By Brian Williams and Dale Carruthers | The London Free Press
A former manager of a Southwestern Ontario retirement home accused of misappropriating nearly $200,000 used some of the money for gambling and booze, according to a recently filed lawsuit.
An Ontario numbered company linked to Trillium Care Communities – the Toronto-based operator of retirement homes in Ontario – launched an $820,000 lawsuit against Julie Vitias, 50, the former operations manager of its now-shuttered Norwich location.
Trillium Care Norwich, which abruptly closed in November, became the centre of an OPP investigation in August after police were alerted to an alleged fraud in which 26 people linked to the retirement home lost more than $190,000.
Vitias, a former personal support worker promoted to operations manager months after she was hired in 2022, accepted new residents without approval from head office, deposited rent payments into her personal bank account and issued fake invoices, a statement of claim filed in Toronto last week alleges.
“Vitias intentionally misappropriated the funds for her own personal use, which included gambling and the purchase of alcohol,” the lawsuit alleges.
No statement of defence has been filed. Statements of claim and defence include allegations not yet tested in court.
Vitias, who was responsible for overseeing 27 employees at the Norwich operation, wasn’t authorized to accept new residents without approval from senior management or establish rental rates for tenants, the lawsuit says.
Trillium’s Toronto-based general manager Anna Nikitenko, who would visit the Norwich location at least once a week to review operations and collect rent cheques, grew concerned about the finances in early 2024, the statement of claim says. Vitias blamed the revenue crunch on several residents not being able to afford rent and said she was exploring government subsidies, the lawsuit alleges.
A supervisor at the home later told Nikitenko it was operating at full capacity in August – just four days before OPP were notified about the alleged fraud at the retirement home – despite Trillium’s records showing four rooms were vacant, the lawsuit alleges.
An investigation determined Vitias had accepted at least five residents without approval, prompting Nikitenko to confront her, the lawsuit alleges.
“Rather than discuss the matter, Vitias immediately announced her resignation,” the lawsuit alleges.
A further Trillium investigation found Vitias had collected rent from unauthorized residents that was never paid to Trillium, dating back to 2023, and told residents to make rent payments in cash or e-transfer to her email account, and the money was deposited into her personal bank account, the lawsuit alleges.
“In some cases, Vitias issued fake Trillium invoices to residents and their family members for rents, without Trillium’s knowledge,” the lawsuit alleges.
Reached by phone Thursday, Vitias said she wasn’t aware of the lawsuit but intends to defend herself against it.
“You can’t get blood from a stone,” she said. “They can do what they need to do. At the end of the day, I don’t have all this money that they claim that I had in the first place.”
The OPP charged Vitias with fraud of more than $5,000 last month. Police didn’t release her name, citing concerns for her wellbeing, but the court records identified her as the accused.
Vitias is alleged to have used “deceit, falsehood or other fraudulent means” to defraud residents of Trillium Care Communities out of $196,665 “by electronic transfer” between Feb. 16, 2023, and Aug. 21, 2024, the court documents say.
Vitias was scheduled to make her first court appearance Monday in Woodstock, but the court heard she was out of the country assisting a family member and she had completed a legal aid application.
Vitias, who said she’s now back in Canada after travelling to help her grandfather, vowed to “fight until the very end.
“I have no intentions of lying about anything,” she said. “I know that some things look bad, but I also know that there’s two sides to the story.”
She returns to court March 18.
A lawyer for Trillium didn’t respond to a request for comment.
Trillium Care Norwich closed Nov. 11 and gave just two weeks’ notice to its 18 residents and their families, leaving them scrambling to find new living accommodations. Trillium sent an email to residents citing “an emergency lack of financial resources necessary to sustain daily operations” for the abrupt closing.
