OTTAWA – A "not overly attractive" but "very polished" career con man who preys on vulnerable older women he meets through Internet dating web sites has been sentenced to three years in prison after defrauding an Ottawa florist.
Duncan James Ryan, 48, admitted Tuesday that he defrauded the woman of $7,800 in July 2008 after portraying himself as a labour lawyer for Air Canada who had connections in the Canada Revenue Agency that could help resolve a tax issue involving the woman’s business.
Court heard Ryan met the woman, who had recently separated from her husband, on the online dating site, plentyoffish.com.
It was just the latest scam for the con man, whose own brother described him in court documents as a "nuisance, predator and manipulator" who has "left a trail of victims, hurt and pain" wherever he has lived.
An Ottawa police officer told the court Ryan is wanted in cities across Canada for allegedly committing similar frauds, including Calgary, Red Deer, Halifax and the Niagara region. At the time of the Ottawa offence, he was on parole after serving 27 months for fraud and theft convictions in Nova Scotia.
His criminal record includes 17 convictions for fraud, as well as multiple thefts and breaches of probation or other court orders.
Ryan once stole the money his siblings gave him to pay for their mother’s funeral, court heard.
Assistant Crown attorney Felicia Tippens said Ryan was a "compulsive liar" who was "on some kind of a spree defrauding women" and needed to be locked up.
A pre-sentence report said Ryan expressed no remorse for his actions, instead blaming his victim, who he claimed had charges filed against him after he broke up with her.
Ryan, who represented himself, told the judge he didn’t want to read the pre-sentence report, but later argued with some of its findings. In particular, Ryan claimed he had a degree in criminology, even though his purported school had no record of it.
"Even in front of a judge as I am about to sentence you (you) are maintaining a lie," said Ontario Court Justice Celynne Dorval before sentencing him to 36 months in federal prison.
"You lie about everything in life. Absolutely everything," she said. "I think you are at the point where you believe your own lies."
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