A convicted fraudster has been sentenced to 15 months of house arrest for targeting seniors in Halifax, Nova Scotia.
In November 2022, the Nova Scotia RCMP and Halifax Regional Police issued a joint warning about a “grandparent scam,” in which seniors were contacted by someone posing as a relative in legal trouble and pressured to provide bail money. A second person, claiming to be a bail bondsman, would then collect the funds.
Omar Zanfi, 28, was arrested in Moncton the following month and returned to Halifax to face charges including fraud over $5,000 and possession of property obtained by crime over $5,000.
On Feb. 6, Zanfi was sentenced in Nova Scotia Provincial Court to a 15-month conditional sentence. For the first nine months, he must remain under an overnight curfew, leaving only for work or medical emergencies.
The court also ordered Zanfi, who resides in Laval, Quebec, to make restitution totaling just under $57,000 to five victims. He has permission not to remain in Nova Scotia during his sentence.
Zanfi previously pleaded guilty to similar fraud charges in the Moncton area and is scheduled to be sentenced for those offenses next month.
