I argued here that BC Liberals provided Basi and Virk with a sweetheart deal in exchange for guilty pleas that allowed their trial to be ended. Here is more evidence – if we need any – that the Liberal Government’s deal with Basi and Virk was corrupt, aimed at stopping the trial from proceeding.
A Victoria woman who faked a series of life-threatening illnesses in order to pay for her gambling addiction has been sentenced to three years in jail. Tina Sammons, 37, pleaded guilty in November to four counts of fraud in which she swindled $350,000 from her husband’s parents, her brother-in-law, sister-in-law and her husband’s best friend . . .
She was arrested in November after her brother-in-law hired a private detective to investigate her, which led to the exposure of the 18-month spree.
Sammons’s husband . . .asked provincial court Judge Adrian Brooks to allow Sammons to serve two years less a day at home. But Brooks ruled Sammons must do jail time to demonstrate how seriously society views such cruel deception. . .
We shall examine the differences.
- Sammons’ crimes in 2009 and 2010 were against friends and family, not against the trust of the entire public;
- The victims conducted their own investigation so there was relatively small cost to the crown;
- The perpetrator pleaded guilty so there was no extended use of trial courts;
- British Columbia did not pay millions of dollars to the guilty defendant or her lawyers.
In another case reported this week, telephone scammer John Raymond Bezeredi, 46, of West Vancouver was sentenced in a US court to nine years in prison for fraud. He was ordered to pay almost $5 million in restitution.
What was the sentence for Basi/Virk case that cost taxpayers well more than $10 million? Less than two years of modified house arrest that enables the convicted men to live almost normal lives with absences allowed for work, family, recreation and religion. Thanks Mike de Jong, as Attorney General, the chief law enforcement officer of the province.
in-sights.ca 
Ron Wilton is going along with the addiction crutch concerning Tina Sammons. Had he been one of the victim's with the greater knowledge of the crime he maybe would change that belief.
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The right thing to do is, seize Campbell's stolen assets and try him for his corrupt sale of the BCR. Sorry, that is the joke of the decade. Campbell steals from us, De Jong steals our tax dollars, to pay the two patsies costs. In other words, we pay them for thieving from us.
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The thought that came to my mind when I read this was the fact that any investor fraud victim would be lucky to get 3 to 5, or maybe 10 cents on the dollar. Why not in this case?
Classism. That's why.
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Hi Norm.
I was struck by the comparative severity of the sentence in the cancer fraud case as well. A sentence of over two years means federal prison as I understand it, and a different crowd than provincial jails. Unfortunately, the media do a very poor job of standing back and getting out of the rut of constant instant news to do any kind of thoughtful analysis to put these kind of things into perspective. The public gets bombarded by so many “dog bites man” and “man bites dog” oddities served up as news that even when the the important analytical stuff does sometimes get published, it doesn't hold the public's attention long enough to sink in, it seems. Few stories get the “legs” they deserve. And, after a blizzard of oddities, few recall the details of past comparators like Basi/Virk. And the MSM have a vested interest to leave it that way. Heaven forbid the great unwashed should actually get information about more than bread and circuses! They might revolt or try to cancel a tax or something!
Warren White
Gordon Head, Victoria
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Guy in Victoria, that issue may link back to an associated issue in an interesting way. Time will tell, their ship is leaking, so to speak.
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Norm you always tell it as it is. Many of us have witnessed the same type of injustices since the Basi/Virk reward.
The one question I have Norm, and I've been asking myself the same question over & over, IS how did Basi/Virk managed to run a family & home during those 6 years if they had NO income.
Guy in Victoria
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In BC there are two sets of laws. Campbell's corrupt sale of the BCR, was tried in a corrupt court. Presided over by a corrupt judge, who accepted brain dead witnesses. De Jong then thieves the tax payers dollars, to pay all of the two patsies costs. Campbell has thieved this province blind. The same judicial system, sweeps the crimes of the RCMP under the carpet as well, even when the officers are filmed, caught right in the act. What would happen, if we behaved as they do? They are all corrupt, lying,thieving criminals. That's the crap, we have running this province. The most shameful, evil bunch of, BC Liberal politicians, in Canadian history.
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Mr Campbell will get an Order of Canada for all he has done for BC (to, really) and the people who live here.
Only very, very rarely do the peasants get justice in BC. The ruling class get all the tax payer money (i.e., the peasant's) they can use, and they do not even have to pay
their legal fees, let alone do time in jail.
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Very perceptive Norman, and telling.
I have sympathy for Tina Sammons because she too is a victim. A victim of our governments version of crack cocaine, casino gambling.
I wonder what sentence Mr. Campbell will receive when he is tried for his multifarious crimes.
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