The marriage of Rachida and Gilles Overtveld on December 17th, 2018, marked the beginning of a tumultuous journey. Over the next nearly five years, their union faced numerous challenges and a significant impact as their lives unfolded. Gilles, at the age of 90, found himself caught in the midst of a family dispute with  his two children from his first marriage who strongly opposed his decision to remarry again and create a new will. Gilles have married again for the fourth time. His children's disapproval stemmed from concerns about their inheritance and financial matters, fearing that their father's new marriage would affect their inheritance. In 2015, Gilles suffered sciatica and he relied on his children for his daily needs and the hiring of caregivers. However, during the year 2016-2017, Gilles received a notice from the TD  bank that $1.45 million of his investment portfolio was unaccounted for. He constantly called the bank and demanded to see the statements. No one was listening. In August 2018, he found himself destitute unable to get access to his funds. This was the time when he solicited the help of his previous friend and business associate Tito Jurado who was just retiring. When Tito visited Gilles on August 14th 2018, he found that Gilles' health and condition  was far from satisfactory. He was neglected, ill-nourished and was lying on a bed that was falling apart.  Gilles was severely under stress and he took Gilles out to his favorite restaurants which provided some relief. In one of the restaurants, Gilles met Rachida who joined the party with her previous partner. Rachida was sympathetic to Gilles issues and both made agreement for her to manage the AirBnB operation that Gilles was operating after the existing tenants leave. This would provide some financial support to help Gilles and Tito pay the lawyers that Tito have hired for Gilles.

 

By December 2018, Gilles found that he will be left alone for two months as his care is leaving for an extended vacation. He suspected that this was all planned so that they could move him into a home.  He begged Rachida to marry him multiple times, and time was running out. Rachida agreed to marry him out of sympathy and legally challenge the abusers in court.  One day after they married, Gilles filed a Statement of Claim CV19-78751to the Ontario Superior Court to recover damages and the funds that were stolen from him by his children. He did not have any funds for legal defense, and was hoping that his wife could provide some relief if she remortaged her own house and operate his AirBnB operation. Unfortunately, Gilles's son changed all the locks to the AirBnB unit and threatened Gilles's wife with legal action if she demands access. ​

They also tried to convince her, that she could see her husband more often and even live in the premises if she signs a contract that she is working as a domestic for him unstead as a wife. 

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Rachida proved to be a beacon of support, compassion, and care. She selflessly took on the responsibility of feeding, dressing, and looking after Gilles, ultimately empowering him to regain his independence and reducing his reliance on his children. Rachida's unwavering dedication and commitment had a profound impact on Gilles' well-being, bridging the gap that had divided the family and bringing about positive change amidst a challenging situation.

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THE FINANCiAL ABUSE HISTORY

The impact of Gilles' unfortunate circumstances was profound and heartbreaking. In July 2017, he discovered a shocking betrayal within his own family as $1.45 million was taken from his bank account. Suspecting his daughter, Gilles confronted her, only to face further deceit and manipulation. His daughter, along with an unscrupulous capacity assessor, labeled Gilles as mentally unfit, selling a false capacity opinion that branded him as unstable. Exploiting this false assessment, Gilles' two children seized control over his financial affairs, leaving him unable to instruct his banks and rendering him financially helpless. They confiscated his identification cards and passport, cutting off his access to his own funds. By November 2018, a staggering $5 million of his retirement investments were missing and unaccountable. Gilles later discovered that his children, along with his accountant, held both the Power of Attorney for Property and Power of Attorney for Care, creating a perfect tool for the abuse he endured. Although the Rule of Law permits the revocation of signed documents, Gilles fell into a fatal trap by granting his children the Power of Attorney for Care, granting them complete control over his elderly life. Rachida, his wife, faced challenging legal issues as she had the right to care for and protect Gilles. However, the presiding judge overlooked the events and allowed Gilles to be isolated and confined under the adversary's control and threats. Gilles' fears of being moved to a care facility became a tragic reality as his support network proved unable to intervene. Ultimately, he paid the ultimate price for his vulnerability, after falling into the sinister murder plot and losing his life under this harrowing ordeal.

