Pandemic stress cause of Okanagan Skaha school district fraud, court hears

A longtime employee at the Okanagan Skaha school district pleaded guilty Wednesday to stealing more than $5,000 from his employer, but will likely dodge a criminal record and prison time.

Douglas Alan Gorcak, 52, admitted that during the pandemic he defrauded his employer of somewhere between $9,000 and $25,000.  The funds appropriated have been repaid but the charge of fraud over $5,000 could have come with a prison sentence as high as 10 years.

However, Judge Clarke Burnett said a conditional sentence would better serve the community and Gorcak, and accepted a joint sentencing recommendation from Crown counsel and the defence.  Gorcak will serve 50 hours of community service and remain on probation for 12 months. At the end of that time, he will have no criminal record.

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Burnett said that Gorcak defrauded the district from late fall of 2020 until the winter of 2021.

“For many people, it was not difficult to make their way through (the pandemic) while for many other people, it was a very stressful time, indeed,” Burnett said.  “Certainly government agencies and particularly schools were going through all sorts of upheaval. It was stressful and overwhelming to (Gorcak) and then he made this very foolish decision to do what he did.”

Burnett said in a subsequent interview with the school district, Gorcak admitted his entire “not very sophisticated” scheme, of buying things like tools and weights from school suppliers for his personal use on the district’s dime.

When caught, he sacrificed accrued overtime and vacation hours that amounted to some $19,000 and then wrote a cheque for the remaining balance, which according to the school district was around $5,300.

Conversely, police said hey pegged the fraud at an amount ranging from $9,000 to $10,000, according to Crown Coun. Kevin Short.

Burnett said that he had confidence Gorcak was on a better path, given that it was his first and only offence and was a trusted employee at a new job.

The judge pointed out that losing a school district job, with high pay and significant benefits, in such public circumstances would likely have caused much turmoil in Gorcak’s life.

“It goes without saying, I anticipate considerable shame was brought to bear on him,  I can only imagine having to explain to your adult children what you did and no doubt they were completely shocked,” he said.

In addition to community service Gorcak will have to commit to counselling.