T. Jamieson

The offender, a law clerk and licensed paralegal, was convicted of fraud over $5,000 and uttering a forged document after defrauding her employer, a lawyer, of over $100,000 and providing a fabricated divorce order to a client.

The co-offender assisted in the fraud by cashing cheques.

The court found the law clerk's actions constituted a severe breach of trust with devastating impacts on the victims.

Despite being a first-time offender, the court held that a conditional sentence would not adequately address the principles of denunciation and deterrence.

The law clerk was sentenced to 18 months in custody.

The co-offender received a 10-month conditional sentence due to exceptional medical circumstances.

The accused, a law clerk and bookkeeper, was charged with fraud over $5,000 and uttering a forged document.

The Crown alleged she issued over $185,000 in unauthorized cheques from her employer's law firm trust and general accounts to the co-accused, who was purportedly an estate trustee.

The co-accused cashed the cheques immediately at a nearby cheque-cashing facility.

The accused bookkeeper was also charged with providing a fake divorce order to a client.

The court rejected the bookkeeper's testimony that her employer authorized the cheques, finding her evidence illogical and contradicted by documentary evidence.

The court found the co-accused was wilfully blind to the fraud given the sheer volume and frequency of the cheques.

Both accused were found guilty of fraud over $5,000, and the bookkeeper was found guilty of uttering a forged document.