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Appeals denied in Hecla Island land fraud

By: Mike McIntyre

Posted: 10/15/2012 12:44 PM | Comments: 0

Two Manitoba men have lost their fight to overturn convictions in a high-profile property scam that happened more than a decade ago.

Marvin Benson and Warren Helgason were convicted of fraud and forgery last year following a dispute over how Hecla Island cottage lots were acquired more than a decade ago. Both filed appeals, which were rejected in a written decision released today.

That effectively closes the book on an ugly legal battle over a pristine patch of Manitoba cottage country.

Benson was given an absolute discharge for his role, meaning the case will not reflect on a criminal record. Helgason received a $1,500 fine, which means there is a permanent record of his actions.

The Crown had been seeking fines of up to $5,000 against the pair, who both had requested discharges. Defence lawyer Richard Wolson argued they were otherwise upstanding citizens who have made significant contributions to their communities throughout their otherwise law-abiding lives.

Helgason and Benson were found to have forged the signatures of elderly former Hecla Island residents in the mid-1990s to transfer several lots to their own families. The provincial government was none the wiser until 2003 when the auditor general found the process of dividing the lots wasn't fair or transparent.

Helgason was convicted of five counts of fraud, forgery and uttering a forged document in connection with the ownership of what's described as the ex-golf pro's white house on Hecla Island. On Friday, the judge ordered Helgason to forfeit the home.

"In my view, there is no other rational explanation for the circumstantial evidence but that the accused committed the crime," Queen's Bench Justice William Burnett said.

"A reasonable person would consider Warren Helgason's conduct to be dishonest. The fact he may have thought there was nothing wrong with what he was doing provides no defence."

Benson was convicted of two counts of forging two documents regarding the acquisition of Lot 13 in Hecla Historic Village.

The case goes back to the 1960s when land owned by homesteading families on Hecla Island was expropriated to make way for a new provincial park. In the 1990s, the province decided to make amends with the original families and sell land to them at $5,000 a lot.

Charges against two female co-accused were dismissed.

www.mikeoncrime.com

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