Regina woman who took investors for millions may go back to jail

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After pleading guilty to stealing millions of dollars from investors, Alena Marie Pastuch may be headed back to jail.

In June 2019, Pastuch was convicted on charges of fraud, theft and money laundering, after a trial in which she represented herself without a lawyer.

The charges were related to an investment scheme that played out over the course of some seven years, beginning in 2006.

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In August of 2019, she was sentenced to seven years in prison.

However, she appealed both the conviction and sentence. Pastuch argued, among other things, that the trial judge made a mistake in denying her application for a third court-appointed lawyer, which left her to proceed without legal counsel.

Saskatchewan’s highest court decided that she should not have been required to represent herself, noting there was an appearance of unfairness and a miscarriage of justice. A new trial was ordered.

Preparations were made to hold the trial but it ultimately never went ahead, as Pastuch entered a plea of guilty to theft over $5,000. According to Crown prosecutor Dana Brule, the theft was well over $5,000 — $4,940,218 was the figure he quoted.

On Wednesday in Regina’s Court of King’s Bench, lawyers appeared to be set to argue over what would be a fit sentence for Pastuch. However, after a brief private discussion, they entered into an agreement and put forward a joint submission.

Brule explained that the parties agreed a three-and-a-half year sentence would be appropriate. After the suggested credit for time served on remand, in custody awaiting appeal, and time spent on bail, it would leave Pastuch with two years left on the sentence, should the joint submission be accepted by Justice Catherine Dawson.

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The judge plans to deliver her decision in late February, on a date agreed to by both parties, which Murphy stated would allow Pastuch time to get her affairs in order.

“I want to apologize to everyone who was harmed or suffered as a result of my actions. I am filled with deep remorse,” Pastuch said when given the chance to speak.

While Murphy highlighted his client’s expression of remorse, Brule noted that neither the guilty plea nor the remorse were offered at an early stage.

However, the prosecutor acknowledged the significance of the plea in that it prevented another trial, which may have featured upwards of 90 witnesses and would’ve caused the victims to relive their experiences.

Pastuch stated that, at the time of the offence to which she pleaded guilty, she was “grappling with severe complex trauma and addictions which clouded and impaired” her judgment.

Brule acknowledged those challenges with trauma, but stated there was “scant” evidence about its nature. Murphy suggested it shouldn’t be held against his client that she was not wishing to go into detail about her childhood trauma publicly, especially given “media scrutiny” of the case.

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The defence lawyer went on at length about how media scrutiny could be considered a mitigating factor. He referenced case law, saying that media reporting can be a form of punishment. He filed a number of media reports to support his argument.

Brule submitted that Pastuch’s moral culpability is “at the very high end of the scale,” and said the judge should consider a number of factors as aggravating.

These included that a number of the victims were elderly, with some losing their entire life savings, and that the offence committed by Pastuch was somewhat sophisticated, requiring the use of a forensic accountant to untangle it.

“It funded her extravagant life,” Brule said, noting Pastuch obtained a house, travelled, spent money at Las Vegas casinos and went to concerts using the money taken from investors.

Murphy spoke of the toll the legal saga had taken on his client, who has no previous criminal record. He noted she has suffered from Post Traumatic Stress Disorder and chronic pain, among other ailments both psychological and physical.

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Brule noted the Crown does not accept as fact all aspects of Pastuch’s medical situation as presented to the court.

Both lawyers agreed that while the sentence proposed would fall below the normal range for a similar offence, it is nonetheless appropriate given all of the circumstances of the case.

A restitution order was suggested as part of the joint submission.

“At some point, I ask that the media and society allow me the chance to move forward so I can focus on fulfilling my obligations to repaying the investors and making things right,” Pastuch told court.

bharder@postmedia.com

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