Police say a woman north of Toronto has been sentenced to six years in prison for a fake-billing scheme that defrauded her employer of $5.5 million.
York Regional Police said 55-year-old Natalia Pouchkina, of King Township, was handed the sentence Monday in a Newmarket court after pleading guilty in January to fraud over $5,000.
Court heard Pouchkina used her position as senior manager at Crane Payment Solutions in Vaughan to set up fake accounts payable similar in name to the company’s real accounts and, over a 14-month period ending last May, submitted fraudulent bills totalling nearly $5.5 million.
Police had said that when confronted by management over the billings, Pouchkina fled to Europe. She was later arrested while living in Spain and extradited to Canada.
The sentence orders Pouchkina to pay back the money, and if she cannot then will have to spend an additional five years behind bars, police said Wednesday.