https://www.wtov9.com/news/local/wheeling-conference-tackles-elder-financial-abuse-and-money-laundering-prevention

WHEELING, W.Va. — A special financial crimes conference took place on Tuesday in Wheeling.

United States Attorney William Ihlenfeld, of the Northern District of West Virginia, and United States Attorney Will Thompson, of the Southern district of the state, hosted the Mountain State Bank Secrecy Act and Anti-Money Laundering Conference.

The event was aimed at helping banking officials and compliance officers.

"The purpose of the conference was to help those on the front lines who see money laundering, who see elder financial exploitation, who see things like romance scams," Ihlenfeld said.

People like bank officials, casino employees, and stockbrokers could attend online or in-person to help them better identify scams and learn how to react.

"We just wrapped up with a panel with FBI agents, IRS agents, and federal prosecutors and you could tell from the questions not only do they understand their role as bank compliance officers, but they want to do even more.”

One big topic at the panel - elder financial exploitation - and learning what financial compliance officers can do to protect those in their golden years. Ihlenfeld said it’s a major problem in West Virginia, both scams and thefts.

"We are seeing an uptick in the Northern District of West Virginia,” Ihlenfeld said.

“One of the challenges we all face, whether we’re in law enforcement or in banking, is to convince someone that they shouldn’t give any more money to the person that’s taking advantage of them. “So, we talked a lot about that, came up with a lot of good ideas. We’re all going to do a better job moving forward on how to protect older West Virginians."