Man spared jail time for stealing $134,000 from employer

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This article was published 16/11/2017 (2346 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

A Winnipeg hotel employee and gambling addict who defrauded his employer out of $134,000 has been spared jail time.

Christopher Banks previously pleaded guilty to fraud over $5,000 for stealing from the Four Points Sheraton hotel over five years until 2015. Provincial court Judge Sandra Chapman imposed a three-year suspended sentence Friday, ordering Banks to repay the remaining $44,000 he owes to the business.

Banks not only worked for the business for almost 15 years, but he was a close friend to his employer “and seen as part of the family,” Chapman said, describing the repeated thefts as a serious breach of trust.

Banks had a gambling addiction and was dealing with the loss of his father during the time he used his position to steal from the hotel, the judge said.

Chapman said she took into consideration that Banks had been working with a restorative-justice program and has already repaid some of the money he stole.

The Crown sought an 18-month jail sentence, but Chapman agreed with defence lawyer Kristen Jones that Banks shouldn’t go to jail. He will be on probation for three years and bound by conditions including a curfew and community service work.

“In this case I am impressed by the significant efforts Mr. Banks has made over the last two and a half years to rehabilitate himself and to restore the community, and ultimately long-term, the community will benefit from an individual like Mr. Banks being re-integrated into the community,” Chapman said.

“The purpose of this sentence is to, on the one hand, help restore the community and ultimately have you back working in the community and able to pay back the monies to these individuals, but at the same time understanding this is a serious matter and any breach of any conditions will result in you being re-sentenced with respect to this,” she told Banks.