Fraudster pleads guilty in Regina court
Jana G. Pruden, Leader-Post
Published: Tuesday, April 08, 2008
REGINA -- A career con man with a long history of targetting the elderly, disabled and invalid -- including terminally ill cancer patients -- will serve extra time in jail for two frauds involving Regina residents.
Bryan Andrew Casavant, 46, pleaded guilty Tuesday to two Regina frauds he claims were part of an interprovince crime spree prompted by the death of his brother.
Casavant is currently serving an eight-year, eight-month sentence prison sentence for several frauds and thefts in Alberta, and will now face an additional 10 months for the Regina crimes.
Casavant is expected to be sent to Winnipeg, where he is facing still more fraud and theft charges.
Crown prosecutor Michael Vass said the first Regina fraud took place on Sept. 7, after Casavant befriended a 72-year-old man in a coffee shop and arranged to buy the man's car.
Vass said Casavant took the man to a bank machine, pretended to withdraw $3,000 and then gave the victim an envelope to deposit.
After the victim deposited the envelope -- which was empty -- Casavant asked for some of the money back, eventually convincing the victim to withdraw $980 in cash and give it to Casavant. Casavant took the man back to another bank machine again later, and coerced the victim into taking out another $800 for the accused.
Vass said the victim was "very confused" throughout the transaction.
The second fraud involved a 63-year-old man who was selling a truck. In that case, Casavant again took the victim to a bank machine and gave him an empty envelope to deposit, this time claiming it contained $5,000. Casavant was able to get a total of $3,000 in cash from the victim, then left in the man's truck.
Vass said the victim was afraid and confused during his dealings with Casavant. The truck was recovered later, but had been seriously damaged.
On Tuesday, Casavant pleaded for mercy from Provincial Court Judge Anna Crugnale-Reid, saying all he wanted to do was work a legitimate job.
"There must be some good left in me ...," said Casavant, whose record for fraud, theft and possession of stolen property dates back nearly 30 years and is interrupted only by his periods of incarceration.
Many of Casavant's schemes have taken place in hospitals, care homes and medical facilities, where he's preyed on elderly victims who were disabled or invalid. The hospital scams usually involved offering to help victims by depositing money into their bank accounts, then stealing money from their accounts instead.
In one Alberta case, Casavant defrauded an elderly, terminally ill cancer patient of $900. Other scams targetted people with Crohn's disease and seniors on fixed incomes.
In the summer of 2007, Casavant was on parole for fraud and theft when he embarked on a new series of scams in Calgary, Edmonton, Regina and Winnipeg.
A Canada-wide warrant was issued for Casavant in October, and he was arrested in Saskatoon after a hotel clerk recognized him and called police.
A National Parole Board decision released earlier this year calls Casavant "an incorrigible and entrenched criminal" whose risk is unmanageable in the community.
http://www.canada.com/reginaleaderpost/news/story.html?id=19955caf-afbb-4fe5-b88d-a3c2f94dbb1c&k=33106
News 
Market Data 
Discover 
