Six years after being robbed of her deceased spouse’s inheritance by a clever manipulator, a sixty-year-old widow finally won her case in civil court, which ordered the fraudster to reimburse her more than $1.2 million.
“The events led [la dame] in a difficult journey […] “But we must remember that no matter how harsh the winter, spring and the birds always come back,” said Judge David E. Roberge when he recently ruled in favor of Kiyoko Matsuba at the Montreal courthouse.
It is that Mme Matsuba, 68, has been living in fear since she was robbed in 2018, shortly after the death of her partner of 20 years. She had met Neil Floyd, a musician from Saint-Lazarre who claimed to be a “good friend” of the deceased.
Given her restricted social circle in Canada, as well as her distress following the death of her spouse, Mme Matsuba then listened to Floyd, who impressed her with his “advice” on how to ensure she got the deceased’s inheritance, while also being outgoing during romantic evenings.
“At the very least, he seemed to cultivate ambiguity to gain M’s trust.me Matsuba, at a time when she was vulnerable,” the judge noted.
He dips into the jackpot
And once this trust was gained, he had the lady sign several powers of attorney, in order to have access to the deceased’s property, supposedly “in order to protect them.”
He also helped himself to the deceased spouse’s home by taking a Patek Philippe watch, some models of which cost more than a car, making people believe that “it was probably a fake imported from China.”
But a few tens of thousands of dollars didn’t seem like enough for Floyd, who then sold a building owned by the deceased in downtown Montreal for $1.2 million. He kept the money, claiming it was to “protect the estate’s money.”
He then sold tens of thousands of dollars worth of company stock to keep the proceeds. And to protect himself in case of a lawsuit, he had the woman sign a letter saying she was “of sound mind” and announcing that she was transferring her money to “his good friend Neil Floyd” as a “gift” for his help.
Feeling of betrayal
Right after, Floyd finished robbing the sixty-year-old and completely changed his attitude towards her, claiming a “need for distance.” That’s when Mme Matsuba realized that Floyd might not be a good Samaritan, so she asked him to see the color of the money, but he allegedly claimed to have lost everything.
“She felt deeply betrayed,” the judgment reads.
But all of Floyd’s precautions weren’t enough, as he was sued in a civil suit and a judge ruled in favor of the woman by canceling the power of attorney and ordering Floyd to reimburse the woman for more than $1.2 million stolen. And as punishment for his actions, he will have to pay her more than $800,000 in property damages, as well as $125,000 in moral and punitive damages.