Halifax woman’s mission to track alleged romance fraudster leads to arrest

It took Andréa Speranza some time to be able to return to Shubie Park. The place brings back memories of a man she dated for four months in 2018, who she says would later bilk her of $5,000, before he ghosted her.

“Everything he's done is against my personal values, and it's not at all about the money,” says Speranza. “I'm a firefighter and I go and help people on the worst days of their lives. For me it's just the trauma that he's caused.”

Three years ago, Speranza spoke out about her experience with the man she identified as Marcel Andre Vautour.

Court documents show he had been convicted of criminal offences in several provinces by that time, including unauthorized use of credit card data in Quebec in 2005 and obtaining by false pretenses in Victoria in 2009.

Speranza started a website to find other potential victims and track him down.

“With hopes that we would put it out to the world and people would care enough to let us know when they saw him, and that's what happened,” she said.

Speranza says a tip to that site led to Vautour's arrest in Ontario last week.

That arrest, confirmed by York Regional Police.

“Our officers received information that a man wanted on a warrant regarding this romance scam, was in the Vaughan area attempting to avoid essentially being caught by police,” says Cst. Laura Nicolle.

“This was an ongoing investigation that was happening in the province of Quebec,” says Cst. Nicholle. “There was an outstanding warrant issued for a suspect which was applicable in Quebec but also in Ontario.”

Police say officers arrested the 47-year-old last Wednesday and the accused was transported to Quebec. Tuesday afternoon, he appeared by video in Drummondville court to face a charge of fraud over $5,000. The charge is related to events in the area dating back to 2013.

The charge against Vautour is yet to be tested in court.

Tuesday’s court appearance was brief, during which lawyers scheduled his bail hearing in the matter for Friday.

“It was really was a tenacious, like dogged thing, she did, to make sure all these things got connected,” says lawyer Lisa Teryl, who has been offering Speranza legal advice along the way.

She says the accusations against Vautour speak to a need to coordinate interprovincial law enforcement when it comes to crimes such as romance fraud.

“Because the allegations are that he was doing it in smaller amounts across the provinces, [it’s] very, very hard to get that coordinated,” says Teryl. “And it was really her work that helped coordinate that.”

Speranza is advocating for the creation of a romance fraud registry to track those convicted of such offences, and would like to see stiffer financial penalties for those found guilty of using love to lure potential victims.

She says she knows of at least 20 alleged victims so far, but also acknowledges that many victims of romance fraud don’t come forward out of a sense of embarrassment.

She credits those who shared her story, and the stories of other alleged victims.

“People that didn't judge us, people that supported us in the lowest times, when it was most sensitive, so I want to thank all the people that helped us,” she says.

Speranza had filed her own her own complaint against Vautour with Halifax Regional Police.

Tuesday, a spokesperson for the force would only say no charges have been laid. But acting public information officer Cst. Nicolas Gagnon adds in an email, “the case could be reopened should new information come to light.”

Speranza says what matters most is raising awareness about what romance fraud can truly cost.

According to the Canadian Anti-Fraud Centre, 1,249 complaints of romance schemes from 925 Canadian victims were reported to the Centre in 2021, with a loss of more than $50 million.