An 18-year-old fraudster who bilked thousands of dollars from vulnerable seniors through a false representative scheme is getting off with six months in detention. A sweet sentence worthy of “youth court”, according to the judge, who had no choice but to endorse the joint suggestion of the Crown and the defense.
“This crime is worth two years. Six months is a juvenile court sentence. You’re lucky this is a common suggestion, I won’t intervene. I would have sent him to the penitentiary, I guarantee you,” judge Pierre Bélisle was surprised last week.
Judges are usually required to accept joint suggestions. Since the Cook decision in 2016, the Supreme Court has set a high bar for a judge to reject such a suggestion.
Judge Bélisle was visibly unhappy with the lenient sentence proposed in Koby Elong’s case. The 18-year-old CEGEP student pleaded guilty to charges of fraud, attempted car theft and possession of a burglary tool. He will have to serve a total sentence of six months.
“I remind you that we are not in youth court. We are in adult court, it has to show,” Judge Bélisle advised before hearing the joint suggestion from both parties.
The suggested sentence takes into account the early settlement of cases and the fact that the fraudster is beginning his adult life.
“It’s a good start,” quipped the judge of the Court of Quebec.
Six elders victims of fraud
Koby Elong duped six vulnerable seniors into obtaining their debit cards and PINs through a widespread crime, false representative fraud.
Same modus operandi each time: the targeted person receives a phone call from an individual posing as a police officer. The latter explains to the person that they have just been the victim of fraud. He suggests that she leave her ATM cards and her PIN in an envelope outside her home. The bandits then collect everything and withdraw money from the accounts of the victims, generally seniors.
Koby Elong was using the cards less than an hour after the scam calls. An accomplice, who could not be identified by the police, was responsible for contacting the victims.
One of them actually realized the deception a few minutes after being called. But the damage was already done: the envelope left on his doorstep had already disappeared.
Koby Elong used this ploy six times during the summer of 2023.
The banks reimbursed the sums lost by the trapped citizens, despite the fact that they submitted their PINs voluntarily. “These are vulnerable people. It’s a very well-known ploy that banks are used to,” explained the Crown prosecutor.
Losses for the three targeted financial institutions are estimated at $10,606.18. The total fraud amounted to almost $23,000, as Koby Elong made other attempts which failed thanks to the imposed withdrawal limit.
The young criminal was identified by authorities on surveillance camera images near an ATM. He could easily obtain the maximum withdrawal amount there since his victims had transmitted their PIN.
A heinous crime, according to judge
“We must not say that because they are banks, it does not matter. You are lucky that they were reimbursed,” insisted Judge Bélisle.
He described the crimes committed by the young man as “heavy and heinous”. “Stealing from elderly people is heinous. I don’t know what to say about this kind of crime except that it blows me away, the lack of morality,” he explained to Koby Elong.
The latter will have to do 50 hours of community service and repay the losses suffered by the three financial institutions within two years, in addition to his six-month sentence.
The judge also questioned how the young man was going to go about resolving his debt.
His client will start working again and become an asset for the company, assured his lawyer, Me Jean-Luc Dagenais.
It’s Me Geneviève Bélanger who represented the public prosecutor in this case.