Avoiding Scams, Fraud, Identity Theft & Financial Abuse

Posted by bonnie on 15 April 2019

Marin County’s Department of Aging and Adult Services helps to combat the financial abuse of older and dependent adults through the FAST program. 

The division’s Financial Abuse Specialist Team, known as FAST, is currently chaired by the Public Guardian and Adult Protective Service offices.  These county employees work with a team of dedicated volunteers from the community to provide training and consultation on recognizing, investigating, stopping and preventing elder financial abuse.

There is a wealth of expertise on the team, with professionals represented from diverse professional fields such as accounting, law, business and banking.  The volunteers are utilized both as community educators, and as financial experts. The team partners with the District Attorney’s office and with local police departments to track and prosecute cases.  The team meets bi-monthly and all FAST meetings and investigations are kept strictly confidential according to an MOU developed by Marin’s County Counsel.

Presenters:

Roberta Robinson is a graduate of the University of California Berkeley.
She is retired Vice President and Branch Manager Bank of America and formerly President of the San Anselmo Chamber of Commerce.
Roberta was also former Treasurer of the Town of San Anselmo and foreperson of the Marin County Civil Grand Jury 2007-2008.
Roberta is an initial member of the Marin County FAST team which began in 2011.

Oak Dowling, JD, is a retired attorney with 43 years of practice, including 31 years in San Rafael. He’s a graduate of the University of Wisconsin – Madison Law School and a native of Chicago. He has lived in Marin County for over 45 years and for over 25 years he was a part-time Instructor of Law at College of Marin.
Oak has been a member of the Marin County Financial Abuse Specialist Team (FAST) team since its inception in 2011 and was selected as Outstanding Marin County Volunteer of the Year for 2012-2013. He has been a member of Marin Forum for over 20 years and was its President in 2002.
For the past 8 years Oak has been an Instructor in the OLLI program at Dominican University in the subject of “Courtroom Drama in the Movies and Theatre.” In his Law classes, he uses courtroom drama to demonstrate legal principles. As an avocation, he performed in theatre in Marin and San Francisco for 15 years. Oak has been a member of the Rotary Club of San Rafael for over 41 years and has served the Club as Director and Speaker’s Chairman.