A dishonest accountant admitted he plundered his current company to pay back the hundreds of thousands of dollars he had ripped off from a previous employer in a bid to slash his own jail sentence.
Utpal Patel, 41, who worked as an accountant for Raytek Communications from May 2002 to February 2005, stole $650,000 from the company by altering 26 cheques and then agreed to pay back his ex-bosses, Crown attorney David Fisher said.
Convicted of fraud, Patel delayed his sentencing so he could make restitution which he said was coming from a rich American uncle and Canadian friends. Yesterday, Patel admitted he was actually stealing money from his new employers, Healthy Body Services, of Willowdale.
"Police investigation and forensic accounting have now determined that the entire $390,000 paid in restitution to Raytek by Patel was funded by these frauds committed against Health Body Services," Fisher said in reading an agreed statement of fact.
"Patel's restitution payments to Raytek were to directly affect the sentence he was to receive in superior court," Fisher said.
Patel pleaded guilty yesterday to fraud over $5,000. Patel pilfered $321,866, as well as $175,198 US.
The married father of three emigrated from India in 2000 as a skilled professional with no prior convictions. Patel told a probation officer his crimes financed a lavish lifestyle. He will be sentenced April 14.
Source: www.torontosun.com , By Sam Pazzano
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