A man who bilked an Oak Bay senior out of $1,220 in cash pleaded guilty to eight counts of fraud, including the Oak Bay incident, on June 17.
In April, 2012 the man, later identified as Kevin Thomas Gordon of Victoria, knocked on the door of a home on Eastdowne Road and offered to do driveway sealing for the elderly home owner. He convinced the woman to go to the bank to withdraw the funds to pay him upfront for the work.
He never performed the services promised, nor did he respond to any attempts to contact him made by the victim or the police.
“This is a file that our detective section took an active interest in from the start," said Oak Bay Chief Mark Fisher. "In this instance the offender actually took the victim to the bank to get cash from her account before doing the work. This type of exploitation of the elderly is despicable. The investigators were pleased to see the offender receive a significant sentence in this instance.”
A joint investigation by the Oak Bay police, Saanich police and Central Saanich police determined Gordon was responsible for a series of similar frauds across the Greater Victoria area. He was arrested on July 16, 2012 on an unrelated matter and remained in custody.
Gordon received an 18-month sentence, and was ordered to make restitution upon his eventual release, as a condition of the court imposed probation.