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CASE CV19-81051 TO DECLARE GILLES MENTALLY INCAPABLE

In September 2018, Gilles faced a challenging situation with the support of his trusted friend of over 35 years, Tito Jurado. Together, they worked diligently to issue multiple revocation documents and take the necessary steps to revoke his children's authority as his attorneys. Unfortunately, these documents were unjustly dismissed by the court. The following year, Gilles found himself in an even more distressing situation when his children filed an application in court, CV19-81051, seeking to have him declared mentally incapable of writing a revocation. Their complaint was based on the findings of  Dr. Leonard Burnstein, who fraudulently posed as a doctor and presented false evidence. However, Gilles had the opportunity to be assessed by a legitimate expert, Dr. Barbara Collins, Ph.D. in Psychology, who concluded that he indeed possessed the mental capacity to revoke his Power of Attorney. During the cross-examination hearing in February 2021, Dr. Burnstein finally admitted that he was not a doctor and that his report was intended for private use only. However, it is crucial to highlight that the consequences of his deceitful report were far-reaching, causing irreparable harm to Gilles, including damage to his marriage and assets. These circumstances underscore the urgent need to expose the truth and shed light on the injustice that has befallen Gilles.

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On Dec 19, 2018, Gilles  sued his children and asked the Court to order them to provide financial of his account,  to return the $5 million of his retirement money that they had taken from his bank account, and to pay him damages. His claim was filed as CV18-78751.

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Overtveld vs Overtveld is the most highly contested and mismanaged case ever against a diabled elderly.

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In our opinion, the Overtveld vs Overtveld case stands out as one of the most highly contested and mismanaged legal family battles in history. With Gilles's children out-of-court request,  Judge Marc R. Labrosse of the Superior Court of Justice of Ontario at Ottawa, on January 30, 2019, stayed Gilles' CV18-78751 claim and appointed  Gilles's children as his attorneys. The decision was a big surprise to Gilles after reading the endorsement of the case conference where the orders are not usually legally binding. It was also annotated that it was made on consent, to which he never consented. Gilles's lawyer asked for the court transcript to compare was was said in court and what was endorsed. The request was denied.

 

The Power of Attorney documents that bore Gilles's signature were not legally executed.  The signature of witnesses were fraudulent added and no copies of the documents were provided to Gilles for review. The judge validated the highly contested Power of Attorney documents that were presented to the banks to steal his assets. The POA documents became a legal license to commit crime with impunity. Every evidence presented to the court challenging the POA's validity were ignored. It was the most devastating blow to his case that lasted for more than 4 years.

 

The strategy that the perpetrators employed is to  have Gilles declared mentally incapacitated  which would have been very easy to do. The modus operandi is used on thousands of financial abuses in Canada and USA. However, Gilles proved to be a warrior. He has built his business through hard work and practical strategy. He was determined to fight until the end.

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MULTIPLE CASES FILED AGAINST GILLES ET AL USING A PILOT COURT CASE MANAGEMENT SYSTEM

Instead of granting Gilles the trial he requested, the judges transformed his stayed action into multiple applications and actions intended to persecute him, his wife Rachida, and his friend Tito. Three actions and two more applications were launched by the adversary and these are:

• Application No. CV-19-81051 (Mental Capacity determination),

• Application No. FC-19-1504 (have his marriage annulled);

• Application No. 19-81713-0ES0 (Passing of Account, a procedure usually executed when an individual is dead in a probate)  ; Action No. CV-20-82769 (Ottawa);

• Application No. CV-20-82819 (Ottawa);

• Action No. CV-20-84307 (Ottawa); Action No. CV-21-1933 (Brampton),

• Application CV-21-87127 (Ottawa)—

 

The hearings were very expensive and the most time-consuming ways of proceeding to investigate Gilles' complaint about the attorneys' theft of his money imaginable—intended to obfuscate and conceal the attorneys' theft of Gilles' money and, given his advanced age, to embroil him in litigation until he died, ending his complaint and another reason is to circumvent  the requirement to provide Gilles with a his account statements that is mandatory under the Substitute Decision Act (SDA 1992).  The Substitute Decisions Act, provides a statutory framework for determining whether a person is capable of making property (financial) and/or personal care decisions (including non-health care decisions such as nutrition, housing, clothing, hygiene and safety).

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Gilles firmly believed that he was the victim of an enduring sophisticated crime. His former assets were being used against him, with the ultimate goal of allowing the beneficiaries of the Power of Attorney (POA) to acquire his nearly $45 million personal and commercial estate. He owned GiLas Property Management. a company, which owns multiple valuable properties in Ottawa.

 

Gilles lived in constant anxiety and fear. He have lost  trust of his own family . There were already two attempts on his  life to make him seriouslly ill and die.  Rachida reported the incidents to the Police. The police, seemingly under the influence of the judge's order were  reluctant to acknowledge Gilles and Rachida's marriage.  The contested 2011 Power of Attorney for Care was used to silence  Rachida's complaints.

