"This is a serious offence that took some time to complete. It also took a certain amount of craft and guile . . . . A conditional sentence is the least that can be imposed," said Judge Edward Brecknell at Ganges Provincial Court on August 12.
Defendant Joanne Villadsen sat impassively during sentencing as Brecknell read a victim-impact statement prepared by her father-in-law, Kent Villadsen:
"I would never have dreamed that I could have been so betrayed by a trusted family member. I do not understand how she could steal our money, yet come and eat dinner with us and the rest of the family as if everything was okay; knowing full well the hardship the family was going through."
The 34-year-old mother to four children is married to Johnny Villadsen, son of theft victims Kent and Inge.
"Johnny Villadsen has recently informed the accused he wishes to seek a legal separation and divorce . . . . He was betrayed as well," said Crown prosecutor Barb Penty.
The two men run Villadsen Construction Ltd. and Kent Villadsen, 65, was hoping to retire prior to the theft of company assets that will force him to continue earning an income, Penty said.
"The Crown submission is that it must be driven home to the accused the enormity of what she has done."
Court heard that Joanne Villadsen gained access to the cheque book for Villadsen Construction Ltd. during visits to her husband's parents' home.
"She was welcome in their home and they had no reason to suspect her," Penty said.
There was a lengthy process to discover the full extent of numerous thefts that occurred between October 2000 and December 2001, she said.
"Late in 2001, Mr. Villadsen Sr. noticed that his business account was out of money. He located three cheques "payable to J. Villadsen" totalling $17,000 that he could not account for. He showed them to his son, who could not account for them either."
During meetings with the family, Joanne Villadsen eventually admitted to taking the three cheques, Penty said.
"She said she had an internet gambling problem and swore to get help."
According to the Crown submission, Kent Villadsen initially felt the matter should be resolved within the family.
But he audited the company books and found additional cheques missing from the middle of his cheque book. His bank statements were also missing so he went to the Bank of Montreal to discover the location of the cheques.
"As more cheques surfaced, he confronted Joanne Villadsen; and once again, she admitted to only as much as she was confronted with," Penty said.
"Ms. Villadsen told them she had taken cheques while visiting for meals and while the children played on the computer."
She also told her in-laws that she would repay the family from a trust fund and gave Kent Villadsen personal cheques that totalled $68,000.
But Kent Villadsen became suspicious of the trust fund story. He contacted the woman's parents and learned that no trust fund existed, Penty said.
By January 25, 2002, the Bank of Montreal had located the last of the missing cheques, 40 in total, and Kent Villadsen discovered $190,447.83 had been stolen from his company.
Around that same time, Johnny Villadsen also learned that his wife had accumulated several outstanding credit-card debts through a separate post-office box and that she had created a fraudulent $43,000 mortgage on a family property by forging his signature.
It was then discovered that Joanne Villadsen had partially repaid her parents-in-law with the proceeds of the fraudulent mortgage.
"A civil action by Johnny Villadsen against Island Savings Credit Union was settled out of court," Penty noted.
As an explanation for Joanne Villadsen's theft from her family, defence counsel Lois Phillips indicated that the woman suffered from an internet gambling affliction that consumed almost all of the money.
"One day she saw it and the next day she was hooked."
Her client did not benefit from the crime, said Phillips.
"All cheques written went to feed this insatiable gambling habit."
And the full-time mother was diagnosed with a mental illness that may have made her particularly susceptible to a gambling addiction.
Joanne Villadsen was under treatment for a bipolar disorder (manic-depressive) and she was suicidal before she began internet gambling. She became suicidal once again when the crime was discovered, Phillips said.
"She was hospitalized for 12 weeks."
Support letters from friends also indicated that varying dosages of Paxil medication, used to treat her bipolar disorder, may have contributed to her crimes.
A psychologist's report also indicated that Villadsen believed her doctor was responsible for giving her an incorrect dosage of Paxil, that caused her to spiral out of control.
