Two years in prison for a fraudulent millionaire

A 69-year-old woman who stole her employer due to compulsive gambling was forced into prison on Wednesday even though she reimbursed her victims for the million she won in the lottery.

Also read: Millionaire fraudster soon in prison?

Hardly moving, Liz escorts St-Pierre to the defendant’s box by two policemen, under the gaze of the former employers she deceived.

Being the only one with access to the ledger, she took the opportunity from 2011 to 2014 to forge checks before depositing them into her personal bank account.

I stole $ 628,000 from the construction company Irénée Paquet et fils I worked for for 20 years. But for the company, the loss is close to $ 900,000 if we include the tax settlement claimed by Revenu Québec.

Judge Suzanne Custum sentenced Liz Saint-Pierre to two years in prison on Wednesday, rejecting her lawyer’s proposal to impose a sentence to be carried out in the community.

Not to meditate

“In light of previous convictions and the fact that it did not really address the problem at the root of its criminal behavior, the court is concerned that imposing a conditional sentence could endanger the safety of society,” she concluded.

Due to a huge gambling problem, Lise St-Pierre at the time could spend between $ 1,500 and $ 4,000 a month on lottery tickets.

Ironically, Mrs. Saint-Pierre was a millionaire at the time. In 2010, she won a million dollar lottery prize. Despite everything, she was using company checks at the time to pay off her credit cards, rather than indulging in her nest egg.

If the thefts stopped in 2014, it was because the position of women was abolished after the restructuring of the company.

Liz Saint-Pierre has defrauded three other employers in the past. She was already sentenced to one year in prison for stealing $ 60,000 from her former boss. The trick was the same every time.

“Fetal” rehabilitation

Although the rehabilitation of the defendants was “fetal,” the judge considered it “sincere.” That is why it imposed a two-year prison sentence with a “prolonged” period of probation for three years, for “deterrence and condemnation, while leaving room for rehabilitation.”

The verdict appeared to stun Liz Saint-Pierre, who asked the judge to delay her imprisonment in order to kill her dog. I begged, “One day only, Madam Judge.”

The request was rejected by the judge. She ruled: “The verdict begins when it is pronounced. You should have known that there is a real possibility of your entry into prison.”