Whitehorse Daily Star

Woman spent money on travel, lifestyle pursuits

A Whitehorse woman has been sentenced for stealing more than $46,000 from her former employer.

By Emily Blake on June 20, 2017

A Whitehorse woman has been sentenced for stealing more than $46,000 from her former employer.

Kessie Ann Vandrie was sentenced to 90 days’ jail time, to be served intermittently, after she pled guilty to stealing $46,939 from Mic Mac Motors in Whitehorse.

Vandrie was employed as the comptroller for the downtown dealership for four years.

According to court documents, the theft involved 55 transactions and occurred over a one-year period between January 2014 and February 2015.

Deputy Judge Raymond Wyant from Manitoba found that the theft was “deliberate, planned, premeditated, and took place over an extensive period of time.”

Crown prosecutor Michael Van Klaveren said the theft was masked by false entries that required time and forensic accounting work to uncover.

“Clearly, this was not only planned and premeditated, but sophisticated on her part during the time of the theft,” Wyant said.

Defence lawyer Andre Roothman suggested that Vandrie should be given a conditional discharge with probation.

But Van Klaveren noted this would require “rare or exceptional circumstances” and argued a jail sentence of four to six months would be more appropriate.

Wyant acknowledged that a criminal record could impair Vandrie’s prospects of future employment.

But he found that a sentence of imprisonment would best serve the public interest by sending a message to others and expressing the court’s denunciation of the offence.

“Sentencing is not just about Ms. Vandrie but also about the effect of the offence on the victim and the community at large,” he said.

Aggravating factors in the case, he found, included that Vandrie was in a position of trust and authority, and the theft caused a sense of betrayal.

In a victim impact statement, the dealership’s general manager said she became good friends with Vandrie over the time she worked at the family-owned dealership, going on trips and spending time together.

Wyant also noted the theft cost the dealership more than $100,000 in addition to the amount stolen.

This included $54,300 “to untangle this web of deceit,” $54,000 in accounts receivable, and an estimated $30,000 in overtime to employees.

“There was an effect on the company, its employees, on its owners, and on its managers in the work of untangling this,” Wyant said.

He also found that the theft was done for Vandrie’s own profit and not driven by underlying issues such as gambling or substance addiction.

“This was done essentially for Ms. Vandrie’s own personal benefit in order to travel and to spend money on a lifestyle,” he said.

But mitigating factors in the case included that Vandrie has no criminal record, pled guilty, and expressed remorse.

Wyant found that if he were to impose a sentence greater than 90 days, it would take away from Vandrie’s family, job, rehabilitation, and ability to pay restitution.

“The court is not unmindful that a period of incarceration for any individual can have a very significant and deleterious effect,” he said.

“Let us face it: jail does not really do much to rehabilitate people. It usually does much the opposite.”

Wyant agreed with Roothman’s suggestion that Vandrie should serve the 90-day sentence intermittently.

She will attend the Whitehorse Correctional Centre on consecutive weekends until the time is served. This will be followed by a one year term of supervised probation.

The court also issued a restitution order for $46,939.62 to be repaid to the dealership.

Comments (9)

Up 0 Down 0

Suzanne Bienvenue on Dec 18, 2017 at 9:56 am

No pity, she new better...leads to believe it's a sickness

Up 10 Down 2

Josey Wales on Jun 24, 2017 at 9:24 am

Yeah bummer...this fraudulent moment in time.
Seems sugar and spice, is not always that nice would it not?
So, so disappointing to learn that the engineered biases we carry, just really are not true.
Suggests being a lowlife crosses all these days genders, all ethnicities, and yes every religion.
Like maybe we are humans all capable of all things...wow eh?
Maybe we should file into the trash the philosophy that allows this particular participant in said lowlifery...lesser punishment than say the "other" genders
....eh?