"The accused seems to blame her medications for her behaviour over this long period of time. The psychologist makes note of her desire to convince him that the Paxil medication contributed to what she did," said Penty.
But while medications, a gambling addiction and mental illness may act as explanations for her behaviour, Joanne Villadsen was prepared to accept full responsibility for her crime, Phillips said.
"Mr. Villadsen likened it to a hand-grenade being lobbed into their family . . . . But the effects are almost nuclear in their extent of damage."
Defence counsel noted that her client had forfeited any claim to her husband's assets as a result of her fraudulent mortgage, as determined in concurrent marriage-separation proceedings.
"The upshot is that Joanne Villadsen has no assets. Unless she wins the lottery, and she shouldn't be buying lottery tickets, she won't have assets to base a civil case against."
Phillips suggested that the internet gambler could serve "several hundred hours of community work" as part of a conditional discharge, in lieu of a sentence that would include incarceration and a criminal record.
"That would serve the purpose of having Joanne Villadsen being seen out in the community 'paying for her sins.'"
But the Crown prosecutor argued that community service would be grossly inappropriate.
"Any extra hours available should be used to work at a second job to pay back this huge debt," Penty said.
After deliberation, Judge Breknell determined that Joanne Villadsen would serve 18 months' house arrest, three additional years of probation and pay full restitution of the remaining $122,457.83 to Kent and Inge Villadsen.
Conditions of the 24-hour house arrest include mandatory counselling and bans of alcohol, non-prescribed drugs, gambling and use of the internet.
"No lottery tickets, pull tabs, bingo, nothing," Brecknell said.
Joanne Villadsen will only be permitted to leave her home for purposes of employment and counselling along with one two-hour period per week, he said.
She was also ordered to repay the family at a rate of $400 per month and refrain from all contact with Kent and Inge Villadsen apart from settlement of the restitution order.
"I can only say that the comment Mr. Villadsen made in his victim-impact statement should ring in your ears while you are serving this sentence."
http://www.gulfislands.net/news.asp?ID=1108
Defendant Joanne Villadsen sat impassively during sentencing as Brecknell read a victim-impact statement prepared by her father-in-law, Kent Villadsen:
"I would never have dreamed that I could have been so betrayed by a trusted family member. I do not understand how she could steal our money, yet come and eat dinner with us and the rest of the family as if everything was okay; knowing full well the hardship the family was going through."
The 34-year-old mother to four children is married to Johnny Villadsen, son of theft victims Kent and Inge.
"Johnny Villadsen has recently informed the accused he wishes to seek a legal separation and divorce . . . . He was betrayed as well," said Crown prosecutor Barb Penty.
The two men run Villadsen Construction Ltd. and Kent Villadsen, 65, was hoping to retire prior to the theft of company assets that will force him to continue earning an income, Penty said.
"The Crown submission is that it must be driven home to the accused the enormity of what she has done."
Court heard that Joanne Villadsen gained access to the cheque book for Villadsen Construction Ltd. during visits to her husband's parents' home.
"She was welcome in their home and they had no reason to suspect her," Penty said.
There was a lengthy process to discover the full extent of numerous thefts that occurred between October 2000 and December 2001, she said.
"Late in 2001, Mr. Villadsen Sr. noticed that his business account was out of money. He located three cheques "payable to J. Villadsen" totalling $17,000 that he could not account for. He showed them to his son, who could not account for them either."
During meetings with the family, Joanne Villadsen eventually admitted to taking the three cheques, Penty said.
"She said she had an internet gambling problem and swore to get help."
According to the Crown submission, Kent Villadsen initially felt the matter should be resolved within the family.
But he audited the company books and found additional cheques missing from the middle of his cheque book. His bank statements were also missing so he went to the Bank of Montreal to discover the location of the cheques.
"As more cheques surfaced, he confronted Joanne Villadsen; and once again, she admitted to only as much as she was confronted with," Penty said.
