Click image above to view Senator
Moody’s remarks
WASHINGTON,
D.C.—Today, in a Senate
Special Committee on Aging hearing titled Awareness
to Action: Combating Elder Abuse & Neglect, Senator Ashley Moody discussed
several successful programs she implemented as Florida’s Attorney General and
examined ways the federal government can supplement state efforts to combat
elder abuse.
Senator
Ashley Moody said, “As
Florida’s Attorney General, I personally heard many heartbreaking stories of
scammers and fraudsters taking advantage of seniors in Florida and stealing
significant sums of their hard-earned savings. Unfortunately, we know there are
many more stories we haven’t heard as these cases are often unreported. It is
so important that we efficiently identify and bring awareness to these scams,
encourage our seniors to come forward and develop effective programs to bring
scammers to justice.”
Some studies
estimate that 1 in 10 seniors will experience elder abuse in their time and
only about 7 percent of cases will be reported to authorities. Florida is home
to well over 5 million seniors. As Florida’s Attorney General, Senator Moody
recovered millions of dollars for seniors that fell victim to scams and stopped
schemes targeting elder Floridians largely through the Senior
Protection Team, a group created by Moody in 2019. The Senior Protection
Team, an intra-agency group of experts, was brought together to fight civil,
criminal and health care fraud together and develop strategies to protect
Floridians 60 and older.
See Senator
Moody’s opening remarks here.
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