Raymond Trudel ducked his head to hide from reporters' cameras as he was escorted into provincial court in St. John's Wednesday, where he faces more than 50 charges related to a summertime rental scam.
Court documents indicate the charges all stem from incidents between June and August of this year and involve 18 victims, each of them allegedly defrauded money by Trudel, 35.
Among the charges are allegations of making false rental agreements, rent receipts and damage deposit receipts, causing people to act on those documents as if they were genuine, defrauding people of money not exceeding $5,000 each, and dozens of court order breaches.
Sources tell The Telegram Trudel posed as the landlord of an apartment he didn't own, collecting damage deposits and a first month's rent from hopeful tenants before informing them the apartment was no longer available.
Trudel's appearance before a judge Wednesday was brief; he spent the night in custody and will be back in the courtroom Thursday for a bail hearing.
