Whitby caterer facing numerous fraud charges after $55k in wedding deposits allegedly taken

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Published March 16, 2022 at 12:49 pm

A caterer who ran a now-defunct Whitby based company has been arrested on numerous fraud charges after allegedly taking $55,000 in deposits for weddings that were never serviced.

Numerous victims came forward to Durham Police in 2021 reporting they had given money to Pilar’s Catering for upcoming weddings, but did not receive services.

The caterer allegedly took the victim’s deposit but never responded back to them. Pilar’s Catering closed down several months ago. A website listed as pilarscatering.ca leads to a dead page, flagged unsafe. An Instagram page remains accessible, but has been derelict since July 2020.

Google Reviews go back six years and are consistently high, with the odd low rating, until about a year ago.

“This company just stole 6,000 dollars from us. We paid a three thousand dollar deposit for a wedding in May 2021 and another 3,000 dollars with a promise of embellished apps etc. Then they folded,” said Blake Holden, “So sad to realize there are people out there willing to steal that kind of money, knowing they will never have to be held accountable.”

“This company has stolen $9,200 from us for services not rendered,” added Shannon Drewery. “We paid Pilar a deposit of $5,400 upon signing the contract for our wedding. She then approached us saying that she would provide a free late night menu if we paid our second deposit of $3,800 right away. We didn’t think anything of it because friends who had used her company in 2019 took advantage of the same deal.”

“We were only notified of the business closing through an email bounce-back and haven’t been able to contact her anywhere since,” Drewery continued. “She did not reach out to any clients to let them know or to pay back the deposits. With our wedding 4 months away, she has left us with no caterer, a huge deposit gone and no way to contact her.”

Meghan Henriques says she is out thousands of dollars as well. “If we had not given her a call to hear that her number is no longer in service, we would of had ZERO clue her company folded,” she alleged. “We are out almost $10,000 because we too trusted Pilar when she asked for more money for the ‘Late Night Snack Promo.'”

Durham Police have so far identified seven victims with similar allegations who lost a collective $55,000.

Pilar Carr, 40 from Whitby, is charged with six counts of possession of property obtained by crime, fraud over $5,000 and fraud under $5,000. She has been released from custody with conditions.

Police are working to ensure there are no further victims. Anyone with information pertinent to the investigation can call DPRS Det. Jaciuk at 1-888-579-1520 ext. 1853 or Crime Stoppers at 1-800-222-TIPS (8477).

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