64-year-old woman sentenced to jail for defrauding Regina charity

Despite what was described as a difficult life, Arlene Irving, 64, was given a jail sentence Wednesday for her fraud against Mobile Crisis Services in Regina.

“The facts here are so extreme and there are so many aggravating circumstances, that a sentence of actual jail must be imposed,” wrote Judge Doug Kovatch in his decision.

Read more:

• Fraud cases targeting university students on the rise: Regina police
• Seniors in Regina targeted by ’emergency scam,’ police say
• Court finds early CPP requirement for social assistance not discriminatory

Court heard that from 2016 — when Irving began working as a payroll and benefits clerk at Mobile Crisis — to July 2021 when she was suspended, she defrauded the charity out of $139,616.82.

She was responsible for the personnel files there and for completing and ensuring the accuracy of time sheets.

Irving was overpaid in three ways, submitting and processing overtime for herself, changing her pay rate in the system and paying herself a shift differential she wasn’t entitled to.

The fraud wasn’t found until Mobile Crisis moved to a new payment system in 2021 and discrepancies were discovered.

Kovatch noted that, though Irving overpaid herself, she did pay the appropriate taxes on the higher rate.

Mobile Crisis Regina is a charity which provides social and health crisis intervention services and is called on frequently to help police, hospitals and other agencies.

In his sentencing decision, Kovatch talked about the victim impact statements that were filed and said the impact they described was profound.

“The organization itself was placed in some jeopardy by the large loss and the publicity surrounding that loss. Individuals with the organization spent a great deal of time explaining to funding agencies how the loss had occurred, what steps had been taken to prevent any further losses, and to restore the credibility of the organization,” wrote Kovatch.

One statement said that much money was huge and could have paid for two more frontline crisis workers or two vehicles, both of which were sorely needed.

The decision touched on Irving’s personal circumstances, saying she had a difficult childhood and suffered abuse at the hands of her alcoholic parents, and that she dealt with addiction issues until 1990 when she got sober.

Her lawyer had told the court that Irving was under a lot of financial pressure during the time of the fraud because her son — dealing with active drug addiction — was frequently stealing from her, defrauding her and extorting her. Irving also felt obligated to support her son’s spouse and child.

Court heard Irving felt her addiction problems had led to her not being a good parent and the problems with her children. She felt guilty about that, which led to her enabling her son and defrauding Mobile Crisis.

Kovatch said the only real question in this case was whether Irving should serve a sentence behind bars or with a conditional sentence order in the community.

“The facts here are so extreme and there are so many aggravating circumstances, that a sentence of actual jail must be imposed,” the judge wrote.

He said she had a lot of responsibility and trust, she applied the rules to everyone else by misapplying them to herself, and she was a professional person in a professional position so denunciation was needed.

“There was absolutely nothing spontaneous in her actions, everything was planned and premeditated,” read the decision.

Kovatch also noted Irving had a previous conviction for fraud over $5,000 from 1999 for which she was given a one-year conditional sentence and paid $24,000 in restitution, but that it didn’t appear to have helped her rehabilitation.

Irving’s lawyer, Brian Pfefferle, asked for a two-year conditional sentence order, the Crown lawyer, Travis Avery, asked for a three-year sentence, which would be served in federal prison.

“If I were dealing with a younger person and a person in better health, I would be inclined to impose that sentence. However, given the age and health of the accused, in my view a sentence to a federal penitentiary would be excessive,” said Kovatch in the decision.

Instead, Kovatch sentenced Irving to two years-less-a-day in provincial jail and imposed a lifetime order preventing her from working or volunteering in a position where she would have responsibility over money or things.

Kovatch didn’t impose a restitution order for Irving to pay the money back. He explained she was destitute and likely wouldn’t be able to make much money once she was released from jail, he said any restitution order would end up being for a token amount.