Son sounds warning on exploiting the elderly

Thelma Geerkins

The son of an Auckland woman who was persuaded to give away her life savings to her neighbours is warning others to take steps to protect assets belonging to elderly relatives.

Thelma Geerkins, 69, died in May 2001. Before she died, she paid $51,000 to her neighbours, Mary Helen Noovao and Cleave Noovao.

Mrs Geerkins, who lived alone in New Lynn, had bipolar disorder and numerous physical illnesses that left her frail and dependent on care.

Mary Noovao was Mrs Geerkins' neighbour in the early 1990s and resumed contact when she and her husband returned to the neighbourhood in February 2001.

The following month, Mrs Geerkins wrote out cheques to the Noovaos - the largest for $20,000 - which they funnelled into bank accounts, a company and a family trust.

Mary Noovao was pregnant with her second son at the time.

The payments were discovered when a gravely ill Mrs Geerkins told a doctor she had paid money to her neighbours.

The Noovaos argued Mrs Geerkins had gifted them the money for cash-strapped businesses and their children, but an Auckland District Court judge dismissed their argument as fiction after Mrs Geerkins' family sued them.

In a decision released this month, Judge John Cadenhead ordered Mary Noovao to repay the money with interest and costs, saying she and her husband had taken advantage of Mrs Geerkins' frailty and trust.

"[They] played on her generosity and whatever feelings she had for them by linking their own financial difficulties with the potential health of [Mary Noovao] and/or her unborn child," the judge said.

They gave Mrs Geerkins no opportunity to say no to their requests for cash, Cleave Noovao sometimes writing the cheques out himself and getting her to sign them.

Cleave Noovao was not ordered to repay any money because he was bankrupt, but his wife's sister, Wendy Dawn Kuresa, was found liable as a trustee for the Noovao McKandry Family Trust, into which $15,000 of Mrs Geerkins' money was deposited on March 30, 2001.

Police interviewed the Noovaos but did not prosecute, leaving the Geerkins family to take a civil case.

Mrs Geerkins' son Dennis said the legal battle had cost more than $100,000. He warned others with elderly, infirm relatives to safeguard their assets, saying court orders issued under the Personal Property Rights Act that, for example, required two signatories on cheques, offered the best protection.

Age Concern chief executive Ann Martin said financial abuse was the fastest growing form of elder abuse.

"It's predominantly family members, but it's also other people who are trusted, like neighbours and carers." People needed to be alert for signs.


Elder abuse

* Every week, at least two older New Zealanders experience financial abuse.
* Of reported elder abuse, 40 per cent is financial abuse.
* Most abusers (70 per cent) are family members, most often sons or daughters.
Source: Age Concern