Carol Baldwin, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter, Wakaw Recorder
On Monday, Nov. 4, a sentence of three years in jail, was handed down by Justice G.A. Meschishnick at Court of King’s Bench in Prince Albert to former Conexus Credit Union employee, Brenda Venne of Wakaw, following her plea of guilty to fraud over $5,000 in April.
Although the defence asked for a community-based sentence, Crown Prosecutor Jennifer Souter said given the magnitude of the theft, time in jail was the only appropriate sentence for Venne, and Justice Meschishnick opted to give the maximum sentence calling the thefts a ‘serious breach of trust.’ Venne preyed upon the vulnerable he added, and said, “When the victim is vulnerable, the court must give priority to denunciation.”
According to facts presented at the Court of King’s Bench in Prince Albert on Monday, April 8, 2024, a complainant reported $92,000 missing from their account. In total, amongst all the victims there were 157 fraudulent transfers identified. As they were all elderly, many of the victims were unable to use online banking to monitor their accounts or handle their transactions and therefore relied on bank personnel for that.
One victim who suffered from dementia had $432,000 taken from their bank account and two others were robbed of $100,000 each and the remaining thefts of nearly $220,000 were from eight other victims. Police determined the fraud and thefts occurred between Jan. 2, 2013, and April 30, 2019. In early December 2020, Wakaw RCMP received a report of theft from a person’s bank account. Once the investigation started, Saskatoon RCMP took over due to its scope and complexity and charges were laid in April 2022. Venne, who was 63 at the time the charges were laid, retired from banking in July 2020.
The victims have been reimbursed and Conexus’ insurance company is now looking to recover the amount stolen, including the interest it would have earned, from Venne. Conexus Credit Union collaborated with auditors and investigators during the investigation and contacted all the victims affected by the fraud at the time of Venne’s arrest. Representatives of Conexus who were present for the sentencing read a statement saying Venne’s actions caused a ripple effect on Conexus employees and “her conduct will leave a lasting impact.”
At the time of the guilty plea, a family member of one of the victims told this reporter she ‘stole so much more than money.’ She stole the victims’ ability to trust, their sense of security, and their peace of mind. Her delay in admitting to the crime, the two years of delays and requests to have the case set aside until the next monthly court sitting only prolonged the suffering of her victims and stymied their ability to heal and move on. As someone who grew up in this community, everyone she victimized knew her and trusted her.
Stella Holinaty, 94, and her son watched from the public gallery, and both provided victim impact statements. The Holinaty’s words to Venne, who did not make eye contact with them, were curt and straightforward.
“You’re the sleaziest scum on the bottom of the barrel,” said 94-year-old victim, Stella Holinaty. “I trusted you; I thought you were my friend, and this is what you turned out to be.”
Venne did not turn around, not even when she said she was sorry. She called her actions a mistake and said she was ashamed. Duane Holinaty had equally harsh words and said the court case took too long to finish and suggested Venne drew out the court procedure to see if more of the victims would die before it was resolved.
Pleading guilty was of little help to anyone, he stated.
“You prolonged the suffering of my mom and all the victims,” he said.
“You stole her confidence. She can’t trust people,” Duane said. “She trusted you as a friend, how mistaken she was.”
Holinaty also suggested that there are other victims of her crime, saying that Venne’s family in Wakaw are also paying the price for her actions and the family’s reputation has suffered.
While anyone can fall victim to financial fraud and exploitation, seniors are some of the most common victims. Seniors who find themselves victims of fraud often experience a range of significant mental health symptoms as a result of it, including, but not limited to, depression, anxiety, thoughts of suicide, and disrupted sleep. These mental health impacts are often seen as intense emotions such as anger, rage, worry, hopelessness, despair, shock, betrayal, self-blame, shame, bitterness, despair, and lack of confidence. Feelings of betrayal, bitterness, and shame can also translate into changes in victim’s attitudes, which in turn impact their relationships. They may be less trusting of people in general, but more specifically depending on who commits the fraudulent act, they may lose trust in friends, family members, or institutions. This distrust can lead to isolation and a loss of relationships, which in turn leads to a lower quality of life. Additionally, the feelings of self-doubt can leave a senior victim feeling lost and powerless.
Justice Meschishnick said that Venne has destroyed the ability of her victims to trust people. Some were left wondering if they could pay for their care and had considered Venne a personal friend, not just their banker. Souter said that it was only because of the nature of small towns and the high level of trust that people place in their banks that Venne could hide the fraud as long as she did. “It’s clear that they [Conexus] have many, many safeguards in place,” Souter said. “It was just because of Ms. Venne’s personal relationship with some of the individuals she defrauded that she was able to bypass the security measures that are in place to prevent these types of crimes.”
