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Widow blames banker for loss of life’s fortune

Seniors lose $2.6B per year to financial abuse.

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By Mary McCarty and Lou Grieco
Staff Writers Updated 2:14 AM Sunday, September 25, 2011

Experts say financial exploitation of the elderly is an underreported problem that is growing as the population ages. The National Council on Aging estimates the annual financial loss from elder abuse to be at least $2.6 billion. Officials from Montgomery County Department of Job and Family Services say reports of financial exploitation of elders have increased by   6 percent this year alone.

We looked into the story of Dorothy Maud Cline and her late husband Jesse, who were so frugal during their 64-year marriage they never moved out of the 720-square-foot home they built by hand as a young couple, even as they amassed a fortune estimated at $1.2 million.

Now much of that fortune is gone, and Cline is suing her former bank manager and her husband for fraud. The lawsuit alleges they misappropriated at least $657,000 from the Clines' life savings.

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