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| | HB5653 Enrolled | | LRB097 18560 RLC 66006 b |
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1 | | AN ACT concerning criminal law.
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2 | | Be it enacted by the People of the State of Illinois,
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3 | | represented in the General Assembly:
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4 | | Section 5. The Criminal Code of 1961 is amended by changing |
5 | | Section 17-56 as follows:
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6 | | (720 ILCS 5/17-56) (was 720 ILCS 5/16-1.3)
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7 | | Sec. 17-56. Financial exploitation of an elderly person or |
8 | | a
person with a disability.
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9 | | (a) A person commits financial exploitation of an elderly
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10 | | person or a person with a disability when he or she stands in a
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11 | | position of trust
or confidence with the
elderly person or a |
12 | | person with a disability
and he
or she knowingly and by
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13 | | deception or
intimidation obtains control over the property of |
14 | | an elderly person or
a person
with a disability
or illegally |
15 | | uses the assets or resources of an elderly person or a
person |
16 | | with a disability.
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17 | | (b) Sentence. Financial exploitation of an elderly person |
18 | | or a person
with a
disability is: (1) a Class 4
felony if the |
19 | | value of the property is $300 or less, (2) a Class 3 felony if
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20 | | the value of the property is more than $300 but less than |
21 | | $5,000, (3) a Class 2
felony if the value of the property is |
22 | | $5,000 or more but less than
$50,000, and (4) a Class 1 felony |
23 | | if the value of the property is $50,000 or more
or if the |
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1 | | elderly person is over 70 years of age and the value of the
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2 | | property is $15,000 or more or if the elderly person is 80 |
3 | | years of age or
older and the value of the property is $5,000 |
4 | | or more.
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5 | | (c) For purposes of this Section:
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6 | | (1) "Elderly person" means a person 60
years of age or |
7 | | older.
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8 | | (2) "Person with a disability" means a person who
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9 | | suffers from a physical or mental impairment resulting from
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10 | | disease, injury, functional disorder or congenital |
11 | | condition that impairs the
individual's mental or physical |
12 | | ability to independently manage his or her
property or |
13 | | financial resources, or both.
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14 | | (3) "Intimidation" means the communication to an |
15 | | elderly person or a
person with a disability that he or she |
16 | | shall be deprived of food and
nutrition,
shelter, |
17 | | prescribed
medication or medical care and treatment or |
18 | | conduct as provided in Section 12-6 of this Code .
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19 | | (4) "Deception" means, in addition to its meaning as |
20 | | defined in Section
15-4 of this Code,
a misrepresentation |
21 | | or concealment of material fact
relating to the terms of a |
22 | | contract or agreement entered into with the
elderly person |
23 | | or person with a disability or to the
existing or
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24 | | pre-existing condition of
any of the property involved in |
25 | | such contract or agreement; or the use or
employment of any |
26 | | misrepresentation, false pretense or false promise in
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1 | | order to induce, encourage or solicit the elderly person or
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2 | | person with
a disability to
enter into a contract or |
3 | | agreement.
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4 | | The illegal use of the assets or resources of an
elderly |
5 | | person or a person with a disability includes, but is not |
6 | | limited
to, the misappropriation of those assets or resources |
7 | | by undue influence,
breach of a fiduciary relationship, fraud, |
8 | | deception, extortion, or
use of the assets or resources |
9 | | contrary to law. |
10 | | A person stands in a position of
trust and confidence with |
11 | | an elderly person or person with a
disability when he (i) is a
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12 | | parent, spouse, adult child or other relative by blood or |
13 | | marriage of the
elderly person or person with a disability, |
14 | | (ii) is a joint
tenant or
tenant in common with
the elderly |
15 | | person or person with a disability, (iii) has
a legal or
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16 | | fiduciary relationship
with the elderly person or person with a |
17 | | disability, or (iv) is a financial
planning or investment |
18 | | professional , or (v) is a paid or unpaid caregiver for the |
19 | | elderly person or person with a disability .
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20 | | (d) Limitations. Nothing in this Section shall be construed |
21 | | to limit the remedies
available to the victim under the |
22 | | Illinois Domestic Violence Act of 1986.
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23 | | (e) Good faith efforts. Nothing in this Section shall be |
24 | | construed to impose criminal
liability on a person who has made |
25 | | a good faith effort to assist the
elderly person or person with |
26 | | a disability in the
management of his or her
property, but |
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1 | | through
no fault of his or her own has been unable to provide |
2 | | such assistance.
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3 | | (f) Not a defense. It shall not be a defense to financial |
4 | | exploitation of an elderly
person or person with a disability |
5 | | that the accused reasonably believed
that the victim was
not an |
6 | | elderly person or person with a disability.
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7 | | (g) Civil Liability. A person who is charged by information |
8 | | or
indictment with the offense of financial exploitation of an |
9 | | elderly person
or person with a disability and who fails or |
10 | | refuses to return
the victim's property
within 60 days |
11 | | following a written demand from the victim or the victim's
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12 | | legal representative shall be liable to the victim or to the |
13 | | estate of the
victim in damages of treble the amount of the |
14 | | value of the property
obtained, plus reasonable attorney fees |
15 | | and court costs. The burden of
proof that the defendant |
16 | | unlawfully obtained the victim's property shall be
by a |
17 | | preponderance of the evidence. This subsection shall be |
18 | | operative
whether or not the defendant has been convicted of |
19 | | the offense.
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20 | | (h) If a person is charged with financial exploitation of |
21 | | an elderly person or a person with a disability that involves |
22 | | the taking or loss of property valued at more than $5,000, a |
23 | | prosecuting attorney may file a petition with the circuit court |
24 | | of the county in which the defendant has been charged to freeze |
25 | | the assets of the defendant in an amount equal to but not |
26 | | greater than the alleged value of lost or stolen property in |