Man pleads guilty for $503-K abuse, but still cares for victim

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This article was published 17/01/2024 (965 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

A Winnipeg man who pleaded guilty to 50 offences under the securities and mortgage broker acts will serve house arrest and pay restitution for abusing the trust of his elderly victim.

In 2020, the Manitoba Securities Commission charged mortgage salesperson Bret Alan Dobbin with 54 offences, including: trading in securities without being registered, acting as a mortgage broker and mortgage salesperson on his own behalf, and failing to pay the registered broker with whom he was registered.

Four of the charges were dropped before the 61-year-old pleaded guilty in provincial court to 50 offences regarding 17 transactions from April 2016 and December 2017, which totaled $503,237.61.

On Tuesday, provincial court Judge Michael Clark sentenced Dobbin to a conditional sentence order of 15 months, which will see him subject to a curfew.

“This is not a one-time act by Mr. Dobbin. It was repeated and an ongoing abuse of trust,” said Clark.

In each of the transactions, Dobbin took money from an 80-year-old woman who was widowed in 2015 and has no family in Winnipeg to assist her.

“Her husband passed away in April 2015, and at that time she apparently had $500,000 of her own,” said Clark. “(The victim), I’m told, had very little experience investing money and had no financial dealings with Mr. Dobbin while her husband was alive.”

Clark said Dobbin met with the victim in 2016.

“(Dobbin) would ask her to give him money instead of giving it to the bank. The gist of which, I gather, was he would tell her that he would use the money to finance other peoples’ mortgages who would otherwise be losing their homes,” the judge told court.

“He made promises about giving her principal back within two years, and in the meantime, every month, she would receive a cheque with interest… (The victim) says she trusted Mr. Dobbin, as they belonged to the same church and he promised that he would take care of her until she died.”

Clark said some of the money was used for Dobbin’s personal benefit, while some of it was used to fund mortgages.

Some of the cash has been paid back, but there is a dispute between Manitoba Securities Commission lawyer Arian Poushangi and defence lawyer Matt Gould over how much is still owed, considering interest.

The figure ranges from about $403,000 in the prosecution’s submission to around $200,000 in the defence’s view.

The specifics were to be worked out for a restitution order the judge will issue later.

At the time of the offences, Dobbin would drive the woman to church, appointments and errands, and take her to financial institutions to do banking, where he would instruct her to write cheques, including to himself.

Dobbin still helps the victim with day-to-day personal business and errands, court was told.

“I had difficulty reconciling that fact with the facts of this case. Mr. Dobbin breached the Securities Act and the Mortgage Brokers Act to the detriment of (the victim), but that does not change the fact that (she) is elderly and in need of assistance and Mr. Dobbin provides that service to her,” said Clark.

“There are no allegations that the behaviour that led to these breaches of the acts continues and I can only surmise that Mr. Dobbin provides a needed benefit to her and is not continuing to try to take advantage of this arrangement… It does provide comfort to me that Mr. Dobbin does not continue to be a danger to her or the community in his actions.”

The exceptions to his house arrest include being allowed to attend work, medical appointments or hospital for emergencies, church and a small window for personal business — and to assist his victim with her household tasks.

erik.pindera@freepress.mb.ca