Man to pay $236,000 for stealing from his elderly aunt

A man who stole from his elderly and vulnerable aunt has been sentenced by the Human Rights Tribunal of Quebec to pay her $236,000 in damages.

The Montreal woman, a Holocaust survivor who was 86 years old at the time that the ordeal began, had health problems, including cognitive impairment and mild dementia.

After being liberated from a concentration camp at the end of the Second World War, she left Europe for Israel and then finally settled in Montreal to be near her sister.

In 2010, the victim gave her sister’s son, Charles Finkelstein, power as a mandatary to manage her assets because she trusted him. It was the wrong move.

While Finkelstein carried out transactions in his aunt’s name, she was not in a position to give her clear consent because of her vulnerability, says a ruling issued on March 7 by Human Rights Tribunal Judge Doris Thibault.

Every case of exploitation that’s brought to our attention is both unique and filled with sadness, even distress.

It was notably the case with a large transfer of the proceeds from a property sale, it says. The nephew took advantage of his aunt’s vulnerability and emptied her bank accounts, the ruling says.

“The leveraging is obvious. Charles diverted large sums from his aunt’s accounts to his own sole benefit.

“He gives no explanation for the use of the amounts that he appropriated,” the ruling says.

The Quebec Human Rights Commission says it carried out a full-scale investigation into the matter before launching a case before the Tribunal, alleging the woman was exploited financially and her nephew brought injury to her dignity.

The commission said in a statement that it’s satisfied with the ruling, saying the damage caused to the victim has been recognized and that the man was sentenced to pay material, moral and punitive damages.

“Every case of exploitation that’s brought to our attention is both unique and filled with sadness, even distress,” Commission president Philippe-André Tessier said in a statement.

“With this new ruling, the Tribunal reaffirms that the public is protected against this form of abuse, which is financial exploitation. Where there’s a doubt concerning a possible situation of exploitation, people shouldn’t hesitate to get information and make a complaint.”