NAACP Financial Exploitation of Vulnerable Elderly

Sponsored by the NAACP Pine Bluff Branch. This panel explores the rise of financial exploitation against the elderly as a civil rights concern. It examines recent accounts of embezzlement at a large regional bank and the national direct action campaign to stop it. Governor Sarah Huckabee Sanders has been encouraging people to retire in Arkansas. It’s a great place to live, slower (relaxing) pace of life, and your retirement savings go a lot further here than in other places. However, this is not true if the state is going to turn a blind eye to our seniors when they need our help the most (to protect them from financial predators). If scammers can prey on vulnerable elderly and the banks, local police, state agencies and the Governor all turn their collective head; then Arkansas becomes a scary place to retire, rather than a great one. Consequently, concearned citizens have raised the issue of Financial Exploitation of Vulnerable Elderly to the NAACP, Arkansas AARP and Alzheimer’s Arkansas. We are encouraged because the state NAACP supports making this a national campaign. African Americans are more susceptible to Alzheimer’s and Dementia.