Former accountant convicted of fraud

A former accountant who ripped off five people to the tune of $75,000 has been ordered not to engage in any business that involves handling money on behalf of others.

Terry Whitehead appeared in Superior Court of Justice in Welland on Friday and was given an 18-month conditional sentence on a charge of fraud over $5,000

The 70-year-old Niagara Falls man will be under house arrest for the first nine months of his sentence.

Assistant Crown attorney Tim Hill told Judge David Edwards the only reason Whitehead, who had worked as an accountant for more than 40 years, was not going to jail was the fact he recently provided full restitution to his victims.

“The deal was, all along, that if full restitution was made, the Crown would not seek a bricks and mortar disposition,” he said.

Whitehead pleaded guilty to the charge in November 2016 and sentencing had been postponed on a number of occasions so that the defendant could raise funds to repay his victims.

Court was told Whitehead worked as a bookkeeper for a businessman who owns several Tim Hortons franchises.

During the course of his employment, he stole a letter from the victim which dealt with a new coffee shop location.

He doctored the document to make it look like he had something to do with a fictitious Tim Hortons franchise and convinced people to invest in the non-existent store.

He also manufactured a shareholder’s agreement document to make it appear like a legitimate Tim Hortons franchise by forging the names of his victims.

Hill said the crime had “elements of a Ponzi scheme,” as Whitehead had to pay early investors with money he collected from new victims.

Defence lawyer Luigi DeLisio said the crime will have an ongoing ripple effect on his client even after the court matter is concluded because he had to borrow the $75,000 in order to compensate the victims.

Hill added the defendant “does not come to court with completely clean hands.”