Up 9 Down 2

June Jackson on Jun 23, 2017 at 8:48 pm

When someone commits a crime, its up to the victim to file a police report...if an employer chooses to cover up and hush up an embezzlement, that is up to them..this business chose to send a clear message, we will prosecute...they did the best they could, it was the court that failed the community. Might have failed Kessie Anne too.. I remember some years ago a person embezzled quite a large amount, the company prosecuted, she got jail time..during that time she took accounting at Yukon College and graduated just as she got out of jail, the (then) work placement program sent her right to YTG, you guessed it, in finance. With this sentence, Kessie Anne is deprived of the free college education that might have seen her employed with YTG, getting a well padded wage, benefits, pension etc.

Criminals always seem to have some justification... they don't pay me enough, so I deserve it, they treat me like crap so I deserve it.. they have more money than God and I don't so I deserve it.. Even Al Capone said..they're suckers, they deserve it...It doesn't matter what level of criminal you are, your actions are someone else's fault..Murder? Voices in my head..dunno, they were just standing there.. shoplifting? That's what they get for their prices so high..

It is the day of the criminal, the victims carry the burden of blame...our arbitrators of justice don't give a damn really... at the end of the day, they still get a paycheck whether they have meted out justice as seen by the community, or justice as seen by the criminal. Perhaps they make their determinations on their health? If they have a belly ache, you go to jail, if they're feeling pretty chipper.. you walk...I can be pretty sure of one thing..I will never see a judge in Whitehorse deliver my idea of justice.

Up 13 Down 2

Unfair on Jun 22, 2017 at 4:09 pm

@ Anie No, I don't think anyone should get away with stealing from their employer. I think everyone should be accountable for their actions and penalties should be the same regardless if man or woman. Yes, I realize the pension includes the person's contributions...maybe strip them of the employer portion if found guilty of theft.
My point is that some public servants found to be thieving are not charged criminally. Instead, the process is all in-house and protected from the public eye and conducted in total secrecy because it's a "personnel issue". Some of the lucky ones are allowed to quietly retire ahead of their time with full pension intact and no criminal charge hanging over their head or quietly pay back the stolen goods or funds. While they might lose their jobs, and rightly so, they escape the criminal charge which could have much greater and longer-term implications than the loss of a job.

Up 15 Down 2

Anie on Jun 22, 2017 at 2:27 pm

Unfair, you do recognize that govt employees pay into their pensions? How would you take that away? Not sure what your comment has to do with this story. So you think someone stole from gy and got away with it, therefore everyone should get away with it?

Up 14 Down 3

Martin on Jun 22, 2017 at 9:42 am

To unfair: Even better, why don't we let everybody go and go back being the wild west?

Up 38 Down 15

Unfair on Jun 21, 2017 at 10:46 am

What about the public servants that get caught stealing? Why aren't they charged with their crimes? Why don't they lose their pensions? Why do they just get to quietly take an early retirement and keep their lucrative pensions when the evidence proves their guilt? These rogue employees should be held accountable - especially when they break the law for personal gain.

Up 53 Down 4

Thank you to the dealership on Jun 20, 2017 at 5:31 pm

Thank you to the dealership for pursuing this to the end. I have heard of other local companies ripped off by other trusted employees, but who chose not to spend the time and money to obtain a conviction. What you did was you removed one thief from the pond, saving her next employer from the same thing. I believe she should be on the hook for the money it cost to figure out what went on, as well as paying back the money she stole. As it is, there's no downside for her. Some weekends in jail doing her hobbies. Big deal.

Up 85 Down 16

Just Sayin' on Jun 20, 2017 at 3:26 pm

Wow, so you spend 90 days in jail during the weekends, which equates to roughly $511.00 per day spent there. That is pretty sweet deal. The funny thing is, if it was a male they would have received more time. The judicial system still finds it difficult to find women guilty of serious offences. Previously, there was a women who stole from Northerm Windows and Glass and her charges were stayed while Ms. Wendy Reid who stole from Super A, received a slap on the wrist. What does this say about the Judicial system, women, help yourselves because the court system has a slap on the wrist for you!

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