Earl Lawery Matthews and Reyanne Briand have been found guilty of fraud and sentenced to three years in prison. (CBC)A man and a woman who scammed people in Newfoundland and Quebec out of hundreds of thousands of dollars have each been sentenced to three years in jail.
Reyanne Briand, a Canadian, and Earl Matthews, a U.S. citizen, began their scam in Quebec before moving the operation to Grand Bank, N.L., a couple of years ago.
They lured victims with an internet scheme called “aid for families” before the RCMP finally caught up with them.
In June, a judge in southern Newfoundland found both Briand and Matthews guilty of fraud and possession of criminally obtained property.
At a sentence hearing Friday, Judge Harold Porter came down hard on the couple.
Briand and Matthews always maintained they did nothing wrong and claimed the police were making it all up.
On Friday, they asked the court to postpone their sentencing hearing until their lawyer's vacation ended.
Porter rejected their request. He said Matthews and Briand had repeatedly complained about delays in the justice system.
Porter said their lies brought victims to the brink of financial ruin. He pointed out that one of the people they defrauded contemplated suicide.
Porter said the pair chose to operate their scam in Canada to take advantage of the lower fraud sentences handed down by courts. So, he said, he wanted to make an example of them.
The judge said the pair did not defraud people so they could use the money to fuel an addiction or pay for gambling debts, but rather did it out of pure greed.
The couple created a web-based business called Aid4Families.com, which included vaguely written promises that suggested investors could earn healthy returns on their investments.
In a written decision released in June, Porter lashed out at Matthews and Briand. "The Aid4Families.com website is replete with exaggeration, false promise, and plain lies. It provides ample evidence of dishonest and discreditable behaviour on the part of the defendants."
The website is no longer active.
A police investigation was launched after investors in the U.S. reported problems. In one case, a couple had invested almost $350,000, expecting a high rate of return.
