The Virginia General Assembly passed a measure to encourage banks to do more to spot, prevent and report the financial exploitation of elderly and vulnerable adults.
Del. Michelle Maldonado, D-Manassas, sponsored the Virginia Senior Safe Act, though she calls the bill “Larry’s Law” in honor of a local Navy veteran whose family says lost more than $3 million in an alleged wire fraud scheme.
The News4 I-Team first reported Larry Cook’s story last year after, his family says, his credit union should have done more to stop him from wiring millions overseas.
His family said they discovered the apparent scam after his death when paperwork showed he had made nearly 75 wire transfers overseas in 2022. The family believes he was vulnerable to fraud after suffering a stroke that left him cognitively impaired.
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Though many banks already report suspected concerns of financial exploitation of seniors or vulnerable adults, Maldonado said H.B. 692 is designed to create uniform training guidelines in Virginia for spotting and reporting the abuse, while giving them broader legal protection should they be accused of sharing private information in the pursuit of protecting a customer.
She said the measure will encourage banks to not just contact a trusted person listed on a customer’s account if they suspect financial exploitation, but also to potentially reach out to another relative with their concerns if all else fails. In exchange, banks and credit unions that undergo this training won't be held civilly liable for disclosing their concerns to the proper people and authorities.
The bill directs the Virginia Bureau of Financial Institutions to create the training guidelines by January 2026.
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Janine Williamson, who is Cook’s niece, has been pushing for stronger protections following her uncle’s death. She said she hopes the measure will lead to mandatory standards.
Williamson sued the credit union where her uncle banked over his losses. Records show the financial institution had reported concerns to Adult Protective Services and, in court records, the institution indicated it had warned Cook “numerous times” he was being victimized.
Williamson’s case was dismissed, and she is now appealing that decision.
More than 88,000 people over age 60 reported losing a combined $3.1 billion in elder financial scams, according to the Internet Crime Complaint Center’s 2022 Elder Fraud Report.
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