Granny scam suspect recants admissions, headed for trial
Saleh Mohamed, 30, of Montreal, is accused of fleecing more than a dozen capital-region residents of thousands
A Montreal man set to be sentenced Tuesday on 15 counts of fraud stemming from an alleged grandparent phone scam in the capital region instead withdrew his guilty pleas.
Saleh Mohamed, 30, of rue Guy in Montreal, appeared before provincial court Judge Cameron Gunn for a scheduled sentencing hearing Tuesday.
Mohamed pleaded guilty to 14 counts of defrauding various people in Fredericton, Oromocto, New Maryland, Lincoln and Islandview, each for thousands of dollars, all between Aug. 22 and 25.
He’d also admitted to one related count of attempting to defraud an Oromocto woman Aug. 25.
However, before the hearing could get underway, Gunn said he had concerns.
“The pre-sentence report causes me pause,” he said, indicating that Mohamed told a probation officer he had no intent of defrauding anyone.
Furthermore, the judge said, the defendant indicated in the report he has trouble with English, and the language barrier could mean he’s not fully informed about the consequences of his guilty pleas.
“Without the benefit of an interpreter, I’m concerned Mr. Mohamed will not be able to accept the facts that will send him to federal penitentiary,” Gunn said.
Additionally, the judge said, the agreed statement of facts presented to the court for sentencing didn’t acknowledge that Mohamed had the specific intent to commit the crimes, and that’s an essential element that must be acknowledged before the court can accept the guilty pleas.
On the issue of language, Mohamed himself said he didn’t want an interpreter.
“I speak Arabic, and I speak English,” he said, noting he understood what Gunn was saying.
Defence lawyer Ben Reentovich said while his client has only been in Canada a short time, he first travelled to the United States from his home country overseas in 2014, so he’s better versed in English than one might expect.
On intent, Reentovich said while his client has maintained he wasn’t directly involved in the organized scam scheme in which he participated, he ought to have known what he was doing wasn’t legal.
“The parties are in agreement he was wilfully blind,” Reentovich said, which would mean while Mohamed would have had a lesser role in the scheme, he’d nevertheless be culpable to a degree.
“But he hasn’t agreed to that,” Gunn said, pointing to the pre-sentence report and unsigned statement of facts filed with the court.
Reentovich and prosecutor Gwynne Hearn said they’d draft a new statement of facts that included the wilful blindness element, and the court recessed so they could do that.
However, when court reconvened, the defence instead said Mohamed wanted to withdraw his guilty pleas, which Gunn allowed.
The judge set the matter over to Feb. 19 to schedule trials on the charges.
On most counts, Mohamed is co-accused with Manasseh Kebede, 20, also of Montreal. Kebede pleaded not guilty to 14 fraud counts late last year, and he’s awaiting trial.
Since both defendants are jointly charged on most of the counts, they have to be tried together.
Various police forces in the province - including the Fredericton Police Force and the RCMP - issued public warnings last summer about a telephone scam that was recurring in New Brunswick.
The scam involved men claiming to be loved ones or even police officers calling victims - often grandparents - and urgently asking for large amounts of money for bail.
Four other Quebec men were arrested and charged by the Saint John Police Force on similar allegations last summer as well.
Don MacPherson can be contacted at ftonindependent@gmail.com.
They attempted this scam during this period on my brother-in-law. Thankfully he didn’t fall for it.
Words cannot convey my disdain for these criminals. Octogenarian family members were victims - cleaned out their life savings. It's so much more than just financial - it's taken a significant toll on their health and they haven't been the same since. It's almost impossible for the elderly to replenish those funds. I hope Mr. Mohamed and his ilk rot in a jail cell but I'm not overly hopeful they'll get anything truly in line with their crimes and the havoc they've wreaked on people's lives.