The Reminder is making its archives back to 2003 available on our website. Please note that, due to technical limitations, archive articles are presented without the usual formatting.
Jonathon Naylor Editor Crafty con man Lloyd Carr is up to his old tricks and once again paying the price. Carr, 48, once a bogus mental-health counsellor in Flin Flon, had his parole revoked last week after yet another web of make-believe came unraveled. In handing down its ruling, the Parole Board of Canada said Carr faked job training, sold his used laptop as company-direct and falsely claimed churchgoers were helping him with a gambling problem. 'It is clear that your behaviour was slipping back into your cycle of deceit and dishonesty,' the board told Carr in its written ruling, issued Aug. 15 and obtained by The Reminder. Fake degree For about 18 months between 2008 and 2010, Carr, armed with a fake university degree, worked as a Flin Flon-based mental-health clinician for the now-defunct NOR-MAN Regional Health Authority. Before the latter half of 2008, when he joined the NRHA, Carr had defrauded a previous employer, the Alberta government, of $634,000 between 2004 and 2006. In April 2010, Carr was sentenced to three and a half years in custody for his Alberta crimes. While on parole in May 2011, he got another two and a half years for defrauding the NRHA. See 'Carr...' on pg.6 Continued from pg.1 Carr was back on parole on Oct. 2, 2011 on conditions that included a requirement to undergo counselling. He spent part of his time at a community residential facility in a location not being made public. This past February, the Parole Board wrote in its ruling, Carr told his parole supervisor he was in contact with a new employer. He provided certificates and copies of pay stubs he said were part of the job training and interview process. Carr was told not to accept a job until his supervisor had a chance to verify the employment and ensure the employer was aware of Carr's criminal behaviour. Eventually, the board wrote, the supervisor asked Carr for the employer's contact information. The supervisor received an e-mail from the purported employer saying they would be happy to discuss Carr's situation. The supervisor wrote back to say a phone conversation, not mere e-mails, would be required. After that, Carr indicated he himself had decided to end the job training. The story was later exposed as a sham. Carr had sent the e-mail to his supervisor, and the employer's phone number was actually that of an old cell phone belonging to Carr. The cell phone featured an inaudible voice mail greeting, and there was no response to a message left on it. Before the truth about the job training came to light, Carr attempted another scam by selling a used laptop to a fellow tenant of the community residential facility. The tenant, who had been looking to purchase a laptop, told Carr's supervisor that Carr said he found a suitable computer from a particular company. The tenant agreed to buy the laptop with Carr apparently making arrangements to have the computer shipped to the tenant. The tenant received the laptop but within a few weeks noticed problems with the battery. He told Carr he wanted a refund. According to the tenant, it took three attempts and threats to go to the police or Carr's supervisor before Carr finally reimbursed the money. When the tenant told the story to Carr's supervisor, he said he had tried to contact the company that sold the laptop, but it did not exist. The tenant also shared the invoice Carr had provided. It appeared the title of the company combined the names of two separate businesses, and the phone number given was actually that of a high school. The job and laptop lies convinced the supervisor the risk posed by Carr was 'no longer manageable,' the Parole Board wrote, so suspension warrants were issued on May 12. But the drama was not over just yet. The board contacted the Mounties to advise them of the warrant and the numerous attempts made to apprehend Carr at his residence. Police also tried to detain Carr, but each time they arrived at his family home were told he was either not there, had just left or had just finished speaking with family on the phone. At one point RCMP attended Carr's residence at about 11 p.m. on a Sunday and although all other family members were home, they were told Carr was not there. The supervisor left a message on Carr's cell phone requesting he turn himself in. Carr then left his supervisor a message saying he would do so, and did. The suspension warrants were executed on May 24. During his post-suspension interview with authorities, the Parole Board wrote, Carr admitted the contact information for his purported employer was false. Carr maintained he was planning on telling his supervisor the truth, but the supervisor found this hard to believe as over six weeks had passed from the time of the initial e-mail, according to the board. As for the laptop, it turned out to be an old computer of Carr's that he presented as coming directly from the company. The board said he could not explain why he drew up a false invoice. When challenged on his dishonesty, the board said, Carr admitted the phony e-mail to his supervisor and the fake laptop invoice constituted fraud. The board said Carr also lied in claiming two members of his church were counselling him for a gambling problem. While the individuals confirmed they were counselling Carr, neither had heard that gambling was an issue. In fact, the board wrote, there is no evidence other than Carr's word that he ever had a gambling problem, even though this was part of his defense against his charges in Alberta. If all of this weren't damning enough, the board said Carr admitted he at one point relocated so it would be harder for his supervisor to keep tabs on him. For parole officials, it was all rather unbecoming of a man who professes to be a churchgoer. 'You stated that you have a 16-year membership in your church and that you are aware of the Ten Commandments,' the board told Carr. 'You apparently have not dealt with the requirement to be truthful (as) forging documents and presenting them to be relied upon by others has led you to committing serious offences.' In revoking Carr's full parole, the board relied to a large degree on statements from his supervisor, who was not named in the ruling. In a written statement of his own, the supervisor said 'it doesn't appear that Carr has a full understanding of his risk factors and offence cycle as he minimizes his actions.' Besides the laptop invoice, Carr has a history of producing counterfeit documents. There was his fake social work degree, not to mention the phony doctor's note he used to secure paid time off from the NRHA in early 2010. Carr claimed he had bowel cancer but in reality needed time off because he was going to be sentenced for his six-figure embezzlement back in Alberta. Carr's statutory release date is December 2014. Officials will discuss his release plan closer to that date.
