The former employee who stole $87,000 from a Toyota dealership in Calgary

The former employee who stole $87,000 from a Toyota dealership in Calgary is not going to jail. The woman's background presents exceptional circumstances that make jail term "disproportionately harsh," the judge concludes.
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There will be no jail time for a woman who stole over $87,000 from a Toyota dealership in Calgary where she worked for 14 years. 
 According to an agreed statement of facts presented to the court, the 46-year-old accounts receivable clerk stole the money over a period of nearly five years. She entered a guilty plea to one count of over $5,000 fraud. Article content Citing the woman's history of abuse and mental health issues, Justice Greg Stirling imposed a two-year, less-a-day conditional sentence that entails 18 months of home arrest and 36 months of probation. She is also required to reimburse the dealership. 

The Crown sought a 15-month jail sentence, followed by 12 months of probation. The woman's lawyer argued for a conditional sentence of two years less a day followed by two years' probation. 
The fraud was uncovered by the dealership's corporate controller in September 2022 while the accused was on vacation. 
She had told another employee that the dealership was missing $20,000 in gas cards. A week later, she gave her boss a bank draft of $5,000, admitting she had stolen that amount. Article content Article content A review of the company's books indicated the total loss could have been as much as $254,000. Article content Article content She offered no explanation for her actions, or what she did with the stolen money. 
 A Gladue report examining the woman's Indigenous background found she had suffered several concussions and brain injuries and has reported having severe memory loss. However, a separate forensic assessment found no evidence of cognitive impairment or evidence of memory or attention issues. It found she instead projected herself as an innocent victim of bad corporate practices, the ruling notes. Article content Article content That report writer determined the accused was "embracing illness and projecting inability," the ruling states. Article content Article content In seeking a 15-month sentence, the Crown noted the admitted thief made efforts to conceal the fraud, which involved considerable planning. Article content Article content The conditional sentence includes 24-hour house arrest for 18 months followed by a curfew of 8 p.m. to 6 a.m. for the remaining six months. 
Court heard the accused has not worked since being charged with this offence. She receives $959 every month from Alberta Income Support and has no other source of income

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