The Public Prosecutor's Office is asking notaries to "take extreme precautions" in light of the increase in scams targeting the elderly.
In the last two years, notaries in Barcelona have only reported two cases of financial abuse to the public prosecutor's office.
BarcelonaAlmost every week, the Public Prosecutor's Office receives a case of a person with cognitive impairment who has gone to the bank or notary's office to carry out an important procedure accompanied by another person, usually a family member or someone from their social circle, without being fully aware of what they were doing. These suspicions of financial abuse typically reach the desk of Antoni Torres, the prosecutor in charge of protecting the elderly and people with disabilities in Barcelona, following alerts from social services or nursing home staff. In contrast, it is much less common for these cases to originate from the banks themselves—there is an agreement in place, but the fact that an alert is received still raises "surprise" for the Public Prosecutor's Office—or from notaries' offices. According to the Public Prosecutor's Office, only two cases have been reported through notaries' offices in the entire Barcelona area in the last two years.
"Notaries should inform the Public Prosecutor's Office of all cases in which they see a vulnerable or somewhat disoriented person, usually accompanied by family or friends, attempting to grant power of attorney or carry out a significant legal act, such as a sale, and they observe that the person is not in full possession of their faculties. In short, he asks for "extreme caution" whenever there are suspicions of "undue influence," as they should raise an alert and halt the process. Currently, the State Attorney General's Office is working to facilitate communication between notaries and prosecutors and is also preparing a protocol to allow specialized prosecutors easier access to the records of those affected.
The section of the Public Prosecutor's Office led by Torres deals with civil matters, so they can request the suspension of any ongoing proceedings and take measures such as appointing an assistant or a legal guardian to manage the person's assets. But when there is financial abuse that falls within the sphere The criminal case is transferred to the specialized section for the protection and guardianship of victims, headed by Sílvia Armero. Elderly people represent approximately 65% of the vulnerable victims they assist, and the most frequent cases they encounter are fraud and misappropriation, sometimes accompanied by abuse. To expedite procedures, these two sections of the Barcelona Prosecutor's Office have standardized the exchange of information and documents concerning the individuals themselves, but which are processed separately depending on whether they fall under civil or criminal jurisdiction.
