U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Middle District of Florida Observes World Elder Abuse Awareness Day

Tampa, Florida - Today, United States Attorney Gregory W. Kehoe joins the Department of Justice and public safety partners across the nation in recognizing World Elder Abuse Awareness Day (WEAAD). Since 2006, WEAAD has been commemorated, nationwide, by raising awareness and educating the public about the various forms of elder abuse as well as available resources to minimize risks.

"Senior citizens are among our nation's most vulnerable populations," said U.S. Attorney Gregory W. Kehoe. "It is our duty to protect them from anyone who seeks to exploit or cause them harm. We remain resolute in our commitment to leverage our resources and develop partnerships throughout the Middle District of Florida to protect these treasured citizens."

MDFL Outreach Efforts

As part of the Middle District of Florida's elder fraud efforts, the U.S. Attorney's Office has engaged in community outreach efforts to citizens and industry professionals throughout the district, raising awareness about scams and schemes criminals use to exploit victims. This year, the USAO-MDFL partnered with the Hillsborough County Aging Services' annual celebration of Older Americans Month at the Oaks Senior Center in Tampa. USAO-MDFL outreach staff disseminated resources about financial fraud scams targeting seniors, phone scams, and provided tips to empower older veterans. More than 100 attendees participated in this event.

The community outreach team also participated in the Gulfport Fraud Prevention forum to engage senior citizens in discussions about prevalent fraud schemes and various prevention strategies.

Significant Prosecutions

The U.S. Attorney's Office has achieved significant results in several recent elder fraud investigations.

In March 2026, Craig Stevens was sentenced to four years and six months in federal prison for conspiracy and aggravated identity theft. He was also ordered to pay $19,762.38 in forfeiture. Stevens was employed as a personal care assistant for an elderly victim at an assisted living facility in Palm Coast. He obtained and shared the victim's personal identifiable information with co-defendants Jataiya Johnson and Aaron Harden. The group used the victim's personal information to access the victim's bank accounts and apply for credit cards and loans under the victim's name.

In March 2026, Luis Emilio Hernandez pleaded guilty to two counts of wire fraud and six counts of money laundering in connection with a scheme to defraud an elderly victim following Hurricane Ian. Hernandez falsely represented himself as a licensed contract who would repair the victim's home after it was damaged by the storm. Relying on these misrepresentations, the 85-year-old victim wrote multiple checks to Hernandez, totaling over $1.2 million, with no work on the home. Sentencing is pending.

In March 2026, Eric Stone pleaded guilty to one count of wire fraud and one count of money laundering. Stone was fired from Fidelity Investments in June 2021 due to allegations that he had solicited and obtained loans from his clients. After he was terminated, he began to solicit money from former clients by way of personal loans, promising to repay, but never doing so. One victim, 75 years old, provided loan proceeds to Stone, was told there was an investigation into the funds and Stone had incurred costs and fees that also needed to be paid before he could repay her. who created fake email accounts, sent fake text messages, and pretended to hire attorneys to further defraud the victim. The victim's total loss amount to Stone was $2,037,103. Sentencing is pending.

In June 2025, Pranav Patel was sentenced to six years and three months in federal prison for conspiracy to commit money laundering. He was also ordered to forfeit $1,791,301 in fraudulent proceeds he obtained. Patel was involved in a fraud scheme targeting senior citizens that involved call centers abroad who fraudulently identified themselves as government agents. In some instances, the conspirators told victims that there were outstanding warrants for their arrest, and they needed to pay a fee to clear the warrants. On other occasions, the conspirators told victims that they needed to provide their money and gold to the officers for safekeeping.

Although elder fraud may occur in a variety of ways, the most common financial schemes that are targeting older adults are:

• Jury Duty Scams Links to other government and non-government sites will typically appear with the "external link" icon to indicate that you are leaving the Department of Justice website when you click the link.- Convince victims to pay for failing to comply with jury duty service.
• Tech Support Scams - Convince victims to pay for non-existent computer problems.
• Non-Delivery Scams - Induce victims to pay for goods or services online but never receive them or convince victims that additional payment or personal information is required to complete a package delivery.
• Romance Scams - Lull victims into believing they are in an online romantic relationship and money needs to be sent to pay for a visit to the U.S. or for some other purpose.
• Grandparent Scams - Dupe victims into thinking that their grandchildren or other relatives are in trouble and need money right away for bail or another emergency.
• Charity Scams - Solicit donations for fake charities, or by altering or "spoofing" caller IDs to show the name of a real charity on the phone.
• Lottery Scams - Use phone calls, letters, or emails to convince victims that a large fee or taxes must be paid before they can receive lottery winnings.
• Debt Collection Scams - Threaten arrest and jail time if payment for a fake debt is not made immediately.
• Money Mule/Money Laundering Scams - Convince victims to use their bank accounts to quickly move funds in and out of those accounts thereby laundering ill-gotten funds.
• Timeshare Scams - Target timeshare owners with false promises of resale and exit from their timeshares for a fee.
• Sham Business Opportunities - Convince victims to invest in lucrative business opportunities or fake investments.
• Family/Caregiver Scam - Relatives or acquaintances of the elderly victims take advantage of them or otherwise get their money.
• Home repair Scam - Criminals appear in person and charge homeowners in advance for home improvement services that they never provide.

The U.S. Attorney's Office urges the public to report suspected elder fraud by calling the Justice Department's Elder Fraud Hotline at 1-833-FRAUD-11 (833-372-8311) Monday-Friday, 10:00 a.m.- 6:00 p.m. EST or visiting the Elder Justice Initiative at Justice.gov/elderjustice for additional information and resources.