In February 2020, Gilles sought the appointment of an Inspector for his holding company, Gi-Las Management and Maintenance Ltd. However, his children, acting as his attorneys, opposed this request. Their influence over the situation led to Judge Gomery refusing to appoint an Inspector. Tito Jurado, a close friend, hired Dr. Al Rosen, Canada's foremost forensic auditing expert, to examine Gilles' assets and shed light on the situation. Dr. Al Rosen's particpation was denied. Judge Gomery was a previous partner of Norton Rose Fullbright LLP , a firm that is representing the purported POA-in-fact, which is a flagrant conflict of interest in the high court. 
 

OBSTRUCTION OF JUSTICE AND THE CHARTER OF HUMAN RIGHTS AND FREEDOM
Following this, Gilles' children, as his attorneys, locked out everyone including his wife from his apartment, claiming compliance with COVID-19 health guidelines. The health  compliance requirement was never lifted and Gilles remained locked-up until his death in 2023. Gilles access to legal services was severely terminated. Holding Gilles incommunicado and forcibly confined is a crime under the obstruction of justice code §139(1)  and is contrary to the law―§32(4) and §66(6) of the Substitute Decisions Act, 1992.  Unfortunately, Judge Labrosse turned a blind eye to these breaches of the law and and repeatedly judicially approved the abuses to continue.

 

In effect, Gilles rights under the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedom  was also severely  violated.  The Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms is a constitutional document that forms part of the Constitution Act, 1982, which is the highest law in Canada. It outlines the fundamental rights and freedoms of all Canadians, such as freedom of expression, freedom of religion, the right to a fair trial, and equality rights. The Charter applies to all levels of government in Canada and can be used to challenge laws or actions that violate its provisions..

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While both the Substitute Decisions Act and the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms are important pieces of legislation in Canada, they serve different purposes and address different legal issues. The Charter focuses on protecting individual rights and freedoms, while the SDA deals specifically with matters related to substitute decision-making for incapable individuals in Ontario.

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In this respect, while the court is trying to determine if Gilles was mentally capable or not, his constitutional rights must not to be abused.  He was subjected to threats, torture, and four years confinement and isolation.

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Gilles constantly complained that he is not a terrorist, and should not be subjected to the abuse that disregarded the rule of law. He commented that he is in Canada not in Guantanamo Bay.  We tried to record many of his audio recordings which we inserted on his website https://jo2018.net to provide evidence of his mental capacity.  He was so determined and believed to use the Charter and Freedom Rights will help him. In 2020, he asked his lawyer, Mr. George Windsor to write a petition  to the Parliament of Canada to review his case. A signed petition accompanied by signatures of 27 was submitted to Hon. Yasir Naqvi MP and Hon. Jagmeet Singh MP on March 30, 2022.

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THE COURT CASE MANAGEMENT WAS DESIGNED FOR LAWYERS WITH THE MOST INFLUENCE

In September 2020, Judge Labrosse further exacerbated the situation by appointing himself as the Case Management Judge for the multiple proceedings under a one-judge pilot project, which the respondents considered a legal abomination. Meanwhile, Gilles was denied access to the stack of legal documents pertaining to his case, further hindering his ability to participate fully. With Gilles being tried in absentia, the court hearings was evidently prejudicial and  one sided.  The perpetrators also have Gilles's millions which they confiscated to pay for the best lawyers that money can buy.  Gilles was left destitute and had to rely on his wife and friends for funds. The respondents could only afford one lawyer or sometimes no lawyer at all to meet an army of hostile lawyers that were hired. 

Throughout the lengthy legal battle, the respondents, Rachida and Tito, fought relentlessly, providing financial and legal resources from their own pockets. However, they faced a significant disadvantage, as the adversary party had access to Gilles' vast wealth and hired an army of hostile lawyers. The respondents, on the other hand, struggled to afford even a single lawyer at times and were forced to self-represent themselves without a lawyer.  Most of all, the lawyers that the respondents tried to hire did not want the case as they could not understand why the hearings were so convoluted and has violated the rules of the Substitution Decision Act with impunity.  The purported Power of Attorney agents were acting against the interest of Gilles instead of acting to support him. They were there to protect an old will.   The agents contested  draft of his new  will dated December 27th, 2019 contained provisions and significant donations to the following institutions:

• University of Ottawa - Faculty of Law

• Ontario Law Society

• Ontario Public Guardian and Trustee

• Bruyere Hospital

• CHEO

• Ottawa Civic Hospital

• Ottawa YMCA/YWCA

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Since the rule in Ontario rendered the old will invalid in 2018 which was to be replaced by a new will because of his new marriage, the agents filed an application to have his marriage annulled. This strategy was unprecedented in the history of Canadian law which caught the eye of CBC to cover and broadcast the case in February 19, 2019.

