$2.2 million scammer ordered to pay back cash
Michelle Bouchard, escorted by police officers during her trial
(CNS): Michelle Bouchard (57) has been ordered to pay back the money she stole from James Bruce Handford, an octogenarian whom she scammed out of millions of dollars while she shared his home. The Canadian national, who is serving a ten-year term, reduced from 12 by the Cayman Islands Court of Appeal, will pay more than $2.2 million in compensation, which will go to her victim, who is in failing health, and his estate. The crown made the case to recover the cash to ensure that Bouchard did not profit from her dishonesty and what the trial judge had described as an eye-watering theft.
During the trial the court heard how she had moved her ill-gotten gains out of the Cayman Islands — money she will now be forced to pay back.
Bouchard was convicted of stealing the money from Handford, a wealthy businessman from Australia, while she was in a relationship with him. The trial exposed the extent of Bouchard’s theft and her attitude towards her unwitting benefactor as she had kept a detailed diary of their relationship.
If Gold digging was illegal a lot of wives in Cayman would be locked up. Check out the balls and party events.
Deport this ‘smile in your face stab in the back’ specialist – like most here already.
He gave her access to his account as she had started out as his assistant and used to pay bills, do errands etc.
I don’t think the intention was for her to transfer over a million dollars to her bank account in Canada and when the heat was on, she transferred it to a bank account in the name of her deceased father.
Isn’t this similar to me being a signatory on my bosses business bank account? I am trusted to pay the business liabilities, not pay my own credit card and my other bills.
He also has dementia now so it is possible he had symptoms of that at the time he was making those decisions, which is why his daughter came to investigate.
He may have promised to take care of Ms Bouchard financially but knowing his condition and the way she truly felt about him is also proof that she took advantage of him, this wasn’t just her being a gold-digger.
I hope they are able to recover the funds she transferred overseas as she should not be able to profit from this in anyway.
So they said. Evidence seemed very flaky to convict. A local would have been acquitted.
All the money was paid by her lover into a joint account. It is so awful that people raising concerns about this case are accused of racism. What is troubling are the many comments on this story equating gold-digging with criminality. That shows ones aspect that was worrying about this case. The evidence to support the charges was very poor and there is an explanation for the allegations being made at the behest of her family which this current story makes very clear. How many jurors, like the posters, were swayed by their taking a moral view of her life choices and how did that influence their attitude to her when it came to assess the evidence?
Gold-diggers are generally married to victim and spend their common household money on lavishments. They don’t conspire to deliberately obscure ownership and activrly redomicile the cash to another country and into the names of other people to prevent forfeiture. This was clearly theft on a grand scale.
She got da complexion for da protection.
Expected responses.
Don’t t8k the b8t
Deport. The fishing net brang in enough trash and death.
Wow, the sympathies for a white blonde hair Canadian. I bet you if she was a black Jamaican or black Caymanian woman, you wouldn’t hear the end of it. One condemnation after the next … and nasty ones too.
Like “she should rot for 10 more year!” etc…
The hypocrisy I tell you ?
I suspect she was only convicted because she was a white Canadian.
Funny how that racism works. Wonder what Who thinks.
12:36 is a Racist.
You got that right. And a crybaby
What did she do that is illegal? Morally wrong yes, gold-digging yes, trifling ass user, yes. She found a man who willingly added her to his accounts to withdraw as she liked and she sure did. Was he drugged? Was she forging signatures? He was an older man who probably wanted to impress his younger love interest by doing nice things for her and spending cash. When did using a man for financial gains that he offered land you behind bars?? Sad she milked him and used the hell out of him but it was not illegal IMO.
Agreed. Happens ALL the time.
So you think he gave her $2 million dollars for some good fun? You’re nuts.
He gave her signing powers on his bank account so maybe she didn’t really steal from him.
Absolutely. It should never had gone to trial.
She was acting on his behalf in a position of trust – rather like an attorney (under power of attorney, not attorney at law). As such she has a duty of care to only benefit him, not herself.
Using your argument, anyone with signing powers on a bank account can use it for their own purposes, regardless of whose money it is.
Men happily give large sums of money to much younger women.
Uh uh. His.
Trump pays in that range.
He paid the money into a joint account.
He was senile and suffering from dementia. She took advantage of the elderly, now she should pay..
She stole from an elderly man that had no idea what he was doing …If he was in his right mind he would have found out what she was doing..She knew better, call it what you want she took advantage of an old man and stole from him.
Yeah good luck getting that money back, never happens.
The Canadian family only needs to have the judgement filed and made executory in Canada. She will probably default because she’s in jail. Then start seizing bank accounts. Not that difficult.
Which seems what this was all about. Which seems so wrong.
And what makes you so sure it’s in her bank account(s)? In all these cases pennies on the dollar are recovered.
Find the outgoing wires, and get FINTRAC on recipient institutions and accounts. Should have been ordered by this man’s family months ago when thefts were first discovered.
I feel very sorry for her. I do not believe she did anything criminal at all. The case against her seemed to very thin. Had she been a Caymanian no jury would have convicted her.
10 :10am , why you couldn’t see it is because she is a professional gold digger. But the Jury and the Judge seen that she is a low life gold digger criminal .
Gold digging is not a crime.
Apparently it is,because she got 10yrs for it.
Gold diggin aint illegal, when done the right way.
Exactly … you can fish with a Trawler & it may not be fair on the fish , but it is fishing and not illegal ….
Just sayin that a Caymanian gold digger would probably never go to court. That is all.
Right, well let her spend your money then. I hope the victim recoups the money rightfully owed to him and his estate. Please refrain from using this sad case to turn this into another us versus them.
Thank God the jurors had functioning brains, unlike yourself. Read the trial transcript to see what a greedy, selfish, conniving woman this defendant was. Elderly abuse comes in many forms.
Yes, she is all the things you mentioned but I still fail to see how her gold digging is illegal.
But what did she do that was criminal? I heard evidence that might indicate she was immoral. But that is not the same thing.
In recognition of his failing mental state, she deceived this man into becoming a steward of this financial affairs, and in that trusted role, actively obscured ownership of his property (not common property by marriage) then transferred much of these proceeds of crime out of jurisdiction, laundering those transfers into names of unpunished co-conspirators and properties. This is theft on a grand scale. It should be an active RCMP investigation in Canada.
4.31pm… I know you must be a big time crook yourself. Sad
Take ya licks foreign criminal!! #expatkind
Wow…that’s not very Caymankind of you. Typical.
Another imported expat criminal who was training to be a lawyer.