Edmonton – An Edmonton woman has been sentenced to five years behind bars for bilking dozens of people out of a significant amount of money.
Carmelita Del Rosario pleaded guilty to one county of fraud in a Ponzi scheme, in offenses that took place over a three year period, from February 2009 to May 2012.
Provincial court judge Donna Groves called it a crime which required planning and deliberation, where Del Rosario used friendships and social connections to lure her victims.
Get breaking National news
There were a total of 49 victims, who lost a total of $1.1 million.
Some of the victims were happy Del Rosario received prison time, others wanted the judge to hand down a stiffer sentence.
Many of the victims were in court during Friday’s sentencing. One victim, who lost more than $100,000, said it was important to her to see Del Rosario in handcuffs as she was led away following the sentencing.
“It was a relief that the person who commit this scheme get charged, get sentenced. She have to pay for what she did wrong,” said the victim who didn’t want to be identified.
Del Rosario declined to speak in court Friday.
The victims have now launched civil proceedings against Carmelita Del Rosario.
With files from Vinesh Pratap
Comments
Want to discuss? Please read our Commenting Policy first.