Why a Kelowna businessman’s personal assistant was ordered to pay him $5 million

A Kelowna woman and her family have been ordered to pay back more than $5 million which they amassed while she worked as the personal assistant for a wealthy businessman suffering from Huntington’s disease.

BC Supreme Court Justice Lisa Hamilton said the former personal assistant, Karen May Vinci, knew her multi-millionaire boss, Douglas Alfred Beckman, was vulnerable due to his cognitive difficulties, yet she continued to accept lavish gifts.

The details are laid out in a March 30 BC Supreme Court decision, which says Doug is a successful businessman who owns five car dealerships and sold his shares in Pinnacle Renewable Energy for millions of dollars when the company went public.

By late 2017, he was struggling with the physical and cognitive effects of Huntington’s disease along with the separation from his partner of more than a decade.

Close friends suggested he get help with daily tasks and, through contacts, found and employed
Karen.

She was a 59-year-old divorcee whose ex-husband had been the primary earner for their family. She did odd jobs like cleaning and painting.

Doug paid her $60,000 a year, and the two “immediately spent significant” time together.

“They socialized, ate meals together and travelled,” the Justice said. “Doug and Karen went on several trips to Maui over the course of Karen’s employment. Whether they were in Maui or British Columbia, Doug paid for Karen’s meals, travel and other expenses.”

The decision says that within about one month, Doug had become infatuated with Karen.

“Doug told Karen he loved her. Karen sometimes texted Doug that she loved him too, although she told others that she was not interested in a romantic relationship with Doug,” the decision reads.

As the pandemic began and social circles were closed, Doug began spending even more time with Karen and her adult children and their partners.

“Karen and her family became Doug’s social ‘bubble.’ Doug would text Karen that he loved her and her children. Meanwhile, he rarely saw his own children,” the Justice said.

The two would hug and kiss each other, and on occasion, referred to each other as Mr. and Mrs. Beckman.

He bought her expensive diamond earrings, and the two would drink, socialize and be physically affectionate with each other.

One of Doug’s friends noticed that they would drink a lot of alcohol, which was out of character for Doug. Karen would joke that Doug was “much easier to manage when he’s drinking.”

Over time, Doug transferred more than $5.1 million to Karen, her adult children, and her ex-husband.

The money was spent buying numerous properties, mainly around Kelowna.

“Overall, from 2020 to 2022, Doug transferred $5,174,968.05 to Karen to purchase (two homes on Cobble Crescent), the Bergamot Property, the Ottawa Condo, and the West Avenue Condo for herself or her family members and carry out renovations at the properties. Including the credit card purchases, the total amount at issue in these proceedings is $5,537,845,” the Justice said.

In April 2022, Doug fired Karen when he realized he was missing millions of dollars.

He then sued Karen, her ex-husband Domenico Vinci, and some of her family members, Dylan Domenico Vinci, James Kevin Schafer, Kassia Raeburn Vinci and Philip Edward Dougals.

He claimed the money was a loan, and it was also gained by “undue influence.”

Karen counter-sued, accusing Doug of unfair dismissal and of sexual assault and battery, although she mostly lost both claims.

The case went to a 12-day trial that involved the testimony of all those involved, plus a neuropsychologist and a handful of Doug’s employees and friends.

Karen and her family insisted the money was a gift. They all testified that they saw nothing wrong with Doug cognitively.

However, Justice Hamilton wasn’t impressed with Karen or any of her family’s testimony.

“The defendants seemed to shape their evidence to suit their case… (and) seemed as if they had rehearsed it together as a family… sometimes, (they) even used the exact same words,” the Justice said. “In general, Karen was also angry, argumentative and sarcastic during cross-examination.”

In contrast, the Justice found Doug’s witnesses credible and reliable.

Doug’s evidence was hampered by his cognitive abilities.

“Because of his memory issues… I am unable to rely on significant portions of Doug’s evidence except to the extent that it is corroborated by documentary evidence or other reliable evidence,” the Justice said.

He testified that the money was a loan and not a gift, and all were done on “handshake” deals.

The Justice questioned why he would lend her so much money, knowing how much she earns and her ability to pay it back.

However, the Justice couldn’t find answers from him or Karen, whose evidence was “simply” not believable.

“Sometimes Karen’s evidence was both internally inconsistent and contrary to documentary evidence,” the Justice said.

The Justice parsed through the evidence and testimony from numerous witnesses.

One witness said that Karen told her she intended to work for Doug for five years so she and her family “would be all set up” financially.

Text messages Doug had sent were inconsistent with the money being a gift. Letters indicating that the money was a gift had not been signed.

“It seems incredible that an employer would gift his employee of less than four years over five million dollars,” the Justice said. “Karen had the opportunity to clarify Doug’s intentions at the time of each transfer by having him sign gift letters. I find that she specifically chose not to do so. I infer that Karen must have realized that Doug was unlikely to have signed the gift letters.”

The Justice ruled the money wasn’t a gift. She also ruled that Doug had been under undue influence.

“Given Doug’s physical and cognitive issues related to Huntington’s disease, the inordinate amount of time that he and Karen spent together and Doug’s feelings for Karen, I find that Karen had ample opportunity to influence Doug and that Doug was unable to resist Karen’s influence. Karen was in a position to dominate Doug’s will,” the Justice said. “From the beginning, Doug spent generously on Karen. He paid for her travel, hotel and meals. He also took Karen shopping and bought her clothing and jewelry. (Doug’s friends and staff) all warned Karen that she should not accept expensive gifts from Doug, given his vulnerability.”

The Justice said Karen didn’t listen to the advice.

“Instead, I find that Karen saw Doug as her opportunity to make life financially easier for herself and her family,” the Justice said.

The Justice found Karen purposely kept the money transfers a secret from Doug’s financial advisors and “secretly secured” more than $5 million in two years.

While Karen alleged that Doug had sexually assaulted her on numerous occasions, the Justice didn’t buy it.

“I find Karen embellished her evidence during her cross-examination when she claimed that Doug sexually assaulted her daily the entire time that she worked for him,” the Justice said. “However, when Karen was cross-examined further, she could not recall any specific details as to where or when these alleged other incidents of sexual assault took place.”

Justice Hamilton did find that Doug went into Karen’s hotel room naked and climbed on her bed on one occasion.

“Karen screamed and told him to leave, and he did. The incident caused Karen emotional distress that night and perhaps even for a few days after,” the Justice said. “I was left with the distinct impression that Karen intentionally embellished her evidence of the incident at trial in order to try to increase her potential damages award.”

For this, Karen was awarded $15,000.

Karen and her family will now have to pay back all the money they took to buy their properties.

Read the full judgment here.