The Man Who Made A Fake Humboldt Broncos Fundraiser Is Finally Going To Prison
A man in Saskatchewan will be facing time for trying to make a profit off the tragic Humboldt Broncos bus crash. On Tuesday, June 23, the man in question, Andrij Olesiuk, was sentenced for pocketing all the money from a Broncos fundraiser he created. He's now set to go to jail for 14 months.
The Humboldt Broncos tragedy occurred in April of 2018 when a truck crashed into a bus carrying the junior hockey team of the Broncos. The accident resulted in 16 deaths and 13 injuries.
The Saskatoon Star Phoenix reported that Olesiuk was convicted back in January for setting up a fake GoFundMe page for the Broncos hockey team.
He even used the "PrayForHumboldt" hashtag to get people to donate to his GoFundMe page. However, instead of the money going towards the Broncos, Olesiuk kept the cash for himself.
The Star Phoenix said the Saskatoon man collected about $3700 from the fund.
As a result, he was charged for fraud under $5000 and for possession of property obtained by crime.
The Saskatchewan provincial court learnt during Olesiuk's trial that he wasn't only guilty of his fundraiser crime, according to CTV News.
He also confessed to taking part in a fraudulent investment scheme between March 2017 and February 2018, reported CTV.
As part of this scheme, 33-year-old Olesiuk pretended to be a financial executive of a fake company. He approached a couple from British Columbia and provided them with fraud documents and a business card.
The couple brought another family member into the fold. The three of them altogether lost $65,000.
As it turns out, the Broncos fundraiser wouldn't have been uncovered if the authorities hadn't been looking to the investment fraud.
The Crown prosecutor Darren Howarth reportedly said, per CTV, that it was "clearly reprehensible" to take advantage of the tragic Broncos bus crash.
Olesiuk was given two sentences, amounting to 14 months in jail. He's been sentenced to three months in jail for the GoFundMe scam and eleven months for the insurance scams.
He's also been ordered to serve probation for 12 months after doing time. Olesiuk now faces a five-year-ban from controlling other people's money or running online efforts to raise money.