'She was evil': Former B.C. care aide sentenced for stealing from seniors

A former care aide who preyed on vulnerable Metro Vancouver seniors, stealing tens of thousands of dollars from them, has been handed a four-year prison term.

“The words reprehensible, deplorable, terrible, I think all ring true to what Ms. Chamdal did to these people,” prosecutor Michael Fortino said during the sentencing hearing for Ana Chamdal Monday.

Chamdal, 32, earlier pleaded guilty in provincial court in Surrey to dozens of charges related to defrauding seniors of $60,000 and another $100,000 in attempted fraud.

Her 20 victims were mostly elderly, some disabled or cognitively impaired. One was a war veteran.

The judge called Chamdal’s actions premeditated.

“She was evil,” said one of her victims, Leonard, outside the courthouse.

After having a stroke and then becoming very sick, Chamdal showed up at Leonard’s door. He said she told him she was with Fraser Health and could help him get a free cleaning service.

But it was a lie. Instead of helping him, she stole from him.

After repeated attempts, she convinced a very ill Leonard to give her void cheques and credit card information.

“She took my credit cards, but I didn’t give her my passwords so I don’t know how she got to be able to use it,” he explained.

But somehow, she was able to steal about $7,000 from him, he explained.

“It was hard. It affected me for awhile,” he said, adding he's grateful for the work of the RCMP on the case.

Chamdal had worked at a pharmacy where she obtained information on patients. Then she’d pretend to either be a care aide or a health-care worker with Fraser Health. She would carry fake identification, a medical kit and wear scrubs. She subjected victims to phony tests.

During victim impact statements, the court heard how the betrayal of seniors by someone they trusted had devastating impacts both emotionally and financially.

Carol Matthews hired Chamdal through an agency to care for her 95-year-old father.

“She ended up taking his I.D., his Visa, and cash from him the first day she was there,” Matthews recalled.

In an interview with CTV News, she said the thefts made him untrusting of others and ultimately meant he lost his independence and had to move into a care home.

“He was too nervous, he was too scared,” she said.

“He was thinking people were at the door, people were knocking, people were trying to get in,” she explained.

Chamdal, who reoffended even after being arrested by the RCMP and released on an undertaking, apologized to her victims, saying she is trying to make herself a better person.

Her lawyer, Robert Larmer, said she committed the offences to keep her and her husband financially afloat. Defence said Chamdal was “not a monster” but one of the most “sympathetic” offenders.

However, prosecutors told the judge that while Chamdal may have used some of the money to finance her family, she was also financing her own comfortable lifestyle which included buying flowers, jewelry, gold bars, cosmetics and perfume.

Following a joint submission from Crown and defence, the judge sentenced her to four years jail, minus time served, and ordered her to pay restitution.