Plundering of seniors: no penalties for inheritance scams

Unscrupulous exploiters pretend to be caring, isolating the elderly and stealing their wealth. research by Report Mainz show that the sums involved are huge. Experts are calling for countermeasures from politicians.

On March 12, 2020, investigators from the Berlin State Criminal Police Office discover the body of 84-year-old Klaus Jesse in the hallway of a house in Berlin-Lichtenrade. It quickly becomes clear that he was brutally killed. His daughter Sabine Haupt had a suspicion immediately after the crime: “It was immediately clear to me that it was Mrs. Nerma.”

Nerma had come into the household as a nurse for the father’s sick wife. After her death, Nerma then increasingly took over the father. The woman, who had always avoided being photographed, was in her late 50s and “very attractive”. And that worked for the over 80-year-old Jesse. “I think he fell in love.”

A signature is the key to wealth

Just two months after the death of his wife, Jesse gave nurse Nerma general power of attorney. With one signature, she had access to his entire fortune. This also included Sabine Haupt’s parental home.

There Nerma began to isolate her father and no longer allowed contact with the family. She tells us: “In 2018 I stood in front of the house several times and rang the bell, but nobody opened it.” She didn’t see her father for a year and a half. She later found out that Nerma had made sure that the house was sold: “She said she didn’t want to deal with the heirs. She wants something of her own.”

Less than a five-minute drive away, Nerma had bought a house with her father’s money – in her name. Jesse had only right of residence there.

Only months later did the father realize that he had been exploited – he contacted his daughter again and told her about the many harassments: physical attacks, insults and threats. “He was really scared to death at the end,” she says.

Classic case of inheritance sneaking

The daughter advises him to file a complaint with the LKA Berlin. Chief inspector Annett Mau specializes in the financial exploitation of older people. She takes care of Jesse. For her a classic case of inheritance sneaking: “The perpetrator did what we call the classic pattern. She offered herself. She actually provided help – at short notice. Then she immediately dropped the facade and tried to get him out of the house to urge, because the house was encumbered with the right of occupancy, wanted to get rid of him.”

And their investigations show: Jesse is not the only victim of Nerma. “We were able to reconstruct that in many cases she has already done so. She is an absolutely classic repeat offender,” says the inspector.

Although the police are already investigating, any help comes too late for Klaus Jesse. On March 10, 2020, Nerma goes to Klaus Jesse. In her hand she has a stick-like object. She hits the old man on the head several times and punches him massively in the chest with her fist. He collapses and ends up in a pool of blood in the hallway. The police later reconstructed this sequence of events.

Seven months later, the district court in Berlin sentenced Nerma to 9.5 years in prison for this act. She is silent in the procedure and also the request of Report Mainz she doesn’t answer.

Legacy scams are legal in Germany

Commissioner Mau says she is touched that she couldn’t protect Jesse: “That hits me, because I want to help, I want to protect, but that’s not possible, not with this legal situation.” Inheritance smuggling has never been a punishable offence, and by implication it is therefore legal.

Claudia Mahler, an expert at the UN Human Rights Council for the interests of older people, also calls for a change in the legal situation. Other countries protect their seniors much better: “In the USA it is regulated like this, if the trust was tricked, played with feelings or there is compulsion behind it, that I can reverse the transaction or withdraw the power of attorney.” “Undue Influence” – inappropriate influence – is the name of the legal institute there. In Germany this is not possible.

Politicians call for more protection for older people

Two years ago, the FDP had campaigned massively for the protection of older people from financial exploitation, at that time still in the opposition. In two small inquiries to the federal government and an application in the Bundestag, the current Federal Justice Minister Marco Buschmann, together with the FDP parliamentary group, called for a package of measures against the financial exploitation of older people. This application was rejected by the Bundestag at the time.

In the meantime, the topic has also arrived in other parts of politics: In autumn, the conference of justice ministers of the federal states asked the Federal Ministry of Justice to examine whether “criminal legislative changes” are necessary. The Bavarian Minister of Justice Georg Eisenreich (CSU) criticizes that the current legal situation gives “the protection gaps in the area of ​​criminal prosecution as well as in the abuse of powers of attorney.” And these gaps in protection must be closed, he demands.

The traffic light parties are also in agreement in the coalition agreement: “We will protect older people from discrimination and financial exploitation – in particular through powers of attorney.”

Minister of Justice sees no need for action

But as Minister of Justice, Buschmann gave a clear rejection of the protection of older people. On request from Report Mainz explains his ministry: “The examination has shown that there is no need for changes in the penal code. The penal code already contains sufficient options for the appropriate punishment of property and property crimes to the detriment of older people.”

The Bavarian Minister of Justice criticized this clear rejection: “I cannot understand the rejection, neither the result nor the reasoning convinces me.”

LKA commissioner Mau also has no understanding for this decision: “We get calls from all over Germany from desperate relatives and from those affected themselves. And basically I have to say to everyone: I can’t help them.”