Former CIBC First Caribbean employee Natalie Nicole Ellis was given a suspended sentence on Wednesday after she pleaded guilty to charges of theft and false accounting.
Ellis was sentenced to 12 months’ imprisonment, suspended for two years, for stealing $8,400 from her former workplace in March last year.
Acting Magistrate Grace Donalds took into consideration that Ellis had pleaded guilty to the charges and had paid back the money to the financial institution.
The court also ruled the breach of trust case had “been enough of a deterrent” for Ms. Ellis and was concerned for the welfare of her three children, ages 5, 7 and 10.
There was concern for the future of the children if the single mother was imprisoned.
The court heard the crime was “entirely out of character” for Ellis, who was suffering a “financial burden.”
The magistrate drew on sentencing from a similar case in January 2012 in which civil servant Sabrina Monique McGowan was given a suspended sentence of nine months’ imprisonment for the theft of $2,600 from the Cayman Islands government.
The court ruled McGowan “took the money because she was desperate” and her family and reputation had suffered enough. She was ordered to pay the Crown $500.
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