‘I trusted her with everything I had,’ fraud victim says
A Windsor woman is facing 50 fraud-related charges in connection with multiple money-collecting schemes and multiple victims, say Amherstburg police.
Audrey Annette Bishop, 52, was arrested on April 20 as a result of a six-month investigation.
Amherstburg police spokesman Const. Steve Owen said detectives began looking into the accused after one of the alleged victims came forward in October 2016.
The alleged victim told police the accused had been lying to her and stealing from her over the course of at least three years.
“It was a friendship,” Owen said. “Obviously, not much of a friendship.” More alleged victims followed. Investigators believe the accused used “many different approaches” to commit fraud.
Owen would not go into specifics regarding the methods, citing the pending court proceedings.
The complainants — 10 at last count — include residents of both Amherstburg and Windsor.
Total losses are estimated at $200,000.
According to police, anyone who was befriended by the accused is a potential victim.
Asked if a specific age group was targeted, Owen said those who have come forward range “across the board.”
“They are all different demographics. There are males, females, elderly, middle-aged,” Owen said.
Anyone who has had contact with the accused where money was exchanged under suspicious circumstances is asked to contact Det. Const. Margaret O’Brien of Amherstburg police at 519-7368559, ext. 226.
Anonymous tips can be made via Crime Stoppers at 519-258-8477 or www.catchcrooks.com. The total charges against Bishop consist of:
19 counts of fraud not exceeding $5,000; 12 counts of fraud over $5,000; 13 counts of using, dealing with or acting on a forged document as if it were genuine;
Four counts of causing another person to use a forged document as if it were genuine;
Two counts of theft not exceeding $5,000.
Fraud offences with a value over $5,000 carry a maximum penalty of 14 years in prison. Fraud offences where the value does not exceed $5,000 carry a maximum penalty of two years.
At press time, Bishop remained in custody in Windsor.
For Joann Cazabon-Hicks, a 62-year-old former Amherstburg resident, the charges against the accused are the culmination of a bizarre, convoluted ordeal that began years ago when they struck up a close association.
“She was my neighbour’s daughter,” Cazabon-Hicks said.
“I trusted her a lot. I trusted her with everything I had.… There is so much more to this story that no one knows.
“I’m not a stupid person. But at that time, my husband had just passed away and I was very vulnerable. I was very naive.
“We became friends immediately, because I needed a friend and she was close by.”
Cazabon-Hicks believes she has personally lost more than $95,000 and described herself as financially ruined. But she said the emotional and psychological toll has been worse, including family estrangements and episodes of isolation.
“I have no words to explain how I feel,” Cazabon-Hicks said.
“It’s hard for me to imagine that I let that happen to me.”
An individual by the name of Audrey Annette Bishop is the subject of an outstanding arrest warrant by the Sheriff’s Office in Flathead County, Mont. — originally issued in March 2001.
Amherstburg police could not confirm if that warrant is related to the accused in this case.