Serial nurse impostor faces new assault and fraud charges in Victoria

Another round of criminal charges has been filed in B.C. against a serial impostor with a long history of posing as a nurse, this time related to her brief employment at a private surgery clinic in the Victoria area.

Brigitte Cleroux was charged last week with fraud over $5,000, impersonation, using forged documents and assault for alleged offences committed in View Royal, B.C., in the fall of 2020.

The 51-year-old was employed as a nurse at the private View Royal Surgical Clinic for three weeks in November 2020, management at the time confirmed. The facility has since been taken over by Island Health and brought into the public system.

A spokesperson for West ShoreRCMP, which led the investigation, declined to provide further details while the matter is before the courts.

Cleroux has never had a valid nursing licence or completed nursing school, but over the last two decades, she has been accused or convicted of pretending to be a nurse in Colorado, Ontario, Alberta and B.C.

She currently faces 17 charges in Vancouver, including allegations of assaulting 10 patients, related to her year working as a perioperative nurse at B.C. Women's Hospital. She has also been charged with impersonation and fraud against a dental surgeon in Surrey, about 34 kilometres southeast of Vancouver.

Cleroux took the job at View Royal while she was on paid administrative leave from B.C. Women's Hospital because of complaints about inappropriate and unprofessional behaviour with co-workers and patients, court documents filed by the hospital's operator suggest.

She currently sits in an Ontario prison, serving a seven-year sentence for posing as a nurse at two Ottawa clinics in the summer of 2021. In all, she has amassed at least 67 criminal convictions as an adult.

Cleroux is still wanted in Colorado, accused of pretending to be a nurse in Colorado Springs, and there are two active warrants for her arrest in Broward County, Fla.

A date has yet to be set for Cleroux's first appearance on the View Royal charges. Her criminal defence lawyer declined tocomment.