Recording - Freezing Assets Webinar

Stop the Bleeding - Temporarily Freezing Assets in Elder Abuse Cases (September 8, 2021)

Webinar recording

Webinar Materials:

Learn how law enforcement, in collaboration with public guardians, can protect older and dependent adults against exploitation during complex criminal investigations. The presenters will describe cases in which they used California Probate Code §2952 to reduce the financial exploitation of older adults who are cognitively impaired by:

Freezing older victims’ assets, including homes and other property;
Minimizing the extent of monetary losses; and
Facilitating timelier interventions.

The presenters will also describe the EDAPT model, which allows elder justice stakeholders to collaborate successfully.

Facilitator:
Debbie Deem, FAST Coordinator Ventura County, Retired FBI Victim Specialist

Presenters:
Tara Heumann, San Mateo County Deputy County Counsel
Andrea Higgens, San Mateo County District Attorney Inspector

Presenters’ Bios:

Andrea Higgens is a criminal elder and dependent adult abuse investigator with the San Mateo County District Attorney's Office in Northern California. Andrea works with a multi-disciplinary team of social workers, public guardians, civil attorneys, other law enforcement officers and prosecutors to protect elders and dependent adults and investigate crimes against these vulnerable populations. She provides training to law enforcement officers and detectives, probation officers, firefighters, EMTs/paramedics, dispatchers, deputy coroners, and financial service providers both locally and around the country in recognizing and responding to elder abuse. Andrea also teaches a POST-certified elder abuse investigation class through Third Degree Communications, a law enforcement training and consultation company. Prior to coming to the District Attorney’s Office in 2010, Andrea was a police officer and detective with the Redwood City Police Department for 11 years.

Tara Heumann has worked as a Deputy County Counsel in San Mateo County since 2018. She represents Aging and Adult Services and the Sheriff’s Office. She also represents the Public Guardian and Public Administrator in probate court and Children and Family Services in dependency court. Tara previously worked for 10 years as a Deputy District Attorney in San Mateo where she established the elder abuse prosecution unit in 2013 and worked with Aging and Adult Services and County Counsel to launch the San Mateo County Elder and Dependent Adult Protection Team (EDAPT) in 2015. For four years Tara prosecuted, investigated, and consulted on cases of neglect, violent crime, theft, and fraud, including securities and real estate, that affected San Mateo County seniors.

Debbie Deem, a retired FBI Victim Specialist and current Financial Abuse Specialist Team (FAST) Coordinator for Ventura County, CA, is a lifelong advocate for victims of crime. In her position working with federal and other victims of financial/cybercrimes, particularly older victims of transnational financial fraud crimes, she organized multidisciplinary teams to combat these ‘forgotten crimes’ and promotes the need for various long-term interventions and support for victims. She has trained financial exploitation responders at the local, federal, and international levels. She has authored articles and conducted many presentations on victims of financial and cyber-crime, including most recently an Elder Justice Initiative Dept. Justice webinar, on the Neuroscience of Financial Scams with Dr. Erik Lande. She and Dr. Lande also co-wrote, ‘Transnational Scam Predators and Older Adult Victims: Contributory Characteristics of Chronic Victims and Developing an Effective Response’ in the December 2018 edition of the Journal of Federal Policy and Practice. Her first passion remains working with chronic victims of financial/cybercrimes and their families.

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