Close X
Sunday, November 10, 2024
ADVT 
National

Trusted Caregiver Jailed For Stealing $260K From Elderly Couple In Port Coquitlam

Darpan News Desk The Canadian Press, 18 Dec, 2018 10:55 PM

    PORT COQUITLAM, B.C. — A judge has sentenced a caregiver who built a close relationship with an elderly couple in Port Coquitlam, B.C., to 12 months in jail for stealing $260,000 from them.


    Antonette Dizon was sentenced in provincial court on Dec. 13 after pleading guilty to one count of fraud over $5,000.


    She admitted to almost daily withdrawals of up to $1,000 from the accounts of Henry and Helen Abfalter between January 2015 and April 2016 as she helped them with their daily needs, including banking.


    The thefts continued for months after Henry Abfalter died in September 2015 and Dizon had stopped working for the couple, who were in their late 80s.


    Court heard that Dizon, who is 50 years old, used the money to buy a new car, paid tuition for her daughter and sent money to family in the Philippines.


    The Crown had asked for up to 18 months in jail, but Judge Robin McQuillan said her guilty plea, remorse and lack of a criminal record warranted a year in jail and 18 months' probation.


    McQuillan wrote in his judgment that the woman's actions may not have been pre-meditated, but they weren't impulsive because the withdrawals continued over a 15-month period.


    "She had unlimited opportunities to reflect on what she was doing and to correct or at least stop her conduct. She did not do so."


    The judge said he was also mindful that Dizon had suffered humiliation arising from media attention on the case.


    Helen Abfalter has also since passed away and Dizon has been ordered to pay the remaining money owed, $105,000, to the Abfalter estate.

    MORE National ARTICLES

    Professor Of Cannabis Science Is Launched At The University Of B.C.

    Epidemiologist and research scientist M-J Milloy will be the first Canopy Growth professor of cannabis science at the university.

    Professor Of Cannabis Science Is Launched At The University Of B.C.

    B.C. Officers Leave Positions Amid Misconduct Investigations: Commissioner

    SAANICH, B.C. — British Columbia's police complaint commissioner says two Vancouver Island officers are alleged to have had inappropriate relationships with sex workers and both left their positions during misconduct investigations.

    B.C. Officers Leave Positions Amid Misconduct Investigations: Commissioner

    B.C. To Spend $1.1 Billion To Retrofit Social Housing For Safety, Energy Savings

    B.C. To Spend $1.1 Billion To Retrofit Social Housing For Safety, Energy Savings
    VICTORIA — The British Columbia government says it will invest $1.1 billion over the next decade to make social housing in the province more energy efficient, less polluting, safer and cost efficient.

    B.C. To Spend $1.1 Billion To Retrofit Social Housing For Safety, Energy Savings

    Three More Cases Of E. Coli Confirmed, None Found In Tested Canadian Lettuce

    OTTAWA — The Canadian Food Inspection Agency has tested more than 2,000 samples of fresh lettuce and packaged salads looking for the source of an E. coli outbreak but hasn't found any produce that contains the bacteria.

    Three More Cases Of E. Coli Confirmed, None Found In Tested Canadian Lettuce

    Canada Post Strike Causes Drop In Salvation Army Donations, Charity Says

    Canada Post Strike Causes Drop In Salvation Army Donations, Charity Says
    TORONTO — Every holiday season workers at the Salvation Army anxiously check the mail for a flurry of envelopes.

    Canada Post Strike Causes Drop In Salvation Army Donations, Charity Says

    Natural Gas Pressure Eases But FortisBC Urges Restraint For Potential Cold Snap

    SURREY, B.C. — The natural gas supply is improving for British Columbia, but FortisBC Energy Inc. is still asking its residential and business customers to conserve ahead of the two coldest months of the year.

    Natural Gas Pressure Eases But FortisBC Urges Restraint For Potential Cold Snap