Halifax contractor gets jail time, probation for defrauding clients

HALIFAX, N.S. — A Halifax contractor who took money from clients up front but did not complete their projects has been handed a 17-month jail sentence, followed by two years’ probation.

Robert Allan Monk, 52, pleaded guilty in Halifax provincial court to 16 charges of fraud under $5,000, single counts of using a stolen credit card and uttering forged cheques, and two counts of breaching probation.

Judge Elizabeth Buckle heard sentencing submissions last month and gave her decision Tuesday.

“I have to impose a sentence that is proportionate to the gravity of the offences and Mr. Monk’s degree of responsibility,” Buckle said.

“These offences are serious. They impacted victims financially and emotionally. Some of those impacts are described in victim impact statements.

“But these offences also impacted other people. They impact honest labourers and the community at large by eroding trust. They involved taking advantage of ordinary people who were not sophisticated purchasers of services.”

The offences were committed throughout Halifax Regional Municipality and in East Uniacke over an approximately three-year period, between September 2019 and November 2022.

Monk’s victims included 15 individuals, two couples and the CIBC. The amounts of the frauds ranged from $250 to $4,800.

“None of the offences involved momentary lapses of judgment,” Buckle said. “Each required some planning.”

In most of the cases, Monk placed an ad online or responded to posts by the victims.

“He would accept money for work but did not do the work and did not return the money,” the judge said. “When pressed by the victims, he’d put them off with excuses and then would stop responding to them.”

One case was different than the others, however. In that situation, Monk responded to an ad posted on Kijiji by a woman looking for somebody to do work on her home. The woman had power of attorney for her mother, who was living in a seniors facility, so she had her mom’s credit card and chequebook at her home.

While working in the house, Monk took the credit card and cheques and used them.

“(The woman) trusted Mr. Monk to enter her home, and he abused that trust by stealing and using her mother’s credit card and cheques,” Buckle said.

Monk also admitted breaching a probation condition that prohibited him from using online platforms to contract his services. Those breaches occurred in September 2019 and March 2020.

Drug addiction ‘played role’

The judge said Monk’s moral blameworthiness was lessened only by an addiction to crystal meth that he says spiralled out of control after his father died and contributed to the commission of these offences.

“His lawyer says it changes the offences from crimes of greed to crimes of need and desperation,” Buckle said of the addiction.

“The only evidence of his addiction came from (Monk). Given the offences I am sentencing him for, his word has to be viewed with some skepticism.

“However, the Crown has not put him to strict proof of this fact, so I accept that he had addictions and that they played a role in the offences. But for that explanation, his conduct would be (that of) the typical fly-by-night contractor.”

Monk received a conditional discharge for fraud under $5,000 in 2016. He has two prior convictions for fraud under $5,000, one for uttering a forged document and one for breaching probation.

Crown attorney Lauren Lindsay requested a sentence of 21 months in jail less remand credit. Defence lawyer Cameron MacKeen argued for a sentence that would result in a go-forward jail term of 90 days, to be served intermittently.

MacKeen said his client has accepted responsibility for his actions, expressed remorse and has used his time on remand to work on his issues. He said an intermittent sentence would help with Monk’s rehabilitation by providing a transition from custody to the community.

“It would be wrong in principle for me to reverse-engineer a sentence in order to arrive at a sentence that can be served intermittently,” Buckle said.

“Even if I could, I would not be persuaded that the reason put forward is a valid reason to impose a lenient sentence in this case. In my view, the same effect can be accomplished through the probation order that the Crown and defence agree is appropriate here.”

The judge gave Monk a 510-day sentence but deducted 353 days as credit for his time on remand, leaving him with 157 days, or just over five months, to serve.

Probation conditions

While on probation, Monk cannot have contact with the victims or be within 25 metres of their homes and is not to use any kind of “social media or online marketplace to advertise, solicit or contract landscaping, home renovation, home maintenance, demolition, snow-clearing or other contractor or handyman services.”

While on probation, he is not to possess any debit cards, bank cards, credit cards, cheques or money orders unless they are in his name. He also must participate in any counselling deemed necessary by his probation officer, “specifically in the area of substance abuse and mental health.”

Buckle also granted 16 restitution orders totalling just over $28,000. The victims can use those orders to obtain civil judgments against Monk in Nova Scotia Supreme Court.

Sixty-four other charges against Monk were dismissed or withdrawn Tuesday. He still faces fraud-related charges in provincial court in Shubenacadie and Annapolis Royal.