Former Canadian Tire manager gets 3 months for fraudulent use of company credit card
A Medicine Hat man who used a company credit card to steal more than $6,300 while working as a manager at Canadian Tire store was given a three-month sentence Tuesday.
The court granted Peter Vincent Smith the chance to serve this sentence intermittently, while he works to pay restitution.
According to the agreed statement of facts, Smith was working as the manager of the local Canadian Tire’s part source store in 2015, when the regional manager noticed a suspicious transaction on Smith’s company credit card records. Smith said it was a mistake, and paid back the funds. The card was flagged for further monitoring. A number of suspicious unauthorized transactions were flagged, and Smith suggested the card had been compromised, but failed to show up for his shift the next day.
A full audit showed $6,360 in unauthorized transactions, as well as $204 in unauthorized transactions from a fuel card. Smith’s employment was terminated. Police investigated and charged him with theft over $5,000.
Smith was also charged with fraud under $5,000 for a July 21, 2015 incident where he cashed a cheque forged with his ex-wife’s name at a bank for $3,520.
Smith “confirmed guilt immediately when being confronted by police,” said defence counsel Mark Crerar, attributing the theft to a cocaine problem.
Smith has been a “productive member of society through life,” said defence counsel, with no criminal record, and who has now been 21 months and 28 days clean and sober. He has a new job, and has already put together $2,000 in restitution.
Warrant arrest
A man arrested on a Canada-wide warrant while in Medicine Hat was sentenced Tuesday to 15 months.
Daniel Napesis was wanted on a nationwide warrant when police received information he was in the city on May 1. They arrested him while opening the door to a truck stolen from a company in Grande Prairie. Inside the truck were items including a stolen GPS worth $320. As well, Napesis used the company’s credit card to place orders for $2,494 in contract equipment and cleaning supplies. Police also found bearspray in the vehicle.
Mischief
A lenient sentence was given to a young man who used a BB gun to destroy numerous vehicle and residential windows with two others in March, but immediately admitted their actions and cooperated with police when arrested.
Kyle Dick, who was 19 at the time of the incident, “followed the crowd rather than leading,” said defence counsel Lyndon Heidinger, explaining that the young man’s disabilities contributed to him going along with the others. “He’s not a bad kid, he just made bad choices.”
Dick pled guilty to four counts of mischief, and was given 12 months of probation to pay back his half of the $12,000 in damages caused.
Once his sentence is complete, he will be granted a conditional discharge and have no criminal record.
“Mr. Dick, what were you thinking?” asked Judge Ted Fischer, adding that but for the information provided by Crown and defence, Dick would be going to jail for his actions.
The stress of the sentencing was so much for the young man that he fainted midway through it, requiring the EMS to be called and the court to temporarily adjourned until he recovered.
Dick and his family are now working with community organizations to get him back on the path and be successful in life — something best for the community as well, Heidinger said.
Dick’s co-accused Brayden Beauchesne pled guilty in July, and was sentenced to 31 months probation to make restitution, and then be granted a discharge.