Court of Appeal for Ontario
Citation: R. v. Scott, 2007 ONCA 231
Date: 2007-03-29
Docket: C45705
Re: Her Majesty the Queen (Respondent) – and – Ronald Vernon Scott (Appellant)
Before: Moldaver, Gillese and LaForme JJ.A.
Counsel: Wylita Clark, for the appellant Charmaine Wong, for the respondent
Heard & Endorsed: March 27, 2007
On appeal from sentence imposed by Justice Timothy C. Whetung, of the Ontario Court of Justice, on July 7, 2006.
Appeal Book Endorsement
[1] We see no merit in this appeal. Over a period of eight months, the appellant forged his wife’s signature on twenty-six occasions and essentially stripped the funds belonging to her, totalling $114,994.07, from her R.R.S.P. account. In addition, the wife found herself saddled with a $25,000 debt to Revenue Canada for income tax owing as a result of the R.R.S.P. withdrawals.
[2] The trial judge rejected the appellant’s explanation as to the use he made of the funds and we see no error in his analysis. The trial judge also found, correctly in our view, that given the breach of trust here and the planning and deliberation that went into the scheme, denunciation and general deterrence were paramount and that a conditional sentence would not adequately satisfy those principles. Finally, we see no error in the restitution order. We are confident that any issues arising from this in the context of the family law proceedings will be dealt with by the family law judge.
[3] In the result, leave to appeal sentence is granted but the appeal is dismissed.