Gravelbourg Woman Charged with Defrauding Church 91,000, Leader Post, February 2, 2010

Gravelbourg Woman Charged with Defrauding Church $91,000

Leader-Post
February 2, 2010

http://www.leaderpost.com/Gravelbourg+woman+defrauds+church/2514635/story.html

Paulette Dumont, 64, has been charged with defrauding Gravelbourg's Our Lady of Assumption Catholic Church of over $91,000.

REGINA — A Gravelbourg woman has been charged with defrauding her church of over $91,000.

Paulette Dumont, 64, is alleged to have wrote 63 crooked cheques while holding a position of trust within Gravelbourg's Our Lady of Assumption Catholic Church.

The swindle is alleged to have occurred between Jan. 2002 and May 2004, when Dumont volunteered to handle part of the church's finances. She used the church's money to pay off personal expenses and funneled money into companies she owned, Cpl. Al Sutherland of the RCMP's Gravelbourg Detachment said.

After noticing irregularities in the church's financial books, the parish priest took the documents to police and an investigation began in March 2009.

Police had no problem pinpointing the suspect, rather it was following the paper trail that took time, Sutherland said, adding that it was a "lengthy and voluminous investigation."

The money was handled by a couple different financial institutions and goods and services were purchased through several different companies. Some of the fraudulent cheques were used to make payments on a Visa card.

"It's illegal to take somebody else's money," Sutherland said. "There has to be some sort of accountability, whether or not this will result in restitution is anybody's guess. It's a lot of money."

Dumont is scheduled to face charges of fraud over $5,000 and theft over $5,000 in a Gravelbourg court on Feb. 19.