The Chronicle Herald (Provincial)
Ex-tory candidate gets conditional discharge
A former Halifax resident who ran for the Progressive Conservatives in the last provincial election has been handed a conditional discharge with three years’ probation for using a forged cheque for more than $91,000 at a Bedford bank in 2016.
Paul Edward Beasant, 52, pleaded guilty in Halifax provincial court last October to a charge of uttering a forged document.
Beasant was sentenced this week, when he appeared in court via a video link from Ontario, where he now lives and operates a business.
Judge Gregory Lenehan accepted a joint recommendation from lawyers for a conditional discharge. The probation order requires Beasant to make restitution of $73,559 to the Royal Bank of Canada.
Crown attorney Sean Mccarroll outlined the facts of the offence for the court.
Mccarroll said Beasant received a cheque for $91,876 from what he thought was a legitimate business in December 2016, with instructions to deposit the funds in his personal bank account at RBC, keep about $10,000 for himself and transfer the rest of the money to an account in the United States.
When he tried to transfer the funds in January 2017, RBC informed him the U.S. account had been flagged as fraudulent. He told the bank to cancel the transfer and proceeded to use the funds for his own personal needs.
In March 2017, RBC’S fraud detection group determined the cheque was meant to go from one business to another but was stolen and the payee altered to Beasant’s name.
The bank was able to recoup some of the money by putting Beasant’s account into overdraft, but it ended up suffering a loss of $73,559.
Halifax Regional Police announced in January 2018 that Beasant had been charged with fraud over $5,000 and uttering a forged document.
Defence lawyer Trevor Mcguigan said it was clear from the prosecutor’s comments that Beasant was not responsible for the theft or alteration of the cheque but was “wilfully blind regarding the authenticity of the cheque that he deposited.”
“He certainly acknowledges his wrongdoing in these circumstances,” Mcguigan said of his client.
“It was not his intention whatsoever to defraud RBC, nor has he pled guilty to doing so. He didn’t appreciate that RBC was at a loss until months after this attempt to transfer.
“Mr. Beasant was essentially a victim of the scam himself by other actors … that, to me at least, were engaged in more serious criminal conduct.”
Mcguigan said Beasant has learned a hard lesson and will not engage in similar conduct in the future.
“He owes the money back to RBC,” he said. “He did commit this offence.
“The sole focus, really, of our sentencing recommendation is to ensure the payment of that amount. No other issues need to be addressed for Mr. Beasant.
“I submit that in these circumstances, the test for a conditional discharge would be met.”
The judge said the sentence worked out by lawyers was an appropriate way to deal with the matter.
The first $8,000 of restitution was due by Friday. The remaining $65,559 must be paid by March 2024.
If Beasant makes restitution as ordered, his discharge will become absolute and he won’t have a criminal conviction.
“I accept that Mr. Beasant here was wilfully blind as to what was taking place,” Lenehan said. “But as was indicated, RBC was out a significant amount of money as a result of this transaction.”
When someone asks you to use your bank account to cash a cheque for them and keep some of the money as a reward or stipend, a red flag should go up, the judge said.
“It’s a scam, it’s always a scam, it’s never anything but a scam,” he said.
“If they’re legitimate businesses, they will have opened up accounts and be able to deal with cashing cheques on their own or transferring money lawfully.”
The Crown offered no evidence on the fraud charge, so that count was dismissed.
Beasant was the Tory candidate in the riding of Fairviewclayton Park in the May 2017 election, finishing third out of the four people who sought the seat. He hosts Late Night with Dr. Paul, a television talk show that used to be produced in Halifax but is now based in Toronto.