TRURO, N.S. — A long-time employee of Stanfields Ltd., was sentenced to five months in jail after being convicted of defrauding the company of more than $33,000 over an eight-year period.
Michelle Leigh Blinn, 45, of Lyman Street was also ordered to make restitution of $33,574.72 to Stanfields and will be placed on probation for two years following her release from custody.
“Ms. Blinn’s scheme was not sophisticated. It was not just one, or two, momentary lapses in judgement, but it was prolonged, and repeated, over a period of over 8 years,” Judge Al Bégin said, in his written decision handed down Wednesday (Jan. 22).
“While Ms. Blinn expresses remorse for her actions it appears to be more remorse for the predicament that she now finds herself in,” the judge continued. “I did not see any empathy for the financial losses suffered by Stanfield’s. She does acknowledge that she let her employer down.”
Blinn, who had been employed with Stanfields for 22 years before being fired when her crimes were discovered, had been working “in a position of trust” as a purchasing officer when the fraudulent actions began in 2009. In that position, she had access to a company credit card that she was permitted to use for personal purposes, providing the expenses were reimbursed.
“She didn’t,” Bégin wrote. “She failed to pay back $10,258.22 in personal expenses that she had paid for with the company credit card.
Blinn also defrauded Stanfields of $23,316.50 from the company’s cafeteria fund, which has also not been recovered.
“As with many of the case involving theft from an employer, Ms. Blinn did not stop her criminal activities until she was caught,” Bégin said.
When confronted, the judge noted, Blinn did acknowledge her responsibility in writing to company president and CEO Jon Stanfield as well as providing a statement of guilt to police.
The defence had asked for a conditional sentence for Blinn. However, Crown attorney Alison Brown had emphasized the need for deterrence and denunciation, which she submitted would not be appropriate in this case.
Bégin agreed, especially given the impact that such crimes have on the businesses involved and also that there have been “multiple high-profile embezzlement cases” in the community during the period that Blinn was stealing from the company.
“These cases would have very clearly told Ms. Blinn what consequences she should expect for her fraudulent criminal behavior. But she didn’t take the warning and stop. She continued with her criminal behavior,” Bégin said.
“There have been far too many of these types of crime in our local community in the past number of years. The only thing that will stop future similar crimes is a strong message of denunciation and deterrence.
“As previously stated, business owners in our community need to know that they will be protected by the Courts from dishonest employees who choose to steal from them instead of earning their money with their own efforts. And employees who choose to steal from their employers need to know that embarking on a scheme to steal from your employer will very likely land you in jail.
Bégin also noted that no information was provided to the court as to what Blinn did with the “tax-free” money she stole, other than a statement during the sentencing hearing “that she spent all this money on others so that they would love her as she ‘always wanted someone to love me’.”
As part of her probation conditions, Blinn is not permitted to seek or obtain any employment or volunteer position that involves her having authority over money or other valuable securities, without specific permission from the court.
