A former bank employee who appropriated a vulnerable old man’s life savings – $435,000 – should be sentenced to 30 months in prison, according to the Crown. Fadi Hamdan, however, hopes to get away with house arrest and community work.
“Here, you don’t have any enrichment. It is someone who has sunk, ” pleaded defense lawyer Me François Taddeo on Wednesday, demanding a sentence of two years less a day in prison to be served in the community or 12 months in prison for his client.
Yet Fadi Hamdan lined his pockets for years by abusing the trust of Demetre Visvardis, an 89-year-old Montrealer who was living in a CHSLD in 2018. The vulnerable, familyless octogenarian had met Fadi Hamdan through the through the mother. He trusted her to take care of his financial affairs.
With this power of attorney, the fraudster took advantage of it to appropriate most of the victim’s funds. He was thus able to buy land for several tens of thousands of dollars in Ecuador. The defense argues, however, that this $435,000 fraud caused no “harm” to the victim, who has since died.
“Monsieur is a financial adviser, he knows exactly what he is doing,” argued Me Nicolas Ammerlaan. The Crown prosecutor thus illustrated the crime of “opportunity” committed by Fadi Hamdan: “He sees the pot of treasure at the end of the rainbow and is dazzled by the money of Monsieur”.
At the time of the crimes, Fadi Hamdan held a senior position at the National Bank. Before Judge Yves Paradis on Wednesday, the fraudster boasted at length about his past successes in this banking institution, listing all the trips paid for by his employer. However, he complained of having been fired when La Presse revealed his civil litigation on this file in November 2018.
Moreover, Fadi Hamdan showed no remorse for his crimes, posing rather as a victim. He complained that he could no longer afford a housekeeper. Under a civil agreement, he must reimburse $275,000 to the victim’s estate. He has about $154,000 left to pay.
He has not found a job in finance since the charges were laid and does contracts here and there on television. He is also a member of the Union des artistes (UDA), according to the UDA directory.
Judge Paradis will hand down the sentence next September.