What do I do when I suspect fiancial exploitation of an elderly parent?

APS, does not have the capability of truly looking into their finances. I thought that they did and reported financial abuse for my father. The APS caseworker said that nothing was wrong and reported the case closed. The debt has risen another $10,000 since (only a few months). Luckily, I was able to obtain POA of my father and am gathering proof against his "girlfriend". As far as I am concerned, APS was a joke.

Just found out APS will only investigate 1 year for Elder Financial Abuse and cannot subpoena records. If you have good proof, you can go to your State's Attorney to see if they might take your case.

I reported my sisters' financial abuse to the social worker at her senior program, and they were obligated to call Adult Protective Services, who then took legal action to have her conserved...all now I am "paying for" and the sisters got off scott free..not even a lecture. Just realize that you are reporting a possible crime. You could also "help" this woman arrange the bills so they are on auto pay. As fulltime caregiver, I am responsible for Mom's monthly allowance and pay smaller bills, food, gas, pet supplies, Rx's etc. The county handles (using MOm's money), the larger bills such as hospital, car and house insurance, senior program, respite caregivers, etc. Not all counties are good at this, and things can go amok there as well.

There are different ways Adult Protective Services (APS) can act and I failed to mention that there are numerous free law clinics that can advise the elderly. I am not attorney, so this is not legal advice. I have learned some things through experience. It seems prudent that ALL ADULTS (not just the elderly or sick) should grant a durable power of attorney (POA)for finances and health to someone they trust. God forbid anything happens (i.e. car accident, stroke) that incapicitates you, but if tragedy strikes the durable POA allows you to know your wishes are granted.
In the event there is NO POA and there are disagreements between family members about finances and health care, a Conservatorship may have to done. A conservatorship is basically a durable POA that is court approved because the incapacitated person (conservatee) cannot make that decision for themselves.
In the above case, it appears the county petitioned and was granted conservatorship.

Exploitation of any kind is not to be tolaterated and especially being exploited by your own kin.
The issue could blow up in your face, however, doing something about it would be better than just worrying. You should contact the proper authorities in your country (Sorry, I am not familiar with the laws of your state, as I live in Singapore) and have this reported, however, before doing this, perhaps you should try talking to her about it and confirm things for yourself, before you take any legal actions.
God bless.

APS told me,"What the hell do you want us to do. Call the police."
Yeah, right.
APS should be abolished.

DCF (Department of Children & Families) here in the state of Florida was also a joke in our case. We have blatant fraud going on which is perpetrated by my mother's live-in deadbeat boyfriend and absolutely nothing was done/or found by DCF in their ruling against him and his actions. My mother also protected her boyfriend by answering the questions "correctly" that she gives consent for him to use her credit cards to do incidental shopping for her. But she doesn't realize he then takes monumental amounts out incrementally when he goes on these shopping sprees.

My experience with Los Angeles County Department of Aging, was the umbrella for other sub-departments such as Elder Abuse. I live with my mom and was shocked to see she had been sending her money out to all of these political agencies who I've since learned, prey on the elderly and line their pockets with the money they receive for their bleeding heart story (mostly those who want to impeach the president). I called the Dept on Aging to report this (after trying to get mom's name and address off their mailing list) and they sent someone out but didn't really do anything about the flood of mail we were getting. What they did do however, was to proclaim the house was unsafe, that she had Alzheimer's and needed 24/7 care. Using these "observations", they were gathering up "evidence" to have mother moved to a nursing home, obtain POA and Converservatorship of her assets, claim our home and sell it to pay for her nursing care. I had to find an Elder Law attorney and make all kinds of safety precautions and alarms and find help in addition to getting her checkbook, driving privilege and car away from her. Anyhow, just be careful when you ask for these Public Services. They're really out for their own preservation and may not respond in the manner you think best.

My brother who had POA for my mom and a joint bank account for years used the joint account to divert large sums of money from my mother's financial accounts to him. He would deposit draws from her financial accounts into the joint banking account and then transfer most of the funds to his personal account, leaving my mother with only a pittance to live on. He also transferred Social Security payments made to the joint account to himself. He took advantage of her childhood poverty to make her think she was poor again- under hushed breath she explained to me several times that she had "financial problems" even though she was rich! I didn't hear the warning signs.....
My brother(s) (both were addicted to the money) stole several hundred thousand dollars from her, the theft continued even to the point of denying her money for her nursing care (they needed their early "inheritance" more, she was going to die anyways) It took me a long time before I finally caught on.
My mom's story is a warning to all to be vigilant! Don't look the other way or think that signs or your gut intuition of financial abuse shouldn't be investigated today! Family "white-collar crime" like this is 99% ignored by law enforcement, usually you are left paying exhorbitant legal bills for a civil case but the perpetrator has already spent the money so there is nothing left to recover. Because I delayed, my mom risks facing running out of money for her care in her final days.

You can certainly report it, but I believe you're in an uphill fight. Call the local police (in stepmom's town) and ask for the number to report suspected elder exploitation or abuse. Call whatever number they give you and explain the situation. If you suspect your stepmom is being neglected, include that information as well. They should (should) open a case file if to do nothing more than go visit her.

In the end, there's really not much you can do. My recommendation would be to stay out of it after you've reported it to authorities.