A West Vancouver woman has been arrested after she allegedly defrauded her employer of more than $80,000, according to North Vancouver RCMP.
The woman would refund large purchases onto her personal credit cards over a period of months while working at the business, police said. She’d been entrusted with running the finances while the owner was on a trip.
“It was actually the financial institution that contacted the business owner saying: ‘Hey, there is some fraudulent activity going on,’ so that’s how they discovered they were being defrauded in these refund frauds,” Const. Mansoor Sahak said.
Upon returning home, the owner discovered the fraudulent refunds and immediately called police.
The business and the woman are not being named because she has not yet been charged in the incidents that occurred between June and September of 2021.
Our investigators worked diligently to gather evidence and prepared several Judicial Authorizations in an effort to further the investigation,
Sahak shared in a release.
The investigation is ongoing, and officers anticipate recommending charges to BC Prosecution Service in the near future against the woman, who is no longer an employee of the business.
If found guilty of theft over $5,000 the woman could spend up to 10 years in prison.
The takeaway for business owners is to keep a close eye on financial records and to call police when they feel something is not right, Sahak added.