When it comes to the qualities required to be contemptible, these two guys win an Oscar. First, let me tell you that a detective who deals exclusively in cases of "elder abuse" recently told me that when it comes to senior citizens, a "power of attorney" can easily be transformed into a "license to loot."

In the following case, family members are "too busy" to help Auntie manage her finances. She’s in her late eighties and suffers from a form of dementia. One-on-one communication with Auntie is nearly impossible.

Frustrated, the family hires a lawyer and a certified public accountant to deal with Auntie’s finances. The lawyer and the CPA are given full power of attorney to manage the old lady’s affairs.

Incidentally, the size of the estate at the outset of this episode is $6.5 million — a dandy sum of money. I’m sure you’ve already figured out what’s happening here. With the expertise of charlatans, these two villains, over a period of about two years, bilk Auntie nearly bone dry.

With the dastardly deed committed, these evil mercenaries disappear into the darkness like a pair of jackals. The remains of the six-point-five mil fortune is spent down to a mere $2,000.

With such a small sum of money remaining in Auntie’s account, the evil caretakers feel they can no longer afford to pay for a live-in nurse. What to do about the bedridden old lady? They do the only thing their evil minds can think of.

They remove all of Auntie’s identification and take her, in a wheel chair, to a hospital emergency room. They pay a kid $10 to wheel her into the ER lobby, leave her, and run away.

This woman now lives on public assistance. The lawyer and the CPA who stole her fortune are spending the money in parts unknown, and with the likelihood that they will never be called to wwanswer for their crimes — at least not here on earth.