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Sentencing did not go ahead as planned Wednesday for a Quebec man who collected thousands of dollars from Saskatoon seniors scammed into thinking they were bailing a grandson out of legal trouble.
Ahmad Ebad Ebadi was in Saskatoon provincial court last month with his family when Judge Brad Mitchell adjourned to choose a different date for his sentencing decision.
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Defence lawyer Logan Marchand said due to a misunderstanding over when he had to appear in person, Ebadi is still in Quebec. He appeared by phone as Mitchell adjourned the decision a second time to Sept. 4.
In April, Ebadi, 26, pleaded guilty to two counts of fraud and one count each of conspiracy to commit an indictable offence and possessing property obtained by crime.
The Crown and defence agreed that Ebadi should receive a jail sentence. Crown prosecutor Carol Carlson argued he should spend just over a year in custody, while Marchand argued for a term of between 18 months and two years less a day, to be served in the community under conditions.
Ebadi and two other Quebec men were arrested in Saskatoon after an elderly couple arranged a police sting in January 2023. Court heard the fraudsters were part of a large, sophisticated scheme run out of Eastern Canada.
Targeting seniors over the phone, scammers pretended to be lawyers, police officers and grandsons, convincing each target that their grandson was in a car crash in which either drugs were found or a pregnant woman was rear-ended.
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Court heard Ebadi was hired as a “runner” — posing as a bail bondsmen — and sent to Saskatoon from Quebec in December 2022 and again in January 2023.
Some of his nine victims, aged 68 to 87, indicated through written statements that the money they handed over — between $8,000 and $10,000 each — had been saved for either their retirement or their funeral.
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