Former controller created fake employees, increased salary to cheat Winnipeg hotel out of $130K

A lawyer for a man who cheated his formerhotel employer out of $134,000 is urging a judge to spare his repentant client a jail sentence.

Christopher Banks, a former controller and accounts manager with Four Points by Sheraton Winnipeg South, has pleaded guilty to one charge of fraud over $5,000.

Banks's fraud, committed over the course of nearly five years, was motivated by a gambling addiction, said defence lawyer Kristen Jones, who urged Judge Sandy Chapman to impose a suspended sentence.

Since his arrest, Banks has joined Gamblers Anonymous, undergone addictions counselling, and repaid more than $40,000, court heard. He also has a new job with an employer who is aware of his crime.

"I think it's beneficial to everyone to know that our court encourages rehabilitation, recognizes second chances and recognizes that where someone really turns their life around, we won't simply say the standard is you go to jail," Jones said.

Sophisticated web of fraud

Banks had been a long-time, trusted employee at the family-run hotel when, in early 2015, owner Tom Caramanos discovered a discrepancy in the hotel's petty-cash balance. Confronted with the shortfall, Banks admitted he had defrauded the hotel of $2,000 over the years, which he spent gambling.

Caramanos dug deeper and over the next several months uncovered a sophisticated web of fraud that threatened to financially cripple the hotel.

Banks, court was told, used his position as controller to increase his salary by $20,000 a yearand wrote cheques to himself, effectively doubling his income. Banks also added fictitious employees to the payroll, then deposited their paycheques into his own account.

Banks used a company credit card to pay personal bills, speeding tickets and website subscriptions, court was told.

Crown attorney Ashleigh Smith recommended Chapman sentence Banks to 18 months in jail.

"All across the city, there are people in positions like Mr. Banks's," Smith said. "Your honour needs to send a message that this kind of behaviour will not be tolerated."

'I feel very taken advantage of'

Caramanos, writing in a victim impact statement provided to court, said he was "devastated" when he learned he had been betrayed by a man he considered family. Caramanos said Banks had stolen a small amount of money from the hotel several years earlier, but was given a "second chance" because he was going through a difficult divorce.

"I feel very taken advantage of, to have let this happen again," Caramanos said.

Caramanos said the fraud fractured his relationship with other family members and for a time put the hotel on a fragile financial footing.

"I now run the business myself and I am very overwhelmed day to day," he said.

Banks said he was ashamed of his actions.

"There's really no amount of apology I can give to justify what I did," Banks told court. "The Caramanos family were a second family to me and I took advantage of my position of trust."

Chapman will sentence Banks at a later date.