VANCOUVER — A “predator” who has gone on the lam has been found to have committed elder abuse and ordered to pay punitive damages to his victim, who is now 88 years old and living in a care home with advancing dementia.
Judith King was living alone when she met Zoltan Vimhel, also known as Steven Vimhel, in 2013. 乌鸦传媒 Supreme Court Judge Sheri Ann Donegan said Vimhel preyed on the “elderly and vulnerable” woman until she was rescued in 2020.
Vimhel “systematically isolated, manipulated, deceived, abused and exploited Ms. King,” Donegan said. “By the end of their relationship, his control over all aspects of her life was so complete that she was deprived of her family, friends, neighbours, home, property and her considerable savings.”
In March 2020, the scheme culminated in Vimhel getting King to make him a joint tenant of the North Vancouver home she has owned since 1991. “While there is now no prospect Ms. King will recover her health and all of her savings, this litigation aims to give her back her home,” said the judge.
King’s losses include a Parksville vacation property that had been in her family for many years and $465,000 in an investment account.
Vimhel was a participant in the early stages of the court process but has since disappeared. Donegan said it has been more than two years since King’s legal counsel has received a response from him, so he was tried in absentia.
Donegan ruled in King’s favour in July and the reasons for judgment were posted online on Monday.
When King met Vimhel, she “was doing well physically, emotionally, socially and financially. She was, however, vulnerable to predators like the defendant.” She had told a friend several times that she was lonely despite being close with her children Georgina and Owen, who were on good terms with her and visited often.
Vimhel, who is 15 years younger than King, described himself as a self-employed “artist.” He had little to no income and was living out of a vehicle. He “immediately began to exert undue influence and control over Ms. King [and] slowly took over all aspects of her life,” and within a year was in a romantic relationship with King.
“He also began to physically, verbally and mentally abuse her.”
Within a year, King “was so afraid of the defendant that she felt physically unsafe and feared that he would injure her if she did not do as he wanted.” The abuse escalated to the point King feared he would kill her if she didn’t comply with his demands — a level of fear Vimhel used to “coerce and control” her and isolate her from family, friends and neighbours.
He installed security cameras on the property and double-sided locks so he could lock her in, and she stopped seeing all family, friends and neighbours out of fear. Her “world had collapsed to revolve around one person: the defendant.”
Vimhel took over her finances, too, and got her to revoke her neighbour’s power of attorney. He started taking money and forging documents using her name and signature.
“Although Ms. King’s children were confused and distraught over their mother’s change in attitude, they never stopped trying to remain in her life and extricate her from the defendant’s control,” according to the ruling.
Vimhel further isolated King by moving her into a motel on King George Boulevard in Surrey and telling no one where she had gone. Her daughter hired a private investigator to try to find her after she unexpectedly left her North Van strata condo.
When they found her in late 2018, she was sharing the motel room, which had no cooking facilities and monthly rent of $3,000, with Vimhel. She and Vimhel had been there for three years and he didn’t let her leave the room without him. Police were notified several times but were unable to help.
In 2017, King sold her Parksville property, worth about $515,000, and the money was placed in a joint bank account with Vimhel. The account has since been emptied.
When Vimhel made himself a joint tenant on her North Vancouver property, valued at nearly $1.2 million, the transfer form gave Vimhel half-interest in the home for “$1 and natural love and affection.”
The rescue finally came in September 2020, when King’s daughter learned the motel had been sold and tenants were being told to leave. She worried that if Vimhel managed to move King, she might never see her mother again.
She got King’s grandson to go to the motel with three RCMP cars in attendance. Vimhel “became very angry and began aggressively trying to pull Ms. King back into the room.” Police stepped in and King was taken to a safe location; she left her wallet, car keys and keys to her home behind and they were never returned.
In 2021, still having the capacity, King swore an affidavit detailing much of the abuse described in the ruling. Having had all her assets drained, she has been dependent on her children to support her since 2020, and is now in a government-assisted care home with dementia. It has advanced to the point where she no longer recognizes her children, though they continue to visit regularly.
“Vimhel gradually isolated his vulnerable victim from her family and friends to the point of estrangement with them all,” said the judge.
Donegan found that Vimhel had exerted undue influence on King and that King had not transferred her property with free will and understanding, and ordered that the home be returned to her in full.
The judge also ordered Vimhel to pay punitive damages of $50,000 — the amount King’s family was seeking — a penalty that would have been “much higher” if Vimhel were not now of modest means.
“This was a predatory relationship of an extreme nature,” the ruling concluded. “Mr. Vimhel systematically manipulated his vulnerable victim … for the purpose of financial gain.”
“Mr. Vimhel’s misconduct toward this highly vulnerable victim was egregious and the negative impact upon her — physically, mentally and financially — was profound.
• If you suspect a vulnerable senior is in need of help due to elder abuse or inadequate care, consult the “where to get help” page at gov.bc.ca.
