An Alberta judge has sentenced a Calgary man to 10 years in prison for his role in a fraud scheme that saw him obtain almost $1 million from seven victims. Scott Phillip Brooks, 52, was charged with multiple offences, including 17 counts of fraud, in connection with an investigation by the Cochrane RCMP in 2020. On March 2, 2026, he pleaded guilty to 17 of the 21 charges against him. Justice R.W. Armstrong of the Alberta Court of King’s Bench sentenced him on June 18. In his decision, Armstrong wrote that Brooks had “a lengthy and entrenched history of criminal conduct” consisting of several fraud charges both as a youth and as an adult. Victims targeted for fake business ventures The Crown, in its submissions, said the offences at hand against Brooks were the actions of a “sophisticated fraud offender” who targeted multiple victims over a period of eight years. “The Crown characterizes the offending as a large-scale fraud scheme involving multiple victims, losses approaching $1 million, repeated deception over many years, extensive planning, forged legal, financial and court documents, and repeated impersonation of practising lawyers. The Crown submits the offences struck not only at individual victims but also at public confidence in legal and commercial institutions,” Armstrong wrote. Through Brooks’ actions, the Crown said, “victims lost retirement savings, homes, investments, insurance coverage and financial security.” “Victim impact statements describe anxiety, depression, damaged marriages, loss of trust, health consequences, delayed retirement, strained family relationships and long‑term financial hardship. The Crown submits these consequences substantially aggravate sentence.” The offences consisted mainly of fraudulent business opportunities Brooks presented to his victims involving oilfield equipment patents, equipment salvage operations, surplus vehicle sales and other schemes. One of the Brooks’ victims lost $832,296 over a period of six years. Court documents show that Brooks also impersonated four different lawyers as well as Calgary-based oil company ConocoPhillips using a variety of methods to forge documents and spoof email addresses. Brooks also used those techniques to impersonate court officials, Armstrong said. “Mr. Brooks created forged court orders and court-related documents that were purported to have been issued by the Court of Queen’s Bench of Alberta. These documents were used to support fictitious gifting arrangements, trust transactions and commercial dealings that Mr. Brooks claimed were progressing through legal channels,” the decision read. “Examples included a purported order allegedly signed by Applications Judge Prowse and another document purporting to involve a Justice of the Court of Queen’s Bench.” All of these forged court documents were passed along to his victims to “strengthen the credibility” of his schemes. Guilty pleas took years: Crown While Brooks did plead guilty, the Crown said it was years before that happened, only after most of the prosecution’s case had been called. “The Crown submits there is no convincing evidence of genuine remorse,” Armstrong said. Brooks’ lawyers believed a sentence of five to six years was sufficient, saying his “difficult personal history” played a role in his criminal background. “The defence submits that Mr. Brooks developed a longstanding dependence on prescription and illicit substances, particularly oxycodone, which he used to manage anxiety and unresolved trauma. Although not amounting to a legal excuse, counsel submits that addiction, trauma, and emotional dysfunction provide important context for the offences and reduce his overall moral culpability,” the court decision reads. Armstrong disagreed with the defence’s submissions, saying that anything less than a 10-year sentence “would fail to give adequate effect to denunciation, deterrence, public protection, and Mr. Brooks’ demonstrated recidivism.” “A sentence in the range proposed by the defence would not adequately recognize the multiplicity of victims, the sophistication of the schemes, the extraordinary abuse of trust involved or Mr. Brooks’ prior record for similar conduct,” Armstrong wrote. The justice denied any enhanced credit for Brooks’ pre-sentence custody, so his time spent in jail so far would be held on a one-for-one basis. “This is not a case where Mr. Brooks merely exercised his procedural rights or where delays arose from circumstances beyond his control. Rather, as I have previously found in my decision revoking his judicial interim release, Mr. Brooks deliberately engaged in conduct intended to thwart and delay the trial process,” Armstrong wrote. “Specifically, I found that he feigned illness and manipulated his medications to manufacture medical crises requiring hospitalization and thereby prevent the trial from proceeding. I also found that he repeatedly changed counsel and engaged in a pattern of conduct that significantly delayed the progression of these proceedings. “His judicial interim release was ultimately revoked because his conduct demonstrated that neither his attendance in court nor confidence in the administration of justice could be maintained while he remained at liberty.” Brooks was also ordered to pay $924,954 in restitution to his victims, payable within eight years of the imposition of his sentence. If not paid, Brooks will be jailed for another five years, consecutive to the term already imposed.
