Support worker steals $140,000 from clients

A former support worker and counsellor for adults with developmental disabilities who helped herself to more than $140,000 from her clients’ bank accounts will return to court in May for sentencing.

Catherine Hunter, 54, pleaded guilty Friday in an Ontario Court of Justice in St. Catharines to a charge of fraud over $5,000. She will return to court May 29

Court heard Hunter had been employed at Niagara Support Services since 1982. The agency, which provides residential and day services to adults with developmental disabilities, operates an apartment complex for clients on Barker Street in Niagara Falls.

Between 2005 and 2014, the Niagara Falls woman was involved in the agency’s enhanced supportive living program. As part of her duties, she would accompany clients to assist with their banking.

In February 2014, a supervisor discovered money was missing from the bank accounts of several of Hunter’s clients.

Assistant Crown attorney Stacey Sheehan said a forensic audit determined Hunter had misappropriated more than $140,300.

Hunter, who has no criminal record, is a “known gambler” who gambled regularly at Niagara casinos. Between April 2008 and June 2014, she lost $303,000 at the casinos. The woman’s yearly salary was approximately $47,000.