A Halifax bookkeeper is set to serve an eight-year prison sentence for stealing over CA$7.6 million from her previous employers, and gambling ways close to CA$6.4 million. The culprit, Sherri Lamarche worked for 15 years as an accountant for Banc Group, which is one of the largest property developers in Halifax, where she gained the trust of Besim Halef.
Mr. Halef had no notion of what was happening behind his back and even considered Ms. Lamarche as a close family member. He also had no idea that she was a passionate gambler. However, by using her lengthy gambling history, she managed to cover her tracks for quite a while, hence stealing around CA$7.6 million from the company.
Starting Off Small
The offender began by embezzling small amounts of less than CA$10k in 2018 and sending cheques to her then-husband’s business, Independent Custom Enterprises Coachworks. With time her theft grew larger allowing her to buy a Camaro, pay off her mortgage, made home renovations worth CA$180,000, travel around the world, and even give some to family members.
When her family asked her how she got such financial power, she always responded that she won the jackpot. But gambling was one of her main activities, which started at the Legends Gaming Centre next to the Trans-Canada Highway, but it continued from the comfort of her home when she first indulged in online gambling on New Year’s Day in 2018.
Reports suggest that as a daily gambler, between mid-January and mid-February 2018, she spent CA$30k on iGaming. However, these numbers spiked to CA$195,500 in the same period in 2019 and even larger in 2020 with CA$248,500. The Atlantic Lottery Corporation did not launch Nova Scotia’s legal online gaming casino until July 2022, meaning that she resorted to illegal websites.
Estimates find that her total gambling spending from January 2017 to June 2021 amounted to almost CA$6.4 million in lost bets, while only winning just CA$384,000 in return. Her scheme was first noticed on June 2, 2021, after Mr. Halef got a call from Scotiabank. He was told that a suspicious cheque to ICE Coachworks was identified and he put the pieces together.
After an investigation and a trial, Ms. Lamarche received an eight-year sentence in prison for defrauding her employer. At the time of sentencing. Judge Christine Driscoll, described the culprit as abhorrent. In addition to that, the judge imposed a restitution order for the full amount, totalling exactly CA$7,749,799.
Not an Isolated Case
This was not the first time that a gambling-related crime was uncovered. In May 2023, a court ordered an ex-bar manager of Match Eatery and Public House at Starlight Casino Point Edward to pay back stolen cash. The culprit, William McGuire, was on security cameras not registering some transactions through the till and keeping the cash or claiming returns that were made up.
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