BARRHEAD – A man who defrauded a Swan Hills business by purchasing tools and equipment through his employer and then privately re-selling those items for his personal gain will be sentenced in Westlock Provincial Court on April 12, 2023.
Ronald Reed Pengelly pleaded guilty to fraud over $5,000 at Barrhead Provincial Court on Dec. 13. Two other charges of fraud under $5,000 and failure to attend court will be withdrawn upon conclusion of sentencing.
Crown prosecutor Anthony Estephan said that on Nov. 20, 2019, the Swan Hills RCMP received a call for service pertaining to a large-scale theft from a locally-based company.
A representative of the company reported to the RCMP that an employee, Pengelly, had been making fraudulent purchase orders through the company for equipment that had “a significant re-sale value,” Estephan said, adding that they included tools like saws, lawnmowers, pressure washers and so forth.
Pengelly would then sell the items via a local Facebook “buy or sell” site or make in-person sales “for his own personal gain without returning any of the funds back to (his employer),” Estephan said.
The purchases were made through legitimate vendors set up through the company’s purchasing system, Estephan noted. These purchases went unnoticed until the company finally started receiving unpaid notices from several vendors.
The investigation determined that Pengelly made sales to customers in Swan Hills who genuinely thought they were legitimately buying goods from the company he worked for.
“They received said goods as made out on a purchase order provided by Mr. Pengelly, only to find out these items were now considered stolen property,” Estephan said.
The total value of the fraudulent sales orders made by Pengelly using his business account amounted to $39,800, Estephan said.
However, the Crown was only in the position to prove he defrauded the company of the amount specified in the first charge — a total of $5,069.
Defence counsel Gary Smith requested that a pre-sentencing report be completed, as well as the delay in sentencing to April 12.
Judge John Maher ordered that a transcript of the Barrhead proceedings be made available to the judge presiding over Westlock court that day, as well as the defence.
