Four years in $1.2 million fraud case

A fraud case in Court of Queen’s Bench in Yorkton has resulted in a significant prison sentence.

Gregor Gmerek was convicted of fraud and forgery in relation to a number of transactions that took place over his four years of employment at Prairie Livestock Joint Venture. Gmerek was found guilty of defrauding the company of over $1.2 million.

In reviewing the submissions, Justice Janice McMurtry considered the case to have no mitigating factors – while Gmerek had no previous criminal record, he likely would not have been able to have committed the offence with one. The aggravating factors included the length of time, the complexity of the offence, the amount of money involved in the fraud and Gmerek being in a position of trust at the time of the offense.

The prosecution had asked for a prison term of 4.5 years, while the defense had submitted a term of 2-3 years. The defense also argued that a lengthy prison sentence would put Gmerek, who is a permanent resident of Canada, at risk for deportation due to that prison sentence being considered ‘serious criminality.’

In the end, Justice McMurtry sentenced Gmerek to four years in prison.