Achi news desk-
It will have to wait at least a little longer when sentencing a man who has been accused of fraud and theft in the handling of an estate.
Sentencing presentations for Jeff Borschowa, who pleaded guilty in April 2022, began Monday at the Calgary Court Centre.
During a defense presentation partly due to delays in sentencing, time ran out for the day and the matter was interrupted and adjourned until Wednesday to find a day to bring it up again.
Prior to that, Crown prosecutor Tony Bell said he was looking to spend a few years in prison.
Robyn High’s defense lawyer wants a conditional discharge.
He said if that can’t happen, a suspended sentence might be appropriate, and if that can’t happen, a conditional sentence might be appropriate, and failing all that, very little jail time.
Colleen Monier was 51 when she died of terminal brain cancer in 2011 and left her estate to be cared for by a family friend in Borschowa.
Monier’s estate was worth $700,000 after it was initially valued at $1.2 million.
Her family says they only got a portion as Borschowa lined her pockets with more than $500,000 over six years.
Borschowa was charged with fraud and theft over $5,000 in 2021 after Calgary police launched an investigation into his activities when Monier’s family became suspicious of the executor and accounting fees he collected from her estate over the years.
Sentencing has been delayed several times since Borschowa’s guilty plea, although the defense has said it is ready to proceed.
Michael Palmer, Monier’s brother, expressed disappointment at the further delay but also said that the sentencing presentations that have started at all make it seem as if there is an end in sight.
What he heard did not change his mind on Borschowa.
The defense submitted that Borschowa’s long-standing mental health issues, exacerbated by physical ailments, contributed to his abuse of the estate.
The defense said it was reckless behavior due to the increased stress of handling a complex estate, not a sophisticated plan to frame anyone.
The Crown said that two years imprisonment was within the appropriate range and that conditional sentences in similar matters only occurred under exceptional circumstances.
The Crown proposed as aggravating factors the misuse of a position of trust, up to the time the abuse occurred, an element of concealment and Borschowa’s professional designation at the time as a chartered accountant.
With files from Tyson Fedor
