Edmonton woman sentenced to 18 months for defrauding OAS and CPP clients of $180K
Bonnie Lo, who worked for Service Canada, redirected 176 government payments to her own account between 2012 and 2016, targeting vulnerable elderly Canadians.
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An Edmonton woman was sentenced Thursday to 18 months in jail for defrauding Old Age Security and Canada Pension Plan clients of $179,689 over a four-year period while employed as a payment services officer for Service Canada.
Bonnie Lo, 45, will also serve 12 months of probation after her release. Justice Kathryn Oviatt of the Court of King's Bench said Lo's offence was particularly egregious because of the position of trust she held and the vulnerability of her victims.
"The fraud involved abuse of a position of trust," Oviatt said. "Ms. Lo held a position of trust as an employee of the Government of Canada to distribute public funds to elderly Canadians. She was entrusted with secure access to government databases, and she repeatedly abused that trust by stealing public funds intended for vulnerable people."
Lo worked for the Edmonton branch of Service Canada for nearly 10 years before resigning in early 2017. An investigation launched in August 2018 after a CPP/OAS client discovered that cheques from 2012 and 2013 had already been cashed. Service Canada's Integrity Services Branch discovered that Lo had redirected 176 payments into her personal bank account between October 29, 2012, and December 20, 2016.
Oviatt considered mitigating factors including Lo's guilty plea, troubled childhood, mental health diagnoses, and gambling addiction. However, the judge noted aggravating factors: the repeated nature of the offences, the planning and sophistication required, the magnitude of loss, a prior conviction for similar conduct, and her abuse of a public trust.
