Compulsive gambling led Elfriede Lippa into bankruptcy at 91 after she ran through the better part of $300,000, mainly by remortgaging her paid-off Victoria condo. Her son and daughter say they were in the dark until it was far too late to help.
Now deemed mentally incompetent, Elfriede lives in long-term care in Oak Bay Lodge while Tom Lippa and Sue Yakubowich sort out the four liens registered against their mother鈥檚 Cook Street condo so they can sell it.
Elfriede came of age in wartorn Germany, and moved to sa国际传媒 with her husband George in 1954, first to Manitoba, then to Victoria in 1965.
George was in the television repair business. Elfriede worked as a waitress and manager at the Coffee House restaurant in the Mayfair shopping centre, and at Paul鈥檚 Motor Inn on Douglas Street before that. She loved bowling.
George died in 1997. Seven years later, Elfriede sold her home and moved to the condo. She had no mortgage and a nest egg of about $100,000.
Her comfortable life fell apart after she started gambling at the View Royal Casino.
She even went gambling last Christmas Eve, Christmas Day and Boxing Day, before and after spending time with her family, and without telling her plans to her children, who had given her gifts of money.
Now, her savings are gone and she has two mortgages. Elfriede owes HomEquity Bank, the chartered bank that arranged a reverse mortgage for her in 2010, nearly $200,000, and a private lender another $40,000.
鈥淢y mom lost her savings, her home, her health, her independence and damaged her most precious relationships as a result of a gambling addiction,鈥� Yakubowich said. 鈥淪he purposely hid her gambling problem and hid it very well.鈥�
The sa国际传媒 Ministry of Finance has told Elfriede that she can no longer defer her property taxes, because she has no equity left.
Yakubowich learned that in February, after her mother was hospitalized and asked her to look after her bills. There was much worse to come.
鈥淚 got her mail and started looking and I saw she owed over 300 grand,鈥� said Yakubowich. Coupons for $15听free slot play at View Royal Casino were also in the pile of mail.
A 96-year-old friend of Elfriede told Yakubowich that her mother had gambled compulsively and won big a couple of times.
Until Elfriede went into the hospital, she and her daughter had been getting together most days for lunch or tea. Elfriede would take Yakubowich鈥檚 dog, Arrow, for long walks.
She did not talk about driving to the casino, using her ATM card there, or going from financial institution to financial institution, raising the cash to keep gambling. Elfriede kept her secrets to herself.
Her mother didn鈥檛 confess until Yakubowich asked her, while she was in hospital, why听she went to the casino. 鈥淪he said very matter-of-factly: 鈥業 liked to.鈥� 鈥�
鈥淪he told me she would come to my house for a visit and then go to the casino after.鈥�
Yakubowich is convinced her mother鈥檚 Crohn鈥檚 attack was triggered by fear over what she had done. 鈥淪he had nowhere else to go.鈥�
Elfriede, who spent six weeks in hospital, was assessed as mentally incompetent on April 19.
Family members are fuming about the actions taken by financial institutions, which enabled her to keep gambling.
鈥淗er gambling addiction was financed by the banks,鈥� Yakubowich said.
In January 2009, Elfriede obtained a $150,000, 35-year mortgage from the Fairfield branch of the TD Bank, where she had been dealing for decades. By that May, the mortgage 鈥� secured by the equity in her condo 鈥� had been increased to $170,000.
鈥淚 am absolutely astonished that they would give an 85-year-old a mortgage for 35听years,鈥� said her son, Tom Lippa. 鈥淲hat 鈥� is she going to pay it back when she鈥檚 120?鈥�
Family members wonder if bank staff had any concerns that Elfriede might not be herself, and that it might be wise to contact her son or daughter to see what might be going on.
Some bank statements show four $200 ATM cash withdrawals on the same day, but do not indicate where the withdrawal occurred.
鈥淲ouldn鈥檛 you look at someone鈥檚 account and ask why they鈥檙e withdrawing three or four times a day?鈥� asked Yakubowich.
听
The TD Bank and the HomEquity Bank fall under the jurisdiction of the Office of the Privacy Commissioner of sa国际传媒. In 2015, the federal Personal Information and Electronic Documents Act was amended to allow banks to disclose personal information without consent to a government institution, to next of kin or authorized representatives with reasonable grounds to believe the individual has been or may be the victim of financial abuse.
鈥淥rganizations may make the disclosure only for the purpose of preventing or investigating the abuse, and only if it is reasonable to expect that the disclosure with the knowledge or consent of an individual would compromise the ability to prevent or investigate the abuse,鈥� the commission鈥檚 website states.
Whether someone gambling their way into bankruptcy fits that description is another matter.
At the View Royal Casino, operated by Great Canadian Gaming Corp., GameSense advisers contracted by the sa国际传媒 Lottery Corp. as well as other trained staff look out for problem gamblers. The casino doesn鈥檛 keep tabs on how much people win or lose, only their reactions to doing so.
Gamblers who display distress or aggression attract their attention; people who make repeated visits to the six ATM machines on site do not.
鈥淭his is an unfortunate situation,鈥� said Angela Koulyras of the sa国际传媒 Lottery Corporation, in an email. 鈥淲e care about our players and take our responsibility to offer safe and fun gambling entertainment seriously.鈥�
Over time, Elfriede gambled away her savings and her home.
鈥淗ow is it possible that an elderly woman on a $2,000 pension could be given such large amounts of money?鈥� asks daughter-in-law Lynda Lippa. 鈥淓lfie had no new clothes and nothing had been updated in her condo.鈥�
Elfriede was never interested in buying things or modernizing her condo, Yakubowich said. Gregarious in her late 80s, she liked being known as 鈥渢he candy lady鈥� for her habit of passing out wrapped sweets. Maybe she got a bigger kick out of taking 鈥渂ig wads鈥� of cash to the slot machines, her daughter surmised.
She acknowledges that her mother was determined to live life her way. Maybe she thought she was 鈥渟omebody鈥� at the casino at a time in life when elderly women can feel invisible.
Yakubowich said she is horrified that both Victoria and Saanich were vying for a second casino in Greater Victoria.
The family hopes that they can help some other families by telling their story.
鈥淣obody wants to be in this situation,鈥� Yakubowich said.
