A repeat fraudster awaiting sentence headed to prison earlier than expected on Tuesday after the discovery of new embezzlements, including identity theft of a nurse.
“Madame used, in the context of her employment, the member number of the Order of another person to be able to practice the profession, while she is subject to a lifetime exclusion,” lamented Tuesday Ms.e Alexandre Dubois, Crown prosecutor, during the hearing of Yannick Pierre-Louis, at the Saint-Jérôme courthouse.
The prosecution then requested the revocation of the release of the accused, who seemed confused, in the dock.
Until last week, the 58-year-old woman was free, awaiting her sentence in a case of employer fraud of nearly $88,000.
Last December, she admitted to having subtly deposited large amounts into her bank account, in 2017 and 2018, as a “master payroll”.
Photo Martin Alarie
The same name
Yanick Pierre-Louis, however, was not his first fraud of this type. Between 1997 and 2001, the thief stole more than $2M from Quebecor Media.
No less than 236 faulty transactions were recorded in his accounts at the time.
For this, the holder of a bachelor’s degree in administration received a three-year prison sentence in 2009.
This time, the investigation revealed that the unrepentant fraudster was hired as a nursing assistant by a CHSLD in Laval last August, according to police documents filed in court.
To do this, the one who had been disbarred for life in 2012 after stealing from a patient, would have used the membership number of the Order of Auxiliary Nurses of Quebec (OIIAQ) of another lady who wears exactly the same name she.
The deception was only discovered after a human resources manager acknowledged it in an article in Newspaper, in December.
Further research into it would then have been carried out. Pierre-Louis has since been fired.
Blocked folder
In addition, Pierre-Louis, already accused in another person assumption case since 2019, allegedly reused the social insurance number of a complainant for various job applications, until last summer.
The only link uniting them is that the complainant was allegedly employed in a restaurant chain, while she was responsible for payroll there.
“ [Son] file at Service Canada is completely blocked. He cannot benefit from unemployment at the moment,” criticized Mr.e Dubois, concerning the alleged victim, who recently became aware of these offenses.
Me Alexandre Dubois, Crown prosecutor
Photo Martin Alarie
For her part, the mother of three, who represented herself, did not convince the court to release her.
“The guarantees are weak,” submitted to Judge Me Dubois. I suggest to you that this is not the end of the beans.”
Upcoming charges
In this context, the court had no difficulty in deciding.
“It seems obvious to me. She no longer benefits from the presumption of innocence. Detention is necessary,” said Judge Sophie Lavergne.
The prosecution claimed that Pierre-Louis should eventually be formally charged for these new offenses.
She is awaiting trial in no less than five different fraud cases.
She must return to court on Wednesday, at the Joliette courthouse.