Regina (August 26, 2019) – Alena Pastuch from Regina appeals her conviction and sentence in a $5.5 million dollar fraud case. The 54-year-old filed the appeal on Tuesday claiming miscarriage of justice and error in fact and law.
The Regina woman was convicted of defrauding 80 people of $5.5 million in total, between 2007 and 2009. She was sentenced earlier this month to seven years in prison and ordered to pay full restitution to her alleged victims by Regina’s Court of Queen’s Bench. See judgement here.
Read more: Regina woman sentenced to 7 years in prison in a multi-million dollar fraud case
One week after being sentenced, Pastuch filed an appeal against the conviction and the sentence with the Saskatchewan Court of Appeal. She demands a new trial in front of a judge and a jury. Furthermore, she does not want to represent herself anymore during the appeal and plans to arrange for legal representation. She was ordered to represent herself at trial after going through multiple lawyers, CBC reported.
Pastuch handed in five handwritten pages of reasons for her appeal where she lays out 30 grounds. Besides the claims of miscarriage of justice and error in fact and law, she accuses the crown prosecutor Dana Brûlé and Justice Richard Elson of improper comments, insults, misapprehension of evidence and bias during the trial, according to the Star Phoenix.
Pastuch is pursuing release until the appeal. A hearing for judicial interim release is set for August 28, however, an appeal date has not yet been set.
