Former bookkeeper who stole more than $600,000 ordered to return funds
Credit to Author: Keith Fraser| Date: Thu, 31 Oct 2019 22:17:09 +0000
A former bookkeeper at a furniture company and her husband have been ordered to pay back more than $600,000 that was stolen over a period of six years.
Petra Yazbek misappropriated the funds while she was employed at West Bros. Frame and Chair Ltd. from December 2008 to November 2014, according to a B.C. Supreme Court ruling.
The civil trial heard that during the course of her employment, no suspicions were raised about the company’s finances or Yazbek’s performance. The company president was only alerted to an issue on the first day of the new bookkeeper’s employment following Yazbek’s resignation.
The company, which had a line of credit of $250,000 and had not used the line of credit for several years before Yazbek was hired, discovered that $220,000 of the line of credit had been used, a “complete surprise” to company president Robert George.
After the problems were discovered, George contacted Yazbek regarding the matter since she had always reported a positive balance at the bank to him.
George testified that he did not authorize Yazbek to receive any money from the company other than her salary of $55,000 per year net of remissions, minus a small amount for incidental expenses.
He commonly signed blank cheques which he left with Yazbek, who was instructed to use them to pay accounts payable and salaries during the frequent periods he was away from the office.
Justice Jeanne Watchuk found that Yazbek wrote 367 cheques to herself from the company, most of which she deposited into bank accounts held jointly with her husband, Sarkis Yazbek.
The evidence established that the accounts were used exclusively by the couple or for family purposes.
“There is no evidence that Ms. Yazbek spent these monies for her exclusive benefit, such as travel or the purchase of luxury goods, or otherwise treated them as belonging to anyone but her and her husband,” said the judge.
The sum of money involved considerably exceeded the amount she was authorized to transfer to herself and amounted to the bookkeeper committing a breach of trust, the judge said in her ruling.
An issue at the trial was whether Sarkis Yazbek, a refugee from El Salvador who became a Canadian citizen in 1994, should be held liable as well.
The judge found that it was not reasonable for the husband, who worked in the boat repair industry and claimed that he didn’t know his wife had stolen the money, to fail to make inquiries.
“He had knowledge of facts which would put a reasonable person on inquiry. In particular, it was not reasonable to believe that Ms. Yazbek earned $120,000 a year as a bookkeeper and that she was paid during maternity leave. Mr. Yazbek was in business and worked in conjunction with businesses.”
The judge ordered that the couple, who live in Delta and have two children, each pay half of the damages award of $611,920. She also awarded the company $40,000 in punitive damages against Petra Yazbek.
“The highly culpable conduct of the defendant was planned, deliberate and ongoing. It is deserving of full condemnation and punishment,” said the judge.
“Punitive damages are therefore appropriate and necessary in these circumstances to denounce that conduct and effect deterrence and retribution.”