Paralegal Admits Guilt In $2.6M Client Ripoff; Trust Account Looted, Chronic Care Patient Left Broke, On Public Dole; Pair Lost Entire Inheritance
In Hamilton, Ontario, The Hamilton Spectator reports:
- A crooked paralegal with an admitted gambling problem admits to siphoning more $2.6 million from unsuspecting clients, while masquerading as a bona fide lawyer. Shellee Spinks, 47, pleaded guilty to 16 criminal charges yesterday, including one of theft by power of attorney, 12 counts of theft by conversion, and one each of perjury, obstruction of justice and uttering a forged document.
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- Superior Court Justice Barry Matheson heard that between September 2002 and February 2008, Spinks was employed as a paralegal by Hamilton lawyer Michael Puskas. Much of her work involved completing real estate transactions for her employer, along with various accounting responsibilities.
- Puskas maintained a bank account at TD Canada Trust in which mortgage funds were held in trust for real estate clients in the process of buying and selling properties. At the same time, Spinks controlled another account with the bank that was for her personal use and into which she regularly transferred large sums of money from the law firm's legitimate trust account. Total losses to real estate clients from these type of thefts amounted to $926,000.
- Between October 2002 and February 2008, Spinks held power of attorney for an 81-year-old woman in a nursing home. Spinks stole an estimated $200,000 and left the chronic-care patient destitute and on public assistance.
- In March 2006, Spinks forged the last will and testament of an Ancaster man, which named herself as the executor and trustee of his estate. The bogus will directed that his estate should pass to Spinks, and absent that, to the man's two sisters. The man died on Sept. 26, 2006. At the time of his death, he owned a property on Glancaster Road and had about $400,000 in investment securities.
- In December that year, Spinks and one of the sisters sold the Glancaster Road property. After adjustments and fees, the balance of nearly $950,000 was to have been deposited into an account in trust for the man's estate. Instead, Spinks deposited the cheque into her private account. When his family questioned why the estate was taking so long to disburse, Spinks told another lie. She said a former employee had come forward with a new will, naming himself executor and this was causing complications and delay. In the end, Spinks also cashed out the deceased man's securities and ended up cheating his sisters out of their entire $1.4 million inheritance.
- Crown counsel Tracey Stapleton said documents obtained from the Ontario Lottery and Gaming Corporation and internet gambling records revealed that most of the $2.6 million was gambled away by Spinks, except for $700,000, which was transferred to a company called The Broker's Room.
5 comments:
"I believe I knew your mother best." And I was lost. Her cold eyes cut through me-a young naïve broken girl. Shellee Spinks is a name that is forever carved into my soul deeply rooted now with all I've ever knowb to be evil, pain, and suffering. To this day I question what happened. I was 17 when my mom was first diagnosed with cancer. The doctor's found a tunour in her brain which they believed to be secondary, primarily starting in her lungs. A good friend of a man that she was dating was Shellee Spinks. Shellee had apparently known Al for years and had even assisted his family in buying homes. As my mother's sickness grew and her conditioned worsened Al would take overtime at a post retirement recreational golf shop job and leave my mother alone for as much as 12 hours in oxygen assistence. He isolated her from both my sister and I wherein we were not welcomed to see her during the darkest hours of her life. He told her that we didn't love her on a perpetual basis and within a year if her diagnosis he surprised her by taking her to their wedding where his cousin Doug and wife Laurie would witness and marry them. He would later tell me that they never had sex which as a young girl to hear aboput her terminally ill mother is unsettling to say the least. He began trying to sell their assets and home under the pretense that it would be a bright new beginning for them both. 5octor's found a second brain tumour. By this time Al had managed to turn other family members cold and sour toward my sister and I. On July 19th my mother was pernounced dead. Unsuspecting to doctors that had an mri booked for the 22nd. Al told us that she died in his arms. 4he actually died from fluid filling herr lungs commonly reffered to with a noise called the death rattle. I was never in that home again. My belongings were given to his family. Her car was given to his brother. My clothes were thrown in a box and left in the garage where we had to send someone to get them. I was told the wrong time ti show up at the funeral. My name is spelled wrong in the obituary.m I wasn't allowed to put up her pictures at the funeral where shellee didn't leave Als side for a second. I would later find out that according to Shellee I wasn't invited to read the will because my mother didn't mention us. I was hurt. For years I thought that he won and managed to actually convince her in her dying days that her own daughters didn't love her. I have never gotten over this. She was cremated which I didn't recall her ever wanting. We were sent a letter with the legal title of spinks' office informing us that any direct contact with the undersigned would result in charges of harrassment. The undersigned included my grandparents who spoke no English, my aunt and uncle, and Al Bielby. It would take years before I would get to speak to my family again. Al was said to have proposed to my nana shortly after her husband passed in the following year. He's rumoured to be on his now fourth wife. I approch a lawyer but was not able to finance the risk. Both bielby and Spinks claimed that they could not locate the will.
