A repeat fraudster who robbed a couple of $126,000 by tricking them into thinking he was buying a duplex could get away with a lenient sentence, if her relatives succeed in reimbursing the victims for her.
“If there is a full refund, there will be a lenient common suggestion,” said Me Denis Trottier of the Crown in the case of Gloria Echevarria Albu Paz this Tuesday at the Montreal courthouse.
Just before, the 67-year-old defendant pleaded guilty to a fraud that began in 2015 to stretch for 5 years.
At the time, Echevarria Albu Paz was already on probation due to a fraud conviction. However, that did not prevent him from doing it again, this time targeting a couple he met by chance a few years earlier. Taking advantage of their desire for home ownership, she used the “ghost house” scheme.
Non-existent property
“She told them that a lady was leaving the country, that she was in charge of selling her duplex at a low price, and that if the couple were interested in buying it, they had to make a deposit of $ 4,000 for the opening of the case,” explained the Crown.
After several meetings, the couple accepted the offer and made a first payment, without however becoming the owner since the duplex did not exist.
“She was telling them there was a dispute in court, that the property had been seized, that there was a change of judge [dans le soi-disant dossier]… “, listed the Crown, explaining that the fraudster even gave them an appointment at the courthouse on several occasions.
Repayment
And of course, the fraudster continued to extract money from them. Caught in this spiral, the couple shelled out $500 to $1,500 a week, for a total of $126,000.
“They lost everything,” dropped the Crown, explaining that both the husband and his wife especially wanted to see the lost money again.
But as Echevarria Albu Paz does not have the funds to reimburse, it is his relatives who will pay in his place, and who will allow him to obtain clemency from the prosecution.
And while awaiting sentencing next January, with the agreement of the Crown, she will remain free on bail.
This decision raised the eyebrows of Judge Jean-Jacques Gagné, who recalled that Echevarria Albu Paz has several antecedents of fraud. In 2013, she had also received a prison sentence, followed by probation, for an identical fraud.
“At the next date, she will have to be in front of me with her personal belongings, because I will incarcerate her regardless of the lawyers’ suggestion,” he said.