A Burnaby woman has been ordered to pay $133,672 in special court costs to her ex-husband after she lied repeatedly under oath during their divorce proceedings, colluded with her parents to deceive the court, extensively and expertly doctored her bank records, and needlessly prolonged the court case at “great expense to the husband, both financially and emotionally,” according to court documents.
The woman, a landed immigrant from Mainland China identified only as Y.S., and her ex-husband, J.C., a Canadian of Chinese descent who grew up in Vancouver, met at a YMCA event in 2008.
They were married for two years and together owned two Burnaby properties, a condo on Hazel Street and a half-duplex on Halley Avenue.
Their marriage ended in July 2012, when the woman announced she wanted to separate after she had moved, without her husband, into their recently bought family home on Halley Avenue with their one-year-old son.
During their 18-day divorce trial, the woman’s credibility was “seriously undermined,” according to a decision by Justice Lance Bernard, when an order halfway through the trial authorized her bank to provide her records directly to her ex-husband’s lawyers.
The new records, along with testimony from a T.D. Canada Trust bank manager, revealed the documents she had originally provided had been doctored.
The woman had “strenuously opposed” the order, according to court documents.
Bernard said he was satisfied Y.S., who has a master’s degree in accountancy and works as a senior accountant for a private equity firm, had the necessary skills to alter the records convincingly and no one but her or someone acting “at her behest” would have had a reason to make the changes.
“To add insult to injury, the wife accused the husband of paranoia in relation to his suspicions that she was ‘setting him up’ and altering financial documents,” said Bernard.
After ordering the couple’s divorce and divvying up their assets and parenting time, the judge awarded special costs to the woman’s ex-husband.
“There can be no question that the wife’s conduct throughout the litigation was scandalous, outrageous, and deserving of rebuke,” he said in his ruling.
Special costs are awarded when the court finds one of the parties in a civil case has engaged in some sort of reprehensible conduct.
Last week, the court registrar assessed Y.S.’s special costs at $133,672.48: $104,172.48 for the divorce proceedings and $29,500 for expenses related to the special costs assessment.
