Victoria woman sentenced to prison for embezzling $340K from employer

The Victoria provincial courthouse as seen on November 3, 2021. (CTV News)

A Victoria woman who admitted to skimming more than $340,000 from her employer has been sentenced to three years in prison.

Melissa Cielen, a 49-year-old paralegal and office manager, pleaded guilty to embezzling the money from her lawyer boss over the course of four years, from 2018 to 2022.

Writing in his sentencing decision published Tuesday, provincial court Judge Ted Gouge says Cielen had worked in the same law office since 2010, where her duties included paying the company's bills.

Cielen was diagnosed with cervical cancer in 2018 and began to abuse alcohol and cocaine thereafter, according to the judge's decision.

To support those habits, Cielen made payments to herself, disguising them as routine office expenses for things like court fees and furniture, according to the decision. Those fraudulent payments totalled $343,077.28 before she was caught.

A forensic psychiatrist who assessed Cielen for a presentencing report found no evidence that she suffers from a major mental illness or mood disorder. Cielen did report experiencing "some depressive symptoms," which the psychiatrist found were "primarily related to uncertainty and stress related to the court proceedings," according to the assessment.

Cielen, who has no prior criminal history, according to the judge, was at a low risk to reoffend, the psychiatrist wrote.

The Crown prosecutor in the case sought a three-year prison term, while Cielen's defence lawyer proposed a conditional sentence of two years less a day.

Both sides agreed Cielen should be ordered to repay the money she took from her employer.

The judge wrote that deterrence was of utmost importance in Cielen's case, noting that her "substance abuse issues remain unresolved, and she has not availed herself of the counselling services offered to her."

A three-year prison term, as well as a restitution order to repay the money stolen, would be the most effective deterrence, the judge ruled.

"Deterrence, by its nature, is effective only in relation to potential offenders who consider their actions in advance," the judge wrote.

"Embezzlement is a crime which requires forethought and planning. In many cases, as in this one, it is carried out over a period of years."