Another warrant issued for wanted man
No-show charge laid against Joshua Lee Best, 37, described as “arrestable” by city police
Yet another arrest warrant was issued Friday for a Fredericton fraudster who skipped out on a sentencing hearing last fall.
Joshua Lee Best, 37, of George Street in Fredericton, pleaded guilty last year to charges of personating Kelly Lee Moses fraudulently for monetary gain and defrauding the Canada Revenue Agency (CRA) of more than $5,000, both between Dec. 3, 2020, and July 22, 2021.
He had been scheduled for sentencing in Fredericton provincial court Nov. 14 but he didn’t show up for that hearing.
As a result, a charge of failing to attend court was laid, and that case was before a judge Friday for the first time.
Crown prosecutor Geoffrey Hutchin asked the court to issue an arrest warrant in the first instance, given the nature of the charge, and Judge Mélanie Poirier LeBlanc did so.
The Fredericton Police Force issued its own public advisory through social media Dec. 4 asking residents to be on the lookout for Best.
That alert described Best as being “arrestable on several police files.”
The offender is described as Caucasian, about six feet (183 centimetres) tall, weighing about 240 pounds (109 kilograms), with brown and grey hair and hazel eyes, the advisory stated.
The police force is asking anyone with information about his whereabouts or that could lead to him being found to contact it by calling 506-460-2300 or emailing steve.burgess@fredericton.ca.
Those wishing to remain anonymous can call Crime Stoppers at 1-800-222-8477, police said last month.
When Best pleaded guilty to the fraud-related charges in August, court heard he’d taken advantage of Moses’ intellectual disability to pose as him to facilitate his fraud of the federal government agency.
Don MacPherson can be contacted at ftonindependent@gmail.com.