A woman already convicted of posing as a nurse at Ottawa medical and dental clinics and accused of similar B.C. crimes could soon enter pleas once lawyers sort out an agreed statement of facts.
Brigitte Cleroux remains in prison in Ontario on a seven-year sentence after pleading guilty to seven charges including assault, assault with a weapon, fraud and impersonation.
Those charges and conviction came after parallel Ottawa Police Service and Vancouver Police Department (VPD) investigations, which alleged the Gatineau, Que. woman posed as a nurse to treat patients in Ontario. She's accused of doing the same in B.C.
In Vancouver, Cleroux faces charges of assault, assault with a weapon, fraud over $5,000, using forged documents and personation with intent to gain advantage. However, there is also civil court action running in tandem with B.C proceedings and completed Ontario ones.
The Vancouver case is currently 547 days old.
Cleroux appeared by phone June 7 before Vancouver provincial court Judge John Milne with lawyer Talia Armstrong appearing for defence counsel Chris Johnson. The Crown prosecutor is Louise Krivel.
“Ms. Cleroux is prepared to enter pleas,” Krivel said. “It’s just a matter of sorting out the facts now.”
Armstrong said the statement of facts needs to be reviewed and edited before pleas are entered.
The next appearance is June 21.
Multiple charges in two provinces
The initial charges were approved in November after the VPD launched a months-long investigation. The investigation was spurred by reports of a BC Women’s Hospital employee allegedly fraudulently identifying herself as a nurse between June 2020 and June 2021.
VPD’s Financial Crime Unit found a woman had allegedly fraudulently used the name of a real nurse while providing medical care to patients at the hospital.
Ottawa police began their investigation after being told a woman had used aliases and assumed the identities of registered nurses that she fraudulently obtained. Nursing duties were allegedly carried out by Cleroux at a medical and dental clinic in the nation's capital.
“Some of those duties included the administration of medications, including injections, to patients,” Ottawa police said.