"Ms. Villadsen told them she had taken cheques while visiting for meals and while the children played on the computer."
She also told her in-laws that she would repay the family from a trust fund and gave Kent Villadsen personal cheques that totalled $68,000.
But Kent Villadsen became suspicious of the trust fund story. He contacted the woman's parents and learned that no trust fund existed, Penty said.
By January 25, 2002, the Bank of Montreal had located the last of the missing cheques, 40 in total, and Kent Villadsen discovered $190,447.83 had been stolen from his company.
Around that same time, Johnny Villadsen also learned that his wife had accumulated several outstanding credit-card debts through a separate post-office box and that she had created a fraudulent $43,000 mortgage on a family property by forging his signature.
It was then discovered that Joanne Villadsen had partially repaid her parents-in-law with the proceeds of the fraudulent mortgage.
"A civil action by Johnny Villadsen against Island Savings Credit Union was settled out of court," Penty noted.
As an explanation for Joanne Villadsen's theft from her family, defence counsel Lois Phillips indicated that the woman suffered from an internet gambling affliction that consumed almost all of the money.
"One day she saw it and the next day she was hooked."
Her client did not benefit from the crime, said Phillips.
"All cheques written went to feed this insatiable gambling habit."
And the full-time mother was diagnosed with a mental illness that may have made her particularly susceptible to a gambling addiction.
Joanne Villadsen was under treatment for a bipolar disorder (manic-depressive) and she was suicidal before she began internet gambling. She became suicidal once again when the crime was discovered, Phillips said.
"She was hospitalized for 12 weeks."
Support letters from friends also indicated that varying dosages of Paxil medication, used to treat her bipolar disorder, may have contributed to her crimes.
A psychologist's report also indicated that Villadsen believed her doctor was responsible for giving her an incorrect dosage of Paxil, that caused her to spiral out of control.
"The accused seems to blame her medications for her behaviour over this long period of time. The psychologist makes note of her desire to convince him that the Paxil medication contributed to what she did," said Penty.
But while medications, a gambling addiction and mental illness may act as explanations for her behaviour, Joanne Villadsen was prepared to accept full responsibility for her crime, Phillips said.
"Mr. Villadsen likened it to a hand-grenade being lobbed into their family . . . . But the effects are almost nuclear in their extent of damage."
Defence counsel noted that her client had forfeited any claim to her husband's assets as a result of her fraudulent mortgage, as determined in concurrent marriage-separation proceedings.
"The upshot is that Joanne Villadsen has no assets. Unless she wins the lottery, and she shouldn't be buying lottery tickets, she won't have assets to base a civil case against."
Phillips suggested that the internet gambler could serve "several hundred hours of community work" as part of a conditional discharge, in lieu of a sentence that would include incarceration and a criminal record.
"That would serve the purpose of having Joanne Villadsen being seen out in the community 'paying for her sins.'"
But the Crown prosecutor argued that community service would be grossly inappropriate.
"Any extra hours available should be used to work at a second job to pay back this huge debt," Penty said.
After deliberation, Judge Breknell determined that Joanne Villadsen would serve 18 months' house arrest, three additional years of probation and pay full restitution of the remaining $122,457.83 to Kent and Inge Villadsen.
Conditions of the 24-hour house arrest include mandatory counselling and bans of alcohol, non-prescribed drugs, gambling and use of the internet.
"No lottery tickets, pull tabs, bingo, nothing," Brecknell said.
Joanne Villadsen will only be permitted to leave her home for purposes of employment and counselling along with one two-hour period per week, he said.
She was also ordered to repay the family at a rate of $400 per month and refrain from all contact with Kent and Inge Villadsen apart from settlement of the restitution order.
"I can only say that the comment Mr. Villadsen made in his victim-impact statement should ring in your ears while you are serving this sentence."
http://www.gulfislands.net/news.asp?ID=1108
