Published: 4/5/2016 11:07:41 PM
The New Hampshire Department of Justice is seeking to relaunch a two-person unit dedicated to prosecuting and investigating financial crimes against the elderly.
The Executive Council will vote today whether to accept and authorize the federal grant funding of $255,800, which would cover salaries of a lawyer and victim advocate, training and travel.
“This grant really does allow us to provide leadership in an area that is going to be (one) you see more and more of as the years go on,” said Jim Boffetti, who heads the Department of Justice consumer protection bureau.
The Department of Justice’s elder unit closed up seven years ago when the grant funding its operations ran out, Boffetti said. Cases of elder abuse are on the rise, he said, both in the state and nationwide.
A new state law that took effect last year criminalizes the financial exploitation of an elderly or impaired adult.