P.E.I. man receives house arrest for defrauding shareholders

A P.E.I. man was sentenced to four months of house arrest for a summary conviction of fraud under $5,000.

Ronald Gillis was ordered to remain in his home unless given permission to leave for specific purposes, including work.

“This is not your usual fraud case to come through the courts,’’ said Douglas.

The judge says Gillis did not commit the fraud for any of the “common reasons’’ such as simple greed or to feed an addiction.

Gillis was hired in October 2014 to do the internal accounting for, and to manage the accounts of Zengo Incorporated, a company that manufactures and sells a product called Rupture-Seal.

According to agreed statement of facts, he made 114 illegal etransfers to create the sense for shareholders that there was cash flow coming in and not negative cash flow going out.

The total amount sent from Zengo’s corporate accounts to Gillis’ bank account was $38,430.21 between Jan. 1 and Dec. 31, 2015. During this period, the company lost more than $700,000.

Douglas said the case was not straightforward, noting that Gillis admitted to doing wrong but also not benefitting personally from his fraudulent activity.

“It is a breach of trust,’’ said Douglas. “Gillis knew what he was doing was wrong.’’

Douglas ordered Gillis, who has no prior record, to pay $5,000 in restitution – an amount the judge noted was arbitrarily reached because the amount of money his fraud cost the company and shareholders has not been determined.