WOW.. I read your comments with a heavy heart. Well... Shellee tried to so hard to befriend my mother in her last 6 months on earth.. BUT.. I was to smart for her :).. One day I called my mother.. Shelle answered my moms phone and told me she was gone to the doctors. well, well... I hoped in my car, drove the 2 hours to her house and waited till she got back!.. I asked my mother.. WHO is Shelle and why is she in your house alone?.MY mother says. OH she a friend and is helping me so much!.. I said whats she doing for you?.. My mother says. Shelle is gonna get my roof fixed and shes gonna pay for it!.. I'm like YEAH RIGHT.. who does that for free?. I was on Shellees back like a fly on poop!.. she wanted to do her banking, set up online billing accounts even move into her house to help her.. OH but wait, poor poor Shellees mom had no where to live so she would have to move in to.. I'm like NO..NO WAY..Shellee even went as far as to tell my mother DON'T give ME money because thats the only reason I go there..The day I told Shelle I read all about her in the paper.. she never came back!! SO.. the lesson for today is.. IF someone.. anyone.. seems to kind or to helpful.. there is a reason... lock your door, change your number and call police.. somethings up!!
she is a cold blooded animal, that has the appearance of a warm loving mother. watch out for her. shes tall, at least 6' and about 250 lbs. with her bob cut died blonde hair, hazel eyes and big fake smile, she sure knows how to manipulate inocent kind hearted people. she has too many contacts from working for that lawyer and i believe she is still steeling, shes been upto no-goood since she got out of jail ( 6 months wasnt long enough im affraid) shes hurting people with her skills. and no one can do a thing about it cus she knows the law. how can i run from a person i cant hide from, she has too much access to government files, and i dont know how. someone has to pay more attention to her. shes bogus. stay clear of her. she is pure evil.
Pure evil...i agree to an extent but i think there is more strength in evil and control. I found Shellee to be a sloppy woman in the way she kept herself and her addiction to gambling furthers my opinion of her. I think she is just subject to weakness and evil would give her a more refined image then she deserves. I also would love to have words with her at some point in my life. I had considered paying her a visit at the jail to see her in her finest hour but the zoo has longer visiting hours to see animals that at least engage in grooming. i think she is sick and filthy creature. I think its a huge injustice to the people's lives she destroyed to have her out of jail in 6 months. That is disgusting and sadly typical. Ultimately, i believe the good die young and life is suffering and the worst thing to lose is a reputation so in speaking of her and making people aware of what kind of a monster she truly is, there is some justice, however minor. I only wish that she lives a very long life and endures even a fraction of the pain the she bestowed on people and while she may not be left with an estate or a power of attorney to hurt people that love her-- i believe that true karma will be heavily rested in the fact that there is no one around her to do such a thing as love her. May she have nothing but time to feel that and in that concept there is peace.
WTH.. shelle got 4 yrs and only served 6 months?.I hope she chokes on a loonie she took off my mother!!The fat b*tch will be sitting beside her mother in hell one day for what they both did to seniors who trusted them. God says we are not to hate.. but how could you not hate evil?.. I hope they sell bikini's her size because its hot down there!!!
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