Case information

Criminal law — Reasonable verdict — Sentencing — Whether application for leave to appeal raises question of public importance.

Case summaries are prepared by the Office of the Registrar of the Supreme Court of Canada (Law Branch). Please note that summaries are not provided to the Judges of the Court. They are placed on the Court file and website for information purposes only.

The applicant, Anthony Daoulov, owned a residence for independent seniors. A woman, the victim, lived there. Her rent was $1,050 per month; she made the payments by cheque. Over a period of 45 months, there were 11 months where more than one cheque equivalent to the rent of $1,050 was withdrawn from the victim’s bank account and deposited into one of the bank accounts for which Mr. Daoulov was signatory. According to the evidence, he forged the victim’s signature.

At trial, the judge rejected Mr. Daoulov’s contradictory version. The judge was satisfied beyond a doubt that he had forged or copied the victim’s signature, that he had used forged cheques as if they were genuine and that he had knowingly used the extra cheques issued to create confusion for the victim. It was a scheme voluntarily put in place to extract money from her. The judge sentenced him to 18 months’ imprisonment, to be served in the community. On appeal, the applicant sought leave to appeal the verdict and the sentence. He also sought to adduce new evidence. The Court of Appeal did not see any reviewable error in the trial judge’s decisions. It also dismissed the application to adduce new evidence.