Convicted fraudster sentenced for more offences
A P.E.I. man already serving jail time for several rental and construction frauds has been convicted and sentenced for additional offences.
Kelly Giroux, 56, pleaded guilty and was sentenced on Feb. 21 in provincial court in Charlottetown for one count of fraud over $5,000 and one count of fraud under $5,000. Giroux appeared in court by video from the Provincial Correctional Centre.
THE FACTS
The first fraud involved a 2015 camper (or travel trailer) Giroux advertised for sale on Facebook Marketplace, said Crown attorney John Diamond at sentencing.
A man contacted Giroux on April 25 about the camper for sale and paid Giroux the $11,500 asking price through several e-transfers. However, the man was having difficulty getting the camper from Giroux. Giroux gave excuses to the man, including that repairs still needed to be done to the camper. The man asked for his money back but Giroux only returned $2,000. As a result, the matter was reported to police on June 30. The total amount of the fraud was $9,500.
Then on Aug. 11, another man responded to an advertisement by Giroux on Kijiji for a room rental. The man gave Giroux a $1,000 deposit but the room was not available for rent. The man also reported the matter to police.
OTHER RENTAL AND CONSTRUCTION FRAUDS
On Dec. 13, Giroux was sentenced in provincial court to a total of 16 months in jail for three frauds related to construction services and three frauds for offering room or home rentals that weren't available. The rental frauds were in relation to a property at 47
Brandy Dr. in Stratford that was advertised on Facebook Marketplace.
The offences occurred from March to September. The total amount of the frauds was $58,415.13.
On Sept. 22, Giroux and co-accused Jimmy Bouillon Savard were arrested at the Brandy Drive residence.
The 16-month sentence also included convictions for mischief for interfering with the lawful use of property and using a forged Stewart McKelvey law firm letter in relation to the rental frauds.
In addition to the 16 month jail sentence, Giroux was also sentenced to two years of probation and ordered to pay restitution for the total amount defrauded. He received 123 days of enhanced credit for time spent in presentence custody and was ordered to write letters of apology to the victims.
CO-ACCUSED PREVIOUSLY SENTENCED
On Feb. 12, Savard, 40, was sentenced for two counts of fraud in relation to the Stratford rental scams as well as aiding Giroux with committing the offences. Savard presented himself to the rental fraud victims as the property manager named Tim whereas Giroux presented himself as the property's owner named Mark or Marc Gallant.
Savard was also sentenced for a third rental fraud that occurred in Charlottetown on Grafton Street. Savard received a total of 85 days in jail and 18 months of probation for the offences. He was also ordered to pay $2,150 in restitution for the Charlottetown rental fraud.
SENTENCE FOR RECENT CONVICTIONS
On Feb. 21, Diamond recommended 60 days in jail for each fraud offence concurrent to each other and concurrent to Giroux's Dec. 13 sentence since those matters were similar and occurred during the same time period. The concurrent sentence means that Giroux had no additional time in jail to serve. The recommendation was jointly made with legal-aid lawyer Conor Mullin.
Judge Nancy Orr accepted the joint sentence recommendation. In addition, Giroux was ordered to pay $10,500 in restitution.