Woman guilty of $46,000 theft from employer sentenced to year in jail
By Tim Kalinowski on August 27, 2021.
LETHBRIDGE HERALDtkalinowski@lethbridgeherald.com
A former Lethbridge woman, who stole over $46,000 in cash and merchandise from her long-time employer, was sentenced to one year in prison in Lethbridge provincial court on Thursday.
A visibly distraught Melanie Dawn Vaillancourt was taken into custody immediately following the verdict delivered by Judge Kristin Ailsby to begin serving her one-year prison sentence.
Crown lawyer Dawn Janecke told the court back in May her office would be seeking a jail sentence for Vaillancourt of 12 to 14 months, plus probation, for stealing $46,000 from the King of Trade in downtown Lethbridge. Vaillancourt, who worked at the business for about 12 years, also stole thousands of dollars worth of merchandise, which included video games and controllers, and other toys.
Lethbridge lawyer Ingrid Hess had hoped her client could avoid jail, and had been asking for a conditional sentence of 18 to 20 months, which is considered a custodial sentence but typically comprises house arrest and curfew, given her client’s challenging personal circumstances.
Ailsby ruled given the sophistication of the crime which had Vaillancourt, a long-time trusted employee manipulating every aspect of the inventory and cash systems of the company, which she was intimately familiar with, for nearly two years with the intent to defraud that a period of incarceration was the only option.
These were not “impulsive” crimes, said Ailsby, but represented a “methodical scheme of manipulation” representing an ultimate betrayal of the trust of her long-time employer.
“When businesses of any kind, especially smaller ones, are compromised by dishonest employees seeking to exploit others for their personal gain, the very fabric of our social order and economic growth is compromised,” said Ailsby in her remarks to the court. “When Ms. Vaillancourt defrauded the King of Trade for $46,000, she took so much more than money and things.”
On top of her 12-month jail sentence, Vaillancourt was also sentenced to 18 months probation following her eventual release from custody, and given the injunction she must tell any future employers of her fraud conviction in writing if the job deals with the handling of any money, products or financial records.
Between April 2017 and December 2018 Vaillancourt defrauded her employer by taking money from the cash register and safe, stealing items, and manipulating inventory on the computer. When police conducted an audit and viewed video surveillance footage, Vaillancourt was seen committing the offences, some of which occurred when she worked on weekends, and even when the store was closed; after she locked up or before she opened.
-With files by Delon Shurtz
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And owner Hunter still finds it in himself to forgive her. Just shows the quality guy he is. Support the KOT and shop there!