Judge Brad Mitchell said a conditional sentence — jail served in the community — wouldn’t denounce Ahmed Ebad Ebadi’s criminal behaviour.
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A Saskatoon judge says Ahmed Ebad Ebadi will serve his one-year fraud sentence in jail, not in the community, for his role in a sophisticated scam that stole more than $100,000 from Saskatoon seniors who thought they were helping a loved one who needed bail money.
Appearing alone in Saskatoon provincial court on Wednesday, Ebadi, 27, was handcuffed and taken to jail after Judge Brad Mitchell sentenced him to two 12-month concurrent sentences for defrauding nine seniors and the Courtyard Marriott airport hotel of nearly $75,000 between December 2022 and January 2023.
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He pleaded guilty to two counts of fraud, and one count each of conspiracy to commit an indictable offence and possessing property obtained by crime.
Court heard Ebadi was hired as a “runner,” posing as a bail bondsmen sent to pick up the money. The scam began with a phone call from fraudsters pretending to be lawyers, police officers and grandsons who said they were in a car crash in which either drugs were found or a pregnant woman was rear-ended.
He was arrested on Jan. 10, 2023 after a Saskatoon couple noticed the red flags, called police and set up a sting.
It was Ebadi’s second trip to Saskatoon as part of the fraud run out of Eastern Canada, a Saskatoon provincial courtroom heard during his sentencing hearing this summer.
Victims ranging from 68 to 87 years old handed over between $8,000 and $10,000 each, court heard. Through victim impact statements, some said the money had been saved for either their retirement or funeral.
Crown prosecutor Carol Carlson argued Ebadi should spend just over a year in custody. Defence lawyer Logan Marchand said a jail sentence between 18 months and two years less a day, served in the community under conditions, would allow his client to repay the stolen money.
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Summarizing his sentencing decision, Mitchell said a conditional sentence doesn’t achieve denunciation or deterrence. Ebadi, who lives in Quebec, would be doing community service in a city that wasn’t affected by this crime, Mitchell noted.
He said although Ebadi was a low-ranking member of a larger fraud network “clearly operated by others above him,” he still agreed to participate in the scam after finding out that the targets were vulnerable seniors.
Mitchell concluded that custody is the only way to denounce his crime.
Ebadi was given three years to repay the $74,979.45 he stole. He brought a $10,000 cheque to court in July to begin the repayment.
Marchand told court his client didn’t initially know what he would be doing when he was recruited into the scam while working in the ride share business. He said Ebadi was at the lowest point in his life, caught in a spiral of depression and financial stress after dropping out of school due to his mother’s health issues.
“I’m very deeply sorry to have affected this community in this sort, and looking back, was I this vile, disgusting, heinous person? Yes I was, because of the actions I took,” Ebadi said back in July.
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In April, Cedric Boivin Oligny, 27, was sentenced to nine months in jail and ordered to repay the $19,000 he defrauded from three victims in his role as a “runner.”
Sofyane Elgamal, 27, is still before the court. Carlson confirmed that his case has been waived to Quebec.
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