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Currently, the application to have Gilles and Rachida Overtveld's marriage is still being actively pursuit despite the fact that the wife is a widow. Punitive legal expenses against the widow have been approved by the court and the wife's salary has been garnished to pay $250,000 lawyer's fees incurred by the ostensible POA agents. 

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The tactics of delay, gradualism, and judicial abuse of process employed by Gilles's children and their lawyers proved successful. Eventually, in January 25th, 2023, Judge M. R.Labrosse declared Gilles Overtveld mentally incapacitated.​ We regard this judgement as the most devastating and unjustifiable judgement of all. The judgement document contained so such content that were copied and pasted  from the plaintiff affidavits that we were given only 15 days to object and respond having exhausted all our resources to respond to multiple claims that were initiated, which includes more than $850,000 invoice from the aggressor's legal services. 

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UNRELENTING PROSECUTION, COST CLAIM AGAINST THE RESPONDENTS.

June 30, 2023. It did not take very long to see Gilles' antagonist to spring into action after his death and the judges' convoluted rational to declare him dysfunctional after being subjected to mental torture for almost five years. 

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The surviving respondents received another salvo from the firm of Merovitz Potechin LLP who are representing the reappointed attorneys. It stated that the respondents have to accept defeat after Gilles' death. The notice added that the losing party will bear of all all expenses incurred defending Gilles estate from Rachida, Tito and other parties. From previous statement of claim that was filed, we are expecting millions of dollars claims against us. There are no other recourse except to fight back against the adversaries with the help of public support and organizations that exist to protect the elderly. It is time for the political parties in Canada pay attention to the plight of the abused elderly who help build this nation and then cast aside.

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Research in Ontario indicates financial abuse against older adults (ages 60 and up) and people with disabilities is a growing problem: 36,000 out of 60,000 of these cases involve financial misconduct.

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In this situation crime does pay in Canada. We are concerned. There are thousands of elderly people that have been reported facing the same issues. We will try to have our voices heard so thousands of others are aware and may be able to save themselves. I am not sure which political party will champion the rights of the elderly to live risk free when they have any valuable assets in their name. It is hard to care about environment and climate change when we are all suffering and dying from a broken Canadian judicial system. The abuses are so rampant, that Netflix produced a film "I Care a Lot (2020)" showing how the practice became a thriving shady business enterprise.  The Substitute Decisions Act, 1992, S.O. 1992, c. 30  provides a statutory framework for determining whether a person is capable of making property (financial) and/or personal care decisions, but the rules were systematically ignored by the presiding judge. 

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THE DEATH PLOT

Subsequently, his children secretly transferred him to a nursing home against his wishes and instructions, without informing his wife or friends. The risk factor was extremely high, that Gilles was assured Merovitz Potechin LLP representig the aggressors that it will not happen if Gilles cooperates with them and agree to annul his marriage. The threat hangs heavily on Gilles, as he relied on his wife to be able to protect him legally or surrender his fate to the adversaries.

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On June 2023, Gilles' surprise transfer to an institution that was kept secret must have extremely tormented  him.  Gilles was terrified of nursing homes as most of his caregivers who used to work in those institutions saw the abuses and sub-standard care to the helpless patients. Gilles had turp surgery and have a high risk of urinary track infection if his hygienic care is neglected.  Gilles is very aware of this confirmed by his caregivers who warned him that he would not last a month in a nursing home. The condition would cause him to suffer hallucination that occurred multiple times in his home.

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The surviving wife, respondents and friends  believed that he developed a serious infection in the nursing home and was transferred to a hospital where he died on June 11, 2023. Apparently, Gilles was able to contact his caregiver the day before he died. Gilles cried and beg him to take him back to his own home. His wife, Rachida believed that her husband died of neglect, loneliness and stress. His lawyer believes he died of apoplexy from being powerless to do anything about his children's judicially enforced mistreatment of him for over four years.

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His children, the judicially reappointed attorneys, did not tell Rachida about her husband's whereabouts and death until four days after. Upon learning of his death, she quickly alerted the police and the coroner to investigate, but it was too late for any forensic investigation because the undertaker had already embalmed his body. She not permitted to visit the funeral home without authority.

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His children, the judicially reappointed attorneys, let Rachida and Gilles' daughter-in-law only visit his body once in the funeral home, alone, for ten minutes, but they did not permit Gilles' closest friend, Tito, and his lawyer to see his body at the funeral home. There was no general celebration of his life where people could talk to each other and discuss what had happened to him.

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In our opinion, Gilles Overtveld was murdered by supported by the physical and mental abusive  actions that transpired in June 2023. . The punitive action against the respondents had not stopped. The aggressive cost claims against the wife and Gilles supporters have commenced immediately after Gilles death to render all of us financially challenged using the funds that were stolen from the victim.

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