David Jackson is a Pulitzer-winning investigative reporter whose work has focused on lifting the voices of neglected people amid life-threatening government failures. He was born and raised in Chicago and was an investigative reporter at the Chicago Tribune from 1991 to 2020, except for a year at The Washington Post, where he shared the 1999 Pulitzer Prize for public service for a series on residents shot by police. He is also a four-time Pulitzer finalist, for stories including an exposé of profit-making juvenile detention companies and a series on extradition failures, which prompted congressional hearings and reform efforts in the United States, Mexico, and elsewhere.
The horror film producer is accused in court docs of soliciting investments from elder clients, part of what experts say is a growing national trend of financial professionals preying on older Americans and their bank accounts.
In a letter to a social service agency, the Cook County Public Guardian criticized a lack of state intervention in several instances in which older adults with disabilities were being defrauded.
Advocates and experts say there are a number of reasons Black Americans are targeted more for financial scams, including higher rates of Alzheimer’s disease, disparities in wealth and financial literacy, and lack of police response.
Injustice Watch reviewed thousands of pages of records, analyzed previously unpublished federal data, and interviewed more than 50 victims, family members, and experts for our project on elder financial exploitation.
Cases are near an all-time high, while arrests and prosecutions have plummeted. Meanwhile, many older adults, like 91-year-old Paul Borik, are losing their life savings as social service caseworkers watch from the sidelines.