Elderly fraud victim may lose his home, car

ST. CATHARINES, ONT. — Leslie Harrison has resigned himself to losing his home. And his car. And many of his possessions.

A fraud artist emptied the St. Catharines senior’s bank account and mortgaged his home, twice, Niagara Regional Police said. An arrest has been made, but Harrison won’t recover financially.

The 75-year-old, who was taken for about $200,000, police said, will have to move into an apartment soon.

The modest bungalow that Harrison has called home for 35 years is in foreclosure. His car sits unused in the driveway, waiting to be sold to pay his debts.

Harrison said he had $20 left to his name by the time the fraud was discovered. He survived from April to June with the help of food vouchers from a local church and $400 in travellers cheques he cashed after finding a wallet tucked in a drawer.

“It’s the worst case of elder abuse I have seen — and I have been here a long time,” said Det. Sgt. Paul Spiridi of the Niagara Regional Police fraud squad. “I’ve never seen anything like this, where someone has taken a vulnerable adult and left them in a state where they are facing foreclosure.”

The man charged with fraud over $5,000 and laundering the proceeds of crime, Michael T. Kennedy, 37, of Beamsville, was an employee of Meridian Credit Union from June 2014 to March 30, 2015, the company confirmed. The credit union had alerted police to what was going on and called in police.

Kennedy was released on $10,000 bail on Saturday. He did not return phone calls Monday and Tuesday.