Man used Humboldt tragedy fraudulently to get cash: judge
SASKATOON A Saskatoon judge says Andrij Olesiuk’s claim that he gave cash to a canvasser fundraising for the Humboldt Broncos — after he pocketed almost $3,700 he made off a Gofundme campaign allegedly raising money for the hockey team — is “too incredible of a story to believe.”
Olesiuk, 33, closed his eyes and swayed back and forth in his seat as Judge Brent Klause read his decision on Friday in Saskatoon provincial court, finding Olesiuk guilty of fraud under $5,000 and possession of property obtained by crime.
Sentencing arguments have been adjourned until March 3.
Olesiuk, who changed his name to Jay Max Olesiuk, testified at his judge-alone trial last month that he set up a Gofundme account the morning after the April 6, 2018 bus crash that killed 16 people and injured 13 others.
He said his intention was to raise money for the people affected by the tragedy.
The #Prayforhumboldt online fundraiser indicated the money would go “directly” to the Humboldt Broncos hockey team.
Instead, court heard the nearly $3,700 collected went directly into Olesiuk’s bank account and was used for personal expenses.
Olesiuk claimed he gave $4,100 in cash to a woman who came to the door of his Martensville home raising money for the Humboldt Broncos on April 24, 2018 — the day after he closed the Gofundme page. He said he figured it was a way to make up for the Gofundme money he had spent, but he did not recall the canvasser’s organization or whether the money ever made it to the Broncos organization.
He also said he received a “thank you” flyer — which was never found — and a receipt that must have burned in a house fire after his arrest in 2019.
“He kept that money,” Klause said when assessing Olesiuk’s credibility, ruling he lied about the woman coming to his door.
Someone who claims to run “cash businesses” should have known better, he added.
“If you’re a competent businessman, you don’t make a decision like that. It’s ridiculous,” Crown prosecutor Darren Howarth said outside court.
Howarth said Olesiuk’s story was unbelievable for many reasons: The fact that he remembered the canvasser’s height, but not her name or the organization, and that he happened to have large amounts of cash lying around, despite his poor financial record.
“I think what’s unique about (this case) is its connection to taking advantage of such a terrible tragedy, taking advantage of that tragedy to benefit yourself. It’s a horrible thing to do.”