The National Post has shared the story of a Canadian accountant who was caught after buying nearly $7 million worth of iPhones and iPads with her company credit card and reselling them to the owner of a small electronics store.

Nadia Minetto, who was as an accounting manager at Mississauga-based software company Wescom Solutions, started buying thousands of Apple products with her company-issued American Express card in 2011. It had been her job to approve business expenses for all employees, so her spending went unnoticed.

Over the next two and a half years, the Ontario Superior Court found that Minetto sold 5,321 iPads and 4,942 iPhones to businessman Gabriel Fung, who in turn sold them at his store Plus One Solutions in the Toronto area and to wholesalers in Hong Kong, turning a profit of just over $1 million.

Fung first met Minetto after responding to her ad for an iPad on Kijiji, a popular Craigslist-like classifieds site in Canada. Their transactions eventually became more elaborate, often involving 10 to 20 devices at a time, ultimately leading to bulk shipments to the address of a virtual business set up by Fung.

The scheme came to an end in July 2014, when consultant Kristine Pacy discovered spending irregularities as Wescom was contemplating becoming a publicly traded company. The court determined that at least $6,831,834 of Wescom's money was misappropriated dating back to May 2009.

Minetto admitted to her actions and, in October 2014, she consented to a judgment in the amount of $6,831,834.17 plus interest. Wescom also won a judgment for more than $5 million against Fung, but he was awarded his cross claim for the same amount against Minetto, potentially reducing his amount owed.

This week, an Ontario appeals court dismissed Fung's appeal over his judgment, potentially bringing the case to an end.

Top Rated Comments

radio893fm Avatar
73 months ago
I spent 40 in gas last week and there was turmoil in my company... I need to talk to Nadia.
Score: 11 Votes (Like | Disagree)
keysofanxiety Avatar
73 months ago
At $7M (and probably climbing), how did she think this was going to stay unnoticed?
People don't see the bigger picture when they're doing stuff like this. It begins with one or two purchases a month. Then a few a week. Then you really think you can get away with it and becomes the norm. "Oh, time to boost this month's paycheck."

You get overconfident. Purchase in bulk, lose perspective, and get sloppy.

Before you know it, you've racked up 7 million dollars.
Score: 7 Votes (Like | Disagree)
subjonas Avatar
73 months ago
At $7M (and probably climbing), how did she think this was going to stay unnoticed?
Score: 5 Votes (Like | Disagree)
theonekcrow Avatar
73 months ago
If this company was properly/thoroughly audited (Especially with a credit card), Nadia would’ve have been caught much earlier on to stop her antics. A lot of companies are audited once, if not twice a year with any external expenses with company credit cards.
I agree with this statement though with a twist... If this company was private at the time of the fraud, they may not necessarily be a requirement by the government to be audited, so there is a failure point there.

This is more so an issue of a lack of internal controls, as she is the accounting manager that oversees everyone’s credit cards, she should not have been allowed to oversee her own. Her charges should have been reviewed by the CEO, CFO, Controller, or some supervisor above her.
Score: 4 Votes (Like | Disagree)
44267547 Avatar
73 months ago
If this company was properly/thoroughly audited (Especially with a credit card), Nadia would’ve have been caught much earlier on to stop her antics. A lot of companies are audited once, if not twice a year with any external expenses with company credit cards.
Score: 4 Votes (Like | Disagree)
rdowty Avatar
73 months ago
Now that is a true fanboy.
Score: 3 Votes (Like | Disagree)