30 years of fraud and deception: Fake nurse could face 10 years in prison

A woman with a history of fraud and deception that goes back three decades in four Canadian provinces and two American states admitted in an Ontario court last week that she had posed as a nurse while working at an Ottawa fertility clinic and later at a dental surgery clinic. Brigitte Cleroux pleaded guilty to fraud, impersonation and assault—with a needle—in a case that revealed how the 50-year-old resident of Gatineau, Que. had duped employers into believing she was a registered nurse. Cleroux is now awaiting a sentencing hearing and could face up to 10 years in an Ontario prison for her crimes, according to coverage by CBC News and Global News. She was also charged, last year, in Vancouver with fraud over $5,000 and personation with the intention of gaining advantage. According to Vancouver police, Cleroux had used the name of a real nurse to get a job at B.C. Women’s Hospital, where she worked from June 2020 to June 2021. A Vancouver law firm called Hammerco is now inviting patients who were attended to at the hospital by Cleroux to get in touch for help in seeking compensation. A review of media stories from the past 12 years uncovers a tale of lies that goes back about three decades, to when Cleroux was 19 years old. Read: Nova Scotia nurses face forgery charges in 'preventable' death of patient Her guilty plea last week was not the first time she's been found culpable in an Ottawa court. In 2006, a judge fined her $60,000 and sentenced her to six months in jail for impersonating a nurse—a scam she pulled off by stealing and falsifying a nursing registration certificate, according to a July 2010 Ottawa Citizen article. In her various nursing roles over the years, Cleroux carried out tasks that would be expected of the profession, including giving injections, drawing blood and administering painkillers such as fentanyl. She has left many patients in pain or discomfort, bleeding, or with loss of sensation that has lasted for weeks. Some have also complained about her manner, which has been described as loud, condescending, abrasive and aggressive. The College of Nurses of Ontario has added Cleroux to its online list of unregistered practitioners. The listing on Cleroux stands out on the page, taking up four lines that enumerate seven aliases. Cleroux had pleaded guilty previously in Alberta and Quebec to similar acts of deception, including submitting a forged registered nurse certificate to apply for a job, posing as a science teacher, giving police fake identification, and using a former roommate’s birth certificate to get a fake ID. A February 2011 article in the Red Deer Advocate also said she had faked her way into a business partnership for a Calgary hair salon, later leaving her co-owner on the hook for $20,000. In Calgary, where Cleroux had pretended to be a nurse and teacher, Cleroux had even presented forged letters of reference to an Alberta court in an attempt to influence the sentencing in her case. Read: Expense fraud trial of former hospital chief executive underway in Halifax court Cleroux landed a job last summer with the Ottawa fertility clinic after misrepresenting her qualifications and showing a forged diploma from the University of Miami. She had, in fact, completed two years of a four-year nursing program in Colorado, according to court documents, but has never been certified as a nurse. After a patient she had attended to left the clinic in tears, another nurse at the clinic decided to do an online search and found Cleroux had a string of aliases and had been impersonating nurses in other jurisdictions. When confronted by a doctor about the incident, Cleroux shoved a patient’s chart into the doctor’s arms and quit. Five days later she found work at an Ottawa dental surgery clinic, where she treated at least 12 patients including a child. Cleroux was arrested last August, when she returned to the fertility clinic expecting to pick up a cheque. Police were waiting for her and she was arrested, wearing a nurse’s uniform. According to the 2010 Ottawa Citizen article, by 2001 Cleroux was living in Colorado Springs, where she married a man she had met while working as a waitress. She became pregnant and shortly after signed up with an employment agency that specializes in temporary roles. She got work as a nurse but her lack of certification was soon found out and a warrant was issued for her arrest over charges of forgery and impersonation. In court, she convinced the judge to let her go to Florida, where she said she had business to attend to, with the promise she would return for subsequent court hearings. She never went back to Colorado Springs, according to the 2010 article. About a decade later, a Florida court convicted Cleroux of criminal mischief and property damage. She was described as an “absconder/fugitive” by Florida’s department of corrections, which listed 11 aliases she allegedly used. As of mid-January Cleroux remained in jail awaiting sentencing. She is expected to undergo a psychiatric assessment before receiving her sentence. Read: Jail time unlikely for fake nurse who admitted to fraud

30 years of fraud and deception: Fake nurse could face 10 years in prison

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