St. John's man, accused in rental scam, found guilty of fraud in unrelated matter
A man who's facing a slew of charges in relation to a rental scam in St. John's was convicted of fraud in an unrelated case.
Raymond Trudel, 35, was found guilty of fraud under $5,000 on Tuesday morning at provincial court in St. John's.
In his decision, Judge Mike Madden said that many facts weren't disputed throughout the trial: that Trudel was hired to buy and plant trees for the complainant, and that $600 was sent and accepted via an email money transfer.
The judge referred to emails and Facebook messages from a week-long period in July 2017.
He said that communication told the story of the complainant waiting for delivery, followed by a lack of contact on Trudel's behalf, and then a list of excuses: from his phone being broken, to suffering from heat stroke, to saying that the trees had in fact been delivered to the woman's property.
The judge said during his testimony, Trudel said he had the name of the delivery man, his contact information, and the delivery receipt, but later lost all of it and forgot the man's name — even though the complainant had said multiple times that she would contact police if the matter wasn't resolved.
"His story shifts and changes," Judge Madden said, noting that the trees were never delivered.
Trudel's sentencing hearing is scheduled for Jan. 11, 2019.
The judge said Trudel, who has been representing himself in the matter, could still get legal counsel for that hearing if he wanted to.
Facing other fraud charges
But this was not the only time that his name has shown up on the docket in relation to allegations of fraud.
In October, while his trial was ongoing in this matter, Trudel was charged with 50 new counts, that date from June 18 to Sept. 3.
Those charges involve allegations of defrauding nine individuals — some on multiple occasions.
That includes 18 separate charges of fraud under $5,000; as well as forgery and making false documents, including rent receipts, damage deposits, rental agreements, and rent verification forms; and multiple breaches.
Those charges are due back before the court on Dec. 13.
