First day of trial of a daycare director, accused of fraud and falsification of documents, Tuesday at the Montreal courthouse. Fatima El Boukhari allegedly withdrew the advance payments made to them from the parents’ bank accounts, claiming that the daycare was in the process of becoming subsidized and that this sum was to finance the organization.
The value of the amounts allegedly appropriated by the accused varies between $1,000 to $10,000, depending on the victims.
In 2020, Valérie Gagné enrolled her 2 and a half year old daughter in an unsubsidized daycare in Mercier–Hochelaga-Maisonneuve, in Montreal. Her daughter will only be 3 days old, but Ms. Gagné will receive payments from Revenu Québec of several thousand dollars into her bank account, which will be withdrawn the same day to finance daycare.
“Today again, I owe the government $9,000 with interest,” explained Valérie Gagné as part of her testimony before the Court of Quebec. Ms. Gagné was the first victim heard during the trial.
Four payments of $1,500 were allegedly sent to her by Revenu Québec into her personal bank account, before being withdrawn the same day by the accused. The payments continued even after her daughter no longer attended daycare.
Ms. Gagné signed the request for advance payments “in a pile of documents” without knowing what it was. According to the alleged victim, during her testimony, certain information was falsified, such as the address on file, family income, employment and the number of days of attendance at daycare.
She allegedly called Ms. El Boukhari several times to understand the payments and costs. The sum of $1,500 for three days seemed excessive to him. She would have called Revenu Québec for the fourth payment. The government allegedly sent him the falsified documents, highlighting the alleged fraud.
The defense believes that Ms. Gagné has some responsibility: she should have questioned Revenu Québec during the payments, rather than only calling the accused. The defense believes that the accused would have liked to receive money from the fraud.
The trial will continue until next week for a total of 6 days. Judge Salvatore Mascia presides over the hearing.
