Marketplace fraud: accused too at risk of reoffending remains behind bars

A woman who allegedly defrauded more than a hundred people on the online sales platform Marketplace on Facebook is so likely to reoffend that a judge ruled Friday that it was better for her to remain detained while awaiting her trial.

“There were dozens of frauds before Madame’s first arrest. Neither a probation order nor a release order could prevent other fraud,” said Judge Christian Jarry on Friday, during the bail hearing of Nathalie Morin, at the Saint-Hyacinthe courthouse.

The magistrate did not even consider it necessary to hear M^e Cimon Senécal pleads for the prosecution before rendering his decision, directly on the bench.

Detained since her arrest a week ago, the 42-year-old Saint-Hyacinthe resident faces seven new charges, including four fraud charges.

However, she had already been accused of eight counts of fraud since last November.

Fake accounts

But after being released under specific conditions, the one who allegedly multiplied bogus Facebook accounts, like Nini Laganiere LM and Éliane Petit Cœur Lévesque, could not have stopped fooling other victims.

“I don’t want to do any more fraud. It’s really going to be over this time. I promise you,” Morin admitted, in tears, to try to convince the court to release her on Friday.

That wouldn’t be all

According to the prosecution’s theory, the alleged fraudster who lives on last resort financial assistance had a clear modus operandi.

She posted items for sale on Marketplace, before asking for deposits of up to $200 to reserve said items.

Nintendo Switch, above-ground pool, generator, kitchen knives, fireplace, children’s ATV; the list of articles and the number of victims would not have finished growing, according to the prosecution, because the investigation is still ongoing.

The victims then went to the addresses provided by the accused, before realizing that they were not with the seller in question, and that they had in fact been defrauded.

She recognizes him

Between last January and last Wednesday alone, there were at least more than 70 new fraudulent transfers detected in his bank accounts.

Moreover, investigators also managed to get their hands on images from surveillance cameras of bank counters where Morin was seen withdrawing money from fraudulent transfers, for which she was sometimes insistent with his victims.

“We see that there are around a hundred inexplicable transfers,” submitted Me Senécal.

The accused, who told the court that she had a fraud problem and wanted to submit to an assistance program, was not, however, her first chance.

Morin has a history of shoplifting and breach of recognizance for which she received one year’s probation last October.

His files are due back next May. Until then, she will remain behind bars, where she testified to experiencing health problems and acute anxiety.