A B.C. businessman has been given prison time for using a power of attorney agreement to defraud his ailing uncle, who died in Edmonton, of more than $700,000.
John Kevin Letun, 62, was sentenced to four years in federal prison Thursday for misappropriating the life savings of William Theodore Letun, who spent his final years with a degenerative mental condition in an Edmonton care home.
The Crown asked for 4 1/2 years in prison, while the defence sought a two-year conditional sentence order, to be served in the community.
Court of King’s Bench Justice Marilyn Slawinsky decided a prison sentence was merited. Prosecutor Thomas O’Leary said that reflects the seriousness of the crime.
“Justice Slawinsky’s decision sends a clear message to others who might wish to prey on the elderly: if you are caught, you can expect severe punishment,” he said in an email.
Power of attorney 2009
John Letun pleaded guilty to a count of fraud over $5,000 in March. The accused — who at the time of the plea was listed as CEO of a cannabis firm and a green energy company — entered an enduring power of attorney agreement with his uncle in 2009, after William Letun was diagnosed with a degenerative condition that would ultimately rendered him mentally incapacitated.
In 2011, a doctor deemed William Letun “mentally infirm and lacking capacity,” court documents state. Under the power of attorney agreement, John Letun gained control of his uncle’s bank accounts, investments and real estate. William Letun was transferred to a retirement home and later a long-term care facility as his condition worsened.
Staff at Edmonton’s CapitalCare Dickinsfield realized something was amiss in 2015, when they tried to withdraw William Letun’s rent and received an insufficient funds notice. The elder Letun had set aside enough money to pay for his care for the rest of his life and, had everything gone as planned, should not have encountered financial trouble.
John Letun made several back payments to CapitalCare, but became harder to reach as the outstanding payments grew. Staff eventually referred the case to the Office of the Public Guardian and Trustee, a provincial government agency that makes legal and health-care decisions for incapacitated adults. The office applied for and received a court order tearing up the power of attorney, and later sued John Letun, winning a total of $1.7 million for his uncle’s care. Around $269,000 of that came from the sale of John Letun’s Kelowna home.
Charged in 2021
The public guardian also pursued criminal charges, referring the case to the Edmonton Police Service in 2016. John Letun was charged in 2021.
William Letun died April 20, 2019. His 2010 will named his nephew John as trustee of his estate, as well as a beneficiary along with John’s three children; 10 per cent of the estate was left to the deceased’s sister.
John Letun pleaded guilty to the fraud earlier this year. In an agreed statement of facts, he admitted to using more than $700,000 of his uncle’s money to cover day-to-day expenses, family vacations to Hawaii, vehicles, and post-secondary tuition for his kids.
O’Leary said elder frauds like the one John Letun perpetrated are difficult to detect. He praised the organizations that played a role in revealing Letun’s wrongdoing.
“This sad case … sheds light on the good work of staff and social workers at Capital Care Dickinsfield, who discovered the fraud, and the Public Trustee’s Office and Edmonton Police Service, who investigated and achieved some measure of justice for the victim,” he said.
Slawinsky also issued an order barring Letun from ever again acting as an estate executor or a power of attorney.
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