A former Port Coquitlam city worker who scammed about $175,000 from the municipality over a three-year period was sentenced this week.
Wednesday, PoCo provincial court Judge Shehni Dossa handed down an 18-month conditional sentence order (CSO) to Dean McIntosh after he pleaded guilty in March to obtaining money over $5,000 by false pretences.
A CSO is essentially a jail sentence served at home and in the community.
Beside the CSO, Dossa also imposed an 18-month probation order on McIntosh and a number of conditions, among them:
• complete 150 hours of community service;
• attend substance abuse management and mental health counselling;
• abstain from alcohol and drugs;
• and not visit a casino or gaming venue.
McIntosh was also banned from contacting five people including Steve Traviss, PoCo’s human resources director, and finance director Karen Grommada.
The sentence comes after McIntosh admitted to city managers last year he used the city-issue credit card he had for employment as a facility maintenance co-ordinator — as well as the city’s purchasing system — to buy tools and small machines.
The city said McIntosh then resold the items through a third-party broker, between April 2014 and October 2016.
During a city probe last spring, McIntosh showed management how he stole the money, which he later returned in full, and resigned from his position.
Mayor Greg Moore told The Tri-City News in March that city council took immediate action and has “now put in place a number of measures, including a whistleblower policy, fraud awareness training and stricter purchasing approvals."
jcleugh@tricitynews.com
