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Assembly Bill A8051

2025-2026 Legislative Session

Relates to increasing penalties for certain larceny and fraud crimes against elderly persons

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Bill Amendments

2025-A8051 - Details

Current Committee:
Assembly Codes
Law Section:
Penal Law
Laws Affected:
Add §§165.80 & 190.91, Pen L

2025-A8051 - Summary

Increases penalties for certain larceny and fraud crimes against elderly persons; makes such crimes a class B felony.

2025-A8051 - Bill Text download pdf 

                             
                     S T A T E   O F   N E W   Y O R K
 ________________________________________________________________________
 
                                   8051
 
                        2025-2026 Regular Sessions
 
                           I N  A S S E M B L Y
 
                              April 22, 2025
                                ___________
 
 Introduced  by M. of A. STERN -- read once and referred to the Committee
   on Codes
 
 AN ACT to amend the penal law, in relation to increasing  penalties  for
   the crimes of theft and fraud when directed against an elderly person
 
   THE  PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK, REPRESENTED IN SENATE AND ASSEM-
 BLY, DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:

   Section 1. Legislative intent. This Legislature finds that  theft  and
 fraud  against  seniors have increased steadily since 2020. According to
 the FBI Internet Complaint Center's  statistics,  in  2023  elder  fraud
 complaints  increased  14%.  The  Legislature holds that crimes targeted
 against the elderly take a wide variety of forms, from  check  fraud  to
 identity  theft  or through scams where individuals pose as tech support
 or even as family members. This Legislature further finds that according
 to NASDAQ's 2024 Financial Crimes Report, one in ten  elderly  Americans
 are  victims  of  theft  or  fraud each year, in total, $77.7 billion in
 fraud globally has been linked to elderly victims.
   Therefore, this Legislature finds that to combat the increasing occur-
 rence of these crimes, and to treat them with  the  severity  that  they
 deserve,    theft  and  fraud  directed towards an elderly victim should
 hereby be classified as a separate crime that is classified as  Class  B
 felony.
   §  2.  The penal law is amended by adding a new section 165.80 to read
 as follows:
 § 165.80 THEFT AGAINST AN ELDERLY PERSON.
   1. A PERSON IS GUILTY OF THEFT AGAINST AN  ELDERLY  PERSON  WHEN  SUCH
 PERSON  COMMITS  AN  OFFENSE DEFINED IN THIS TITLE WHEN THE VICTIM IS AN
 ELDERLY PERSON.
   2. FOR THE PURPOSES OF THIS SECTION, "ELDERLY PERSON" MEANS  A  PERSON
 WHO IS SIXTY YEARS OF AGE OR OLDER.
   THEFT AGAINST AN ELDERLY PERSON IS A CLASS B FELONY.
 
  EXPLANATION--Matter in ITALICS (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
                       [ ] is old law to be omitted.
                                                            LBD11628-01-5
 A. 8051                             2

2025-A8051A (ACTIVE) - Details

Current Committee:
Assembly Codes
Law Section:
Penal Law
Laws Affected:
Add §§165.80 & 190.91, Pen L

2025-A8051A (ACTIVE) - Summary

Increases penalties for certain larceny and fraud crimes against elderly persons; makes such crimes a class B felony.

2025-A8051A (ACTIVE) - Bill Text download pdf 

                             
                     S T A T E   O F   N E W   Y O R K
 ________________________________________________________________________
 
                                  8051--A
 
                        2025-2026 Regular Sessions
 
                           I N  A S S E M B L Y
 
                              April 22, 2025
                                ___________
 
 Introduced  by M. of A. STERN -- read once and referred to the Committee
   on Codes -- recommitted to the Committee on Codes in  accordance  with
   Assembly Rule 3, sec. 2 -- committee discharged, bill amended, ordered
   reprinted as amended and recommitted to said committee
 
 AN  ACT  to amend the penal law, in relation to increasing penalties for
   the crimes of larceny and fraud committed against an elderly person
 
   THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK, REPRESENTED IN SENATE AND  ASSEM-
 BLY, DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:
 
   Section 1. Legislative intent. This legislature finds that larceny and
 fraud  against  seniors have increased steadily since 2020. According to
 the FBI Internet Complaint Center's  statistics,  in  2023  elder  fraud
 complaints  increased  14%.  This legislature holds that crimes targeted
 against the elderly take a wide variety of forms, from  check  fraud  to
 identity  theft  or through scams where individuals pose as tech support
 or even as family members. This legislature further finds that according
 to NASDAQ's 2024 Financial Crimes Report, one in ten  elderly  Americans
 are  victims  of  larceny or fraud each year, in total, $77.7 billion in
 fraud globally has been linked to elderly victims.
   This legislature also finds that New York seniors are at greater  risk
 of  fraud.  According  to  an  FBI  report, New York ranks fourth in the
 nation for elder financial fraud losses, with more than 4,300 New  York-
 ers  aged 60 and older losing a total of $203,437,635 in 2023. This loss
 translates to $557,000 a day, or $23,200 an hour, and  an  average  loss
 per victim of $47,000.
   Therefore, this legislature finds that to combat the increasing occur-
 rence  of  these  crimes,  and to treat them with the severity that they
 deserve, larceny and fraud directed towards  an  elderly  victim  should
 hereby  be  classified as a separate crime that is classified as Class B
 felony.
   § 2. The penal law is amended by adding a new section 155.50  to  read
 as follows:

  EXPLANATION--Matter in ITALICS (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
                       [ ] is old law to be omitted.
                                                            LBD11628-05-6

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