Hospitalization delays fraudster’s sentencing
Defence argues guilty pleas don’t automatically mean Florence George Yousef, 56, of Fredericton, has been convicted of fleecing two women of thousands in 2019 and 2021
An oft-delayed fraud prosecution hit another bump on the road to sentencing Thursday when the accused couldn’t make it to court for health reasons.
Florence George Yousef, 56, of Willington Court in Fredericton, was scheduled to go through a sentencing hearing in the Court of King’s Bench at the Burton Courthouse on Thursday for two instances of fraud.
She previously pleaded guilty to defrauding two Fredericton women - Sheila Amos on Oct. 29, 2019, and Betty Fairley on March 31, 2021 - of more than $5,000 apiece.
Yousef had sought to withdraw those guilty pleas, but in a decision in June, Justice Richard Petrie denied her motion, finding the offender’s guilty pleas were unequivocal and informed.
As there was no agreement on the facts of the case, the judge had scheduled a full sentencing hearing for Thursday, during which the prosecution was expected to call witnesses to give evidence about the nature and extent of the frauds committed.