From Today's Star:
Woman who duped men faces new charges
Woman accused of duping men out of cash, lavish gifts
Convicted in 1998 of similar crimes to tune of $350,000
It was sheer coincidence, police say, that a woman with a host of identities was arrested on Halloween night.
Seven years after pleading guilty to defrauding unsuspecting men out of more than $350,000, Tracy Lynn Sargent — a.k.a. Alexandra Vandercroft, a.k.a. Trinia Sargent, a.k.a. Leanne Diamond — is again in legal trouble over fraud accusations.
"She's back," said Det. Const. George Pearson of 52 Division's fraud unit.
Police allege Sargent, 38, has duped two men out of $50,000, telling elaborate lies about her life and financial need.
According to their investigation, police said, the woman met her victims both on the street and over the Internet, wooing them into forking over cash and gifts, police said. She has been charged with two counts of fraud over $5,000. Her stories, Pearson said, included made-up details such as "she was from Switzerland and that she's a university student at U of T in the faculty of cardiology.
"She would tell them she needed money for tuition fees, rent, medical expenses and even trips to France in relation to her medical career," Pearson added.
One of the victims came to police just a week ago after realizing who Sargent really was.
He searched the Internet and found several articles published by the Toronto Star in relation to the woman's previous charges.
"We had information she was about to leave the area and that's why we stepped up our investigation and arrested her when we did," said Pearson.
Sargent was using the money to purchase extravagant gifts and pay for trips overseas, police allege.
Pearson said there may be other victims who are reluctant to come forward out of embarrassment.
During court proceedings in 1998, which led to her incarceration, evidence showed she told some victims that she was the illegitimate daughter of then Lieutenant-Governor Hilary Weston and movie mogul Edgar Bronfman. Others believed she was anything from a Calvin Klein model to a would-be horse trainer for Diana, Princess of Wales.
Documents entered in the 1998 court case showed Sargent had 57 fraud convictions dating to 1986, a pattern thought to have begun in her hometown of St. Thomas, Ont.
At her sentencing hearing in 1998, Sargent apologized for her actions.
"I displayed bad behaviour and caused uncalled-for pain to other people," she told the court at the time. Judge Stanley Long, who presided over the case, was unsympathetic to her courtroom apology and sentenced her to two years in a federal penitentiary.
He also ordered her to pay back $160,000 to one of her victims. Long called her scams "one of the most horrendous fraudulent schemes that I've heard of in all my years on the bench."
Woman who duped men faces new charges
Woman accused of duping men out of cash, lavish gifts
Convicted in 1998 of similar crimes to tune of $350,000
It was sheer coincidence, police say, that a woman with a host of identities was arrested on Halloween night.
Seven years after pleading guilty to defrauding unsuspecting men out of more than $350,000, Tracy Lynn Sargent — a.k.a. Alexandra Vandercroft, a.k.a. Trinia Sargent, a.k.a. Leanne Diamond — is again in legal trouble over fraud accusations.
"She's back," said Det. Const. George Pearson of 52 Division's fraud unit.
Police allege Sargent, 38, has duped two men out of $50,000, telling elaborate lies about her life and financial need.
According to their investigation, police said, the woman met her victims both on the street and over the Internet, wooing them into forking over cash and gifts, police said. She has been charged with two counts of fraud over $5,000. Her stories, Pearson said, included made-up details such as "she was from Switzerland and that she's a university student at U of T in the faculty of cardiology.
"She would tell them she needed money for tuition fees, rent, medical expenses and even trips to France in relation to her medical career," Pearson added.
One of the victims came to police just a week ago after realizing who Sargent really was.
He searched the Internet and found several articles published by the Toronto Star in relation to the woman's previous charges.
"We had information she was about to leave the area and that's why we stepped up our investigation and arrested her when we did," said Pearson.
Sargent was using the money to purchase extravagant gifts and pay for trips overseas, police allege.
Pearson said there may be other victims who are reluctant to come forward out of embarrassment.
During court proceedings in 1998, which led to her incarceration, evidence showed she told some victims that she was the illegitimate daughter of then Lieutenant-Governor Hilary Weston and movie mogul Edgar Bronfman. Others believed she was anything from a Calvin Klein model to a would-be horse trainer for Diana, Princess of Wales.
Documents entered in the 1998 court case showed Sargent had 57 fraud convictions dating to 1986, a pattern thought to have begun in her hometown of St. Thomas, Ont.
At her sentencing hearing in 1998, Sargent apologized for her actions.
"I displayed bad behaviour and caused uncalled-for pain to other people," she told the court at the time. Judge Stanley Long, who presided over the case, was unsympathetic to her courtroom apology and sentenced her to two years in a federal penitentiary.
He also ordered her to pay back $160,000 to one of her victims. Long called her scams "one of the most horrendous fraudulent schemes that I've heard of in all my years on the bench."
