Ohio Code 1707.49 – Reporting elder financial exploitation
(A) As used in this section:
Terms Used In Ohio Code 1707.49
- Another: when used to designate the owner of property which is the subject of an offense, includes not only natural persons but also every other owner of property. See Ohio Code 1.02
- Appropriation: The provision of funds, through an annual appropriations act or a permanent law, for federal agencies to make payments out of the Treasury for specified purposes. The formal federal spending process consists of two sequential steps: authorization
- Assets: (1) The property comprising the estate of a deceased person, or (2) the property in a trust account.
- Dealer: except as otherwise provided in this chapter, means every person, other than a salesperson, who engages or professes to engage, in this state, for either all or part of the person's time, directly or indirectly, either in the business of the sale of securities for the person's own account, or in the business of the purchase or sale of securities for the account of others in the reasonable expectation of receiving a commission, fee, or other remuneration as a result of engaging in the purchase and sale of securities. See Ohio Code 1707.01
- in writing: includes any representation of words, letters, symbols, or figures; this provision does not affect any law relating to signatures. See Ohio Code 1.59
- Investment adviser: means any person who, for compensation, engages in the business of advising others, either directly or through publications or writings, as to the value of securities or as to the advisability of investing in, purchasing, or selling securities, or who, for compensation and as a part of regular business, issues or promulgates analyses or reports concerning securities. See Ohio Code 1707.01
- Jurisdiction: (1) The legal authority of a court to hear and decide a case. Concurrent jurisdiction exists when two courts have simultaneous responsibility for the same case. (2) The geographic area over which the court has authority to decide cases.
- Person: except as otherwise provided in this chapter, means a natural person, firm, partnership, limited partnership, partnership association, syndicate, joint-stock company, unincorporated association, trust or trustee except where the trust was created or the trustee designated by law or judicial authority or by a will, and a corporation or limited liability company organized under the laws of any state, any foreign government, or any political subdivision of a state or foreign government. See Ohio Code 1707.01
- Power of attorney: A written instrument which authorizes one person to act as another's agent or attorney. The power of attorney may be for a definite, specific act, or it may be general in nature. The terms of the written power of attorney may specify when it will expire. If not, the power of attorney usually expires when the person granting it dies. Source: OCC
- Property: means real and personal property. See Ohio Code 1.59
- State: means any state of the United States, any territory or possession of the United States, the District of Columbia, and any province of Canada. See Ohio Code 1707.01
(1) “Eligible adult” means either of the following:
(a) A person sixty years of age or older;
(b) A person eligible to receive protective services pursuant to sections 5101.60 to 5101.71 of the Revised Code.
(2) “Financial exploitation” means either of the following:
(a) The wrongful or unauthorized taking, withholding, directing, appropriation, or use of money, assets, or property of an eligible adult;
(b) Any act or omission by a person, including through the use of a power of attorney or guardianship of an eligible adult, to do either of the following:
(i) Obtain control, through deception, intimidation, or undue influence, money, assets, or property of an eligible adult and thereby deprive the eligible adult of the ownership, use, benefit, or possession of the money, assets, or property;
(ii) Convert money, assets, or property of an eligible adult and thereby deprive the eligible adult of the ownership, use, benefit, or possession of the money, assets, or property.
(B) If an employee of a dealer or investment adviser has reasonable cause to believe that an eligible adult who is an account holder may be subject to past, current, or attempted financial exploitation, then both of the following apply:
(1) The employee shall follow any internal written policy, program, plan, or procedure adopted by the dealer or investment adviser for the purpose of establishing protocols for the reporting of past, current, or attempted financial exploitation.
(2) The dealer or investment adviser may place a hold on any transaction impacted by the past, current, or attempted financial exploitation for a period of time not to exceed fifteen business days.
(C) A dealer or investment adviser shall report any transactional hold placed pursuant to division (B)(2) of this section, along with a summary of the facts and circumstances leading up to the hold, in writing immediately to the division and the county department of job and family services for the county in which the eligible adult resides.
(D) A dealer or investment adviser making a report to the division and the county department of job and family services pursuant to division (C) of this section may continue the transactional hold for up to another fifteen business days at the request of an investigating federal or state agency or if the dealer or investment adviser has not heard from either the division or the county department of job and family services within the initial fifteen-day hold period. Nothing in this section shall be construed as limiting a dealer’s or investment adviser’s ability to seek injunctive relief from a court of competent jurisdiction at any time for any past, current, or attempted financial exploitation.
(E) Any person participating in good faith in making a report or placing a transactional hold pursuant to this section is immune from any civil or administrative liability arising from the report or hold.
(F) Any record made available to a state agency under this section shall be considered an investigative record pursuant to division (B) of section 1707.12 of the Revised Code. Any record of a transactional hold, any report relating to the hold, and any notification of the hold shall be maintained by the dealer or investment adviser for not less than five years.
Last updated July 28, 2021 at 4:34 PM