. The sale would then pay for the 2nd policy in its entirety. Funding for all of this would be procured through a separate source. What we have come to know is that a few years before all this, the friend and advisor had committed 2 insurance felonies that he received a conviction for and only received a 3-month suspension of his insurance license and have is securities license revoked. The state never put this on the state's insurance portal to warn citizens of the state with the fact of these felonies, so as to make the choice to use the advisor for important financial decisions. Here the state is culpable for failure to protect seniors from financial fraud. As in the states own words after he paid a $10,000 fine, "he was not rehabilitated, but we will allow him to reinstate his insurance license. " The advisor cleared the path to write and get approved 2 -$2million life insurance policies. My parents had two $100,000+ policies that he advised them to stop paying and allow them to lapse. So when they passed there was no life insurance for their final expenses.
What my parents were not told is the key to the scheme. The unsuspected direction of this sinister plot was that this was a "STOLI", a financial vehicle strongly opposed by life insurance companies and illegal in our state, and yet with all their knowledge in this illegal concept, the insurance company would continue to underwrite and eventually approve the policies. This was pure negligence on behalf of the insurance company, and the insurance company's own lead attorney, after the fact, stated that all of this should have been looked at, reviewed and the underwriting stopped, so no policies should have been issued. Insurance companies are part of the first line of defense through their compliance with regards to protecting their clients when red flags rise up. They failed in this endeavor.
Also, part of this type of scheme included a large loan that was disguised as premium financing and was never explained to the elderly couples that this was how the life insurance was to be funded, and they were not advised that they were responsible for these loans. Unbeknownst to the elderly couples, once these policies are placed and the loans complete, hundreds of thousands of dollars in commissions are paid out and distributed to the insurance agent, bankers, attorneys and other individuals involved. Transparency was removed from these transactions as paperwork was shuffled in front of the seniors with signatures requested with no explanation on blank pages and just told "trust me, I will fill the paperwork for you". All communication was between the bank, the advisor, the attorneys and the phony CPA "Only" on all matters of contracts, loans and other financial information.

We are told that a bank is the first line of defense in protecting its elderly (All) clients from financial malfeasance. Unbeknownst to them a new startup bank with minimal assets received their financial/credit information from the phony CPA who was introduced to my parents by their advisor. The bank that was supposed to protect the seniors, to not be part of any fraud, but instead concealed all pertinent communication from them sharing with others and when the situation became delicate to financial abuse the bank committed identity theft, forgery and willful blindness instead. The insurance broker passed on all their financial information to a phony CPA, this new bank,45 miles away from my parents( they never used another bank in their 55 years of marriage till this event), an attorney who they never met, who was disciplined a few years earlier for using his personal IOLTA as his personal piggy bank and not paying premiums for life insurance policies where he was the trustee. This was reported to the ARDC (attorney registration and discipline commission) by a major law firm he worked with. He was suspended for under 6 months. My parents were not aware of his past history, but were told they needed to use him because of his expertise in these kinds of trusts. The attorney who drew up a Special Trust and Family Trust on my dad and my mom, who he had never met, spoken with or at any time communicated with them and yet was able to get the two trusts notarized without meeting with my parents. We have recently found out how my parents were defrauded by all the thieves. The documents were brought to a notary who worked with the phony CPA. Under a deposition, the notary admitted she never met either of my parents and many times she would notarize documents for coworkers without following guidelines set by the state for notaries. Her attorney and my attorney were sitting there with their mouths open as she admitted she never saw the documents for my parents that she signed off on and notarized.
2 attorneys, who were partners, one who had been suspended for financial malfeasance and the other was a catholic priest who was laicized for child molestation, a case that went all the way up to the Vatican (noted in state documents about priest who committed child sexual abuse as priests), is somehow still practicing law.

White collar criminals, especially those who willfully abuse the elderly and other vulnerable human beings, should be fully prosecuted. White collar is the least prosecuted because who would believe a bank(owner,president and vice president) would willfully commit senior financial fraud. The CFPB found the fraud, reported it to the Federal Reserve who did nothing because the loans were secured by the home and business property. The fraudulent action of the 2 attorneys, the bank, the phony CPA and the advisor should all have been prosecuted and sent off to do time for their crimes against humanity. Instead, seniors who worked hard all their lives, saved for easy and financially successful retirement, were sacrificial lambs who struggled to put food on their table, pay their bills and afford their necessary medical needs died penniless and without the dignity they deserved. Talking about elder care is not sexy. It does not draw the same attention as talking about some other major issues impacting our country right now or the death of loved ones, the break-ups, whatever it might be. But it's important and it's essential. My parents were one of many thousands who are manipulated, defrauded and are exploited for about $8 Billion each year..This group of individuals alone defrauded my parents and at least 19 other seniors. I want to ensure that this doesn't happen to other families.
My mom's dying words were " I am the charity case, and this is not where I was supposed to die."

What we have come to realize this year with all the failures of many banks sheds light on the sheer negligence of our banking institutions, the failure of the law to protect senior citizens at every level, and an abundance of fraudulent activity that this story begins to expose. There were forged signatures, inflated financial statements, negligence on behalf of the insurance company, banking fraud and numerous other failures within the financial system. I am constantly reminded that the law, both federal, local and state, failed my family in very catastrophic ways. No one should have their name ruined or die penniless because they were defrauded when all they did was work hard all their life so they could retire comfortably without government, family or any other intervention. Everyone deserves to live their life in a dignified fashion, especially in their retirement years.