Experts on elder abuse agree that law enforcement and the District Attorney’s Office are seeing more cases of that crime each year even though many more could be going unreported. More care must be taken to protect elderly residents from unscrupulous people who are hired to help them.

As recently as March 4, a 59-year-old Santa Maria man was arrested for bilking an elderly woman out of hundreds of thousands of dollars in a fraudulent real estate deal, the Santa Barbara County Sheriff’s Department reported.

Deputies said the man convinced the 69-year-old victim to invest $300,000 for the purchase of a commercial property and promised the woman 12 percent interest on her investment. He even paid the first six months of interest upfront.

Sheriff’s detectives began investigating the incident last year. At that time, the woman reported that aside from receiving a payment for the first six months of interest, which was pulled from the $300,000 she had invested, the man never paid her anything.

Deputies said the woman trusted the man because he is a Realtor whom she had worked with before.

The man was booked into jail on suspicion of fiduciary elder abuse, and authorities said more charges could be filed before the investigation is finished.

In January, sheriff’s detectives responded to a tip from an 88-year-old Goleta woman’s accountant who indicated that a caregiver may have been taking advantage of her employer.

The caregiver, who was on probation for another crime, was arrested and faces charges of commercial burglary, forgery and financial elder abuse.

The suspected thief, who worked for the woman for two months, is accused of having stolen and cashed checks worth a total of $10,580 from multiple bank accounts.

To prevent financial elder abuse, a statement issued by the sheriff’s department recommended that people looking to hire a caregiver conduct a background check and ask for references, which should be thoroughly verified.

As founder and president of Santa Barbara-based Senior Planning Services, I wholeheartedly agree with the sheriff’s department.

We have seen a rise in elder abuse during the 20 years Senior Planning Services has operated in Santa Barbara County.

Many times, the abuse can be prevented by providing proper support and advocacy for elders who want to stay in their own home but who may need a caregiver to assist him. However, the caregiver should not be a “stranger in the house” who has not gone through the proper background checks.

Checking references is not enough. Senior Planning Services requires criminal and Department of Motor Vehicles checks and personality and integrity testing on all our caregivers.

You take many potential risks when hiring a caregiver on your own. The keys to preventing financial exploitation are prevention, protection and intervention.

As a professional fiduciary organization, Senior Planning Services is often called in to provide protection of senior citizens who may have been victimized by an abuser and to assist in the recovery of their assets.

Senior Planning Services fiduciary Jackie Quinn also has seen the rising trend in elder abuse cases. She has a great deal of experience acting as both a private trustee and executor.

Quinn noted one case in which a licensed insurance agent in Santa Barbara pleaded guilty in July 2009 in a $2.1 million grand theft case involving theft from senior citizens by churning annuities. The agent spent 90 days in jail and was placed on five years of probation.

And in Santa Maria, a landscaper pleaded no contest to charges he charged elderly clients for services he never performed. He was ordered to pay $50,000 in restitution and sentenced to eight years in prison.

To seek more ways to prevent this crime, Quinn said the Elder & Dependent Adult Abuse Prevention Council of Santa Barbara County will hold its annual training conference, “Safeguarding Elders and Dependent Adults Against Abuse,” from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. May 25 in the Fe Bland Auditorium at SBCC, 721 Cliff Drive.

More information and registration materials will be available in April. Contact the Area Agency on Aging at 805.925.9554 or seniors@KCBX.net.

Anyone with knowledge of elder abuse is urged to call the Santa Barbara County’s Sheriff’s Anonymous Tip Line at 805.681.4171 or Adult Protective Services at 805.685.4550.

— Suzanne McNeely is the president of Senior Planning Services. Click here for more information.