Montreal man who defrauded seniors ordered to pay $80,000 in restitution

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A man who was part of a ring of scammers targeting elderly people in west Montreal was sentenced Friday to 23 months in prison and ordered to pay $80,000 in restitution to his victims.

Quebec District Court Judge Pierre Labelle described the joint sentencing proposal for Carl-René Moody as “frivolous” before he accepted it, but he also noted that the 21-year-old Terrebonne man saved court time by pleading guilty to fraud and the crime. conspiracy charges in January.

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“Had there been a trial, the sentence could have been much higher, but he pleaded guilty, pleaded guilty and retained judicial resources in the Montreal court,” said the judge, noting that Moody had no prior criminal record.

In 2002, Moody was part of a group arrested by Montreal police as part of an investigation into hundreds of fraud cases in the LaSalle, Verdun and Sud-Ouest districts. Six people were charged in a Montreal court.

Montreal police provided a detailed description of the fraud scheme during the 2022 arrest.

“(It's) primarily a phone call to a vulnerable senior and believing there's been a fraudulent transaction on their bank card. The fake representative tells the victim in a persistent tone that they need to take immediate action to rectify the situation and asks them to provide their personal identification number (PIN), Montreal police said in a statement. “The scammer then tells the victim to put their bank card inside the envelope and the postman will take the envelope back to the financial institution. After that, the accomplice in uniform quickly arrived at the victim's place of residence, took the envelope and left.”

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Moody had 22 days left to serve Friday, when time behind bars is counted toward his sentence. His sentence includes two years of probation, during which he must pay $16,000 to Desjardins Financial Institution. He is also required to pay a total of $64,000 to the victims of his crime over the next 10 years at the rate of $8,000 per year.

When he pleaded guilty earlier this year, Moody admitted he played a leading role in defrauding 27 elderly people.

His twin brother, Carl-Henri, also pleaded guilty to fraud and conspiracy in January and is due to be sentenced at a later date.

On Jan. 31, Kevin Gauthier Rolenzki, 22, of Terrebonne pleaded guilty to wire fraud. He was sentenced to 18 months in prison, which he is serving in the community. He was also ordered to return 15,000 dollars.

Another man who was part of the fraud ring has yet to be sentenced, and two others arrested in 2022 are awaiting trial.

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