Former Lethbridge resident sentenced to five years for mortgage fraud

Adina Harms Barbour was sentenced to five years in prison for mortgage fraud.

Adina Harms-Barbour, 49, was sentenced on Thursday to five years in prison after being convicted of mortgage fraud and forgery in late 2015.

She was found guilty of forging documents to get mortgages on nine Lethbridge homes by using the names of her parents, husband, friends and students she was teaching at Lethbridge College.

Her lawyer was asking for a two to four year sentence, citing her role as a primary caregiver and that none of her victims were financially ruined.

The Crown was seeking a nine year sentence, saying Harms-Barbour took advantage of people that trusted her and was motivated by greed.

“Mortgage fraud is a very serious crime,” said Steven Johnston, Crown Prosecutor. “It has a very real effect on the Canadian economy and the Alberta economy, when people fake and lie in their mortgage applications, everyone is a victim of that.”

The fraud perpetrated by Harms-Barbour added up to $2.8 million.