By Lara Fominoff @LaraFominoff on Twitter

Alberta Court of Appeal increases sentence for Stirling man convicted of defrauding former employer

Apr 4, 2019 | 3:18 PM

LETHBRIDGE – A man from Stirling, convicted of defrauding his employer, Schwartz Reliance Insurance and Registry Services out of more than $541,000 in July, 2018, has had his sentence increased from 14 months, to two years less a day, in a 2-1 decision by the Alberta Court of Appeal.

The Crown argued that the sentence handed down to Stephan James Evanson was not proportionate to the gravity of the offence and his moral blameworthiness. Moreover, the Crown argued that the sentencing judge failed to apply the principle of parity, overemphasized the mitigating factors, and underemphasized the aggravating factors.

Two of three Appeals Court Justices agreed. In its reasons for judgement it was found that the sentencing judge omitted to take into account the fact that Evanson destroyed records as an aggravating factor, the judge overemphasized the mitigating factor of paying restitution, along with community involvement which the sentencing judge also found mitigating, but the Appeals Court found statutorily non-mitigating.

Two of the three judges concluded that Evanson’s moral culpability is “exceedingly high,” and that he defrauded his employer for more than 10 years, in 1,066 separate transactions. He also destroyed evidence each month and did not stop on his own.

The judges found a fit sentence would be two years less a day and ordered that Evanson surrender himself into custody within 72 hours of the decision.

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Dissenting Justice Peter Martin wrote that while the 14-month sentence was too low, he believed that an 18-month sentence with time already served would be more appropriate.

Facts of the case

The first fraudulent activity occurred in November of 2007, when a client requested a cancellation of their insurance policy. Instead of putting it into the system and receiving a reduced commission, Evanson reported that the client renewed their policy, which resulted in a personal gain of $68.88.

In 2008, Evanson defrauded the company out of $5,790, with the numbers ballooning in the following years, reaching an annual high of $88,440.99 in 2016. In total, he managed to obtain $541,370.77 between November 2007 and September 2016.

It was determined that he created fake client accounts, altered existing ones, reported that he sold policies when he had not, reported he renewed polices that he had not, failed to record when policies were reduced or cancelled, improperly entered inflated commission percentages and entered the same commissions more than once.

After submitting the false reports, Evanson would then go back into the computer system and delete the inputs to hide the inflated amounts that he had claimed.

It all came to light in September of 2016, when Schwartz learned that Evanson had not properly documented a client’s request to cancel their insurance policy. They also found that he had created a fake client account, which led the company to start investigating more of his accounts.

When confronted by partners at Schwartz in October of 2016, Evanson admitted to the fraud, saying he did it because he had been living beyond his means. He was promptly fired, and police were contacted.

Subsequent reviews of his bank records showed he used the money to make mortgage, car, credit card and insurance payments, and to pay for day to day living expenses for himself and his family.

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