Half a million in gold bars. This is the money that Hardness Oppong pocketed from the back of a vulnerable old lady who had her life savings stolen. If the Torontonian hoped to get away with it again, he was instead sentenced Tuesday to a harsh sentence of two years in penitentiary.
Posted at 4:07 p.m.
“Illegal computer intrusions and email phishing attempts have become a scourge in our society,” said Judge Silvie Kovacevich on Tuesday at the Montreal courthouse.
Hardness Oppong seemed disconcerted as the judgment was read. The 41-year-old man even interrupted the judge. “I thought I had the chance to speak. I’m very confused,” he said. “It was the last time. It’s too late,” replied the judge. The accused chose to remain silent during sentencing submissions.
The Ontarian pleaded guilty to one count of receiving stolen property last November. In practice, he only admits to having held the funds stolen from the victim, without being the author of the fraud.
The victim, Jessica Ann Rochester, had to sell the family home in 2018 when her husband was struck down by illness. After the sale, she asked her financial advisor to help her invest the sum of $590,000. The next day, his advisor sent him an email telling him to transfer the funds into an account.
The 74-year-old Montrealer was unaware, however, that fraudsters had in the meantime stolen the identity of the financial advisor. The funds were sent to Living Legends, an organization owned by Hardness Oppong. The day after the transaction, the scammer appropriated the funds. He later purchased two gold bars worth half a million dollars. These ingots have never been found.
Hardness Oppong has supposedly been living on a salary below the poverty line for several years. However, he was able to pay $100,000 in a criminal case last year. According to court documents, he was accused in Ontario of defrauding the City of Burlington in 2019. A $500,000 scam. However, the charges were dropped by the prosecution after Mr. Oppong returned $100,000.
Aside from the accused’s admission of guilt, there were few mitigating factors in favor of the accused. The aggravating factors were on the contrary very numerous, according to Judge Kovacevich: risk of reoffending, substantial amount, vulnerability of the victim, premeditation and lack of remorse.
The defense had attempted to paint a very positive portrait of the accused, emphasizing his involvement in the Ghanaian community in Toronto. Hardness Oppong organizes the GhanaFest festival, chairs the Ghanaian Canadian Multicultural Community Center and leads nine non-profit organizations. However, it was precisely through one of his organizations that the accused committed his crime, noted the judge.
Me Denis Trottier represented the public prosecutor, then Me Ferial Charef defended the offender.
