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Caregiver found guilty of fraud and theft for altering salary cheques from her elderly employer.
The accused, a caregiver for a 98-year-old woman, was charged with fraud and theft over $5,000.
The Crown alleged that the accused altered cheques written for her salary to receive an additional $16,629.96 over a three-month period.
The accused claimed the extra funds were gifts or for petty cash.
The court rejected the accused's explanation, finding that she altered the cheques after they were signed and took advantage of the victim's forgetfulness.
The accused was found guilty of both offences.
The accused's motion for a directed verdict of acquittal on fraud and theft charges was dismissed.
The accused, Grace Go Gaurino, sought a directed verdict of acquittal on charges of fraud over $5,000 and theft over $5,000 after the close of the Crown's case.
The Crown presented evidence that Ms. Gaurino received 19 cheques, which she wrote and deposited, totaling $16,629.96 beyond her salary, while caring for a 98-year-old, pain-medicated, and forgetful employer.
Applying the test from *R. v. Arcuri*, the court found sufficient evidence upon which a reasonable jury, properly instructed, could return a guilty verdict, noting that the judge's role is not to weigh competing inferences.
The motion for a directed verdict was dismissed.
