Ontario woman once charged with witchcraft convicted in Buddha statue fraud

An Ontario woman once charged with witchcraft has been convicted of defrauding a friend with a shared interest in spirituality, faith, healing and Buddhism out of $44,100, partly by promising that her fictitious brother Swamiraavi who lived in Montreal would make the victim Buddha statues.

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The Crown argued that Vishwantee Persaud defrauded Carolina Gopaul, her neighbour, out of approximately $120,000 between 2017 and 2019 in Brampton, Ont. But prosecutors were only able to prove just over a third of that in the Ontario Court of Justice.

“The Crown alleges that Ms. Persaud exploited Ms. Gopaul’s age, naivety, and emotional vulnerability by inducing her to provide money for a variety of purported faith- and healing-related purposes that were, in fact, fraudulent,” Justice Robert Tomovski wrote in a recent decision finding Persaud guilty.

Gopaul testified that she gave Persaud between $4,000 and $5,000 in cash for several custom-made Buddha statues, but she only got one, which the judge determined was not made by Persaud’s brother. She also paid several expenses for the fictitious brother, totalling about $25,000.

The judge found that “Persaud did not have a brother in Montreal named Swamiraavi and, consequently, did not have a brother there who made Buddha statues.”

Persaud “deliberately misrepresented the purpose for which the money was requested and obtained the funds for her own benefit,” Tomovski said. “The Buddha statues for which Ms. Gopaul paid were never made and were never intended to be made.”

The court also heard Gopal gave Persaud $19,100 after being told that Persaud “was a lawyer who required money to pay a licence reinstatement fee,” said the Oct. 8 decision, which doesn’t grapple with whether or not Persaud was ever a lawyer.

The Crown argued that the money was never used for that purpose.

The judge agreed, ruling “the money received by Ms. Persaud was not applied toward the reinstatement of her law licence or expenses associated with employment at a law firm.”

Gopaul also provided Persaud with two credit cards and access to a chequing account “after being told that they would be used to cover expenses associated with the practice of law and the commencement of employment with a law firm in Quebec,” said the decision.

The transactions Persaud rang up on the credit cards included purchases of jewellery, lingerie, fitness memberships, flights to Greece and Jamaica, and veterinary services. “Ms. Gopaul testified that she was unaware Ms. Persaud owned a pet,” the judge said.

Tomovski said he was left with a reasonable doubt about the agreement regarding the use of the credit cards.

“There is credible and reliable evidence that Ms. Gopaul was aware, for nearly two years, that Ms. Persaud was making purchases of a personal nature that were unrelated to legal employment or licensing expenses. Despite that knowledge, she did not question the transactions, report them as unauthorized, cancel the credit cards, or close the account. This finding, however, does not detract from my overall conclusion that Ms. Persaud defrauded Ms. Gopaul. It affects only the quantum of the resulting loss.”

Gopaul, 69, has three adult children, “one of whom has significant physical and mental disabilities and remains dependent upon her for ongoing care and accommodation,” said the decision.

Gopaul testified that “she repeatedly sought repayment from” Persaud for racking up her credit cards and taking money from her chequing account, but she only got a tiny fraction of it back.

Gopaul maintained that Persaud still owed her $118,492.62.

The judge found that Gopaul’s “total loss attributable to the law-related component of the fraud was $19,100.”

Tomovski was left with reasonable doubt that Persaud’s use of Gopaul’s chequing account and credit cards was fraudulent.

Gopaul was receiving monthly statements and account records for them as early as October 2017, the judge said.

“I do not accept that Ms. Gopaul was so overwhelmed, vulnerable, or naive that she would not have appreciated what was plainly disclosed by the records,” Tomovski said.

He had similar doubts about Persaud’s car expenses. Gopaul testified that she paid approximately $700 per month for six months toward Persaud’s car payments, and $2,050 for her car insurance

But Tomovski was “satisfied beyond a reasonable doubt that Ms. Persaud fraudulently deprived Ms. Gopaul of at least $44,100 through deceit and falsehood.”

This isn’t Persaud’s first fraud conviction. In 2009 Toronto police charged her with employing fake supernatural powers to defraud a lawyer out of $27,000.

She had claimed to be from a family of witches and said that she could embody the client’s deceased sister during a tarot reading.

The original witchcraft charges were later replaced by fraud charges, to which Persaud pleaded guilty in 2010.

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