Fraud suspect wants to renege on guilty pleas
Florence George Yousef, 56, of Fredericton, was scheduled to be sentenced Wednesday for fleecing two women of thousands of dollars, but now seeks to withdraw admissions of guilt
A Fredericton woman who admitted last fall that she fleeced two victims of thousands of dollars in recent years now contends she didn’t do what the Crown alleges.
Florence George Yousef, 56, of Willington Court, pleaded guilty in October to charges that she defrauded Sheila Amos of more than $5,000 on Oct. 29, 2019, and did the same to Betty Fairley on March 31, 2021.
She’d previously elected to be tried in the Court of King’s Bench by judge alone, but entered her guilty pleas instead Oct. 16 - the day her trial was to begin.
Yousef was back in the Court of King’s Bench on Wednesday before Justice Terrence Morrison, scheduled for a sentencing hearing.
But before the proceeding could get underway, defence lawyer Edward Derrah said his client was seeking to withdraw those guilty pleas.