A former administrative director has admitted to having stolen more than half a million dollars from a bank account of the municipality of Occidental Manitoba, then trying to cover it by manufacturing a story about a cyber attack and altering documents.
Amber Fisher, 41, stopped in the middle of a Winnipeg court and declared himself guilty of stealing more than $ 5,000 on Friday afternoon.
In 2022, she was fired as administrative director of the municipality of Gilbert Plains, about 350 kilometers northwest of Winnipeg. A forensic accounting report found that he had transferred around $ 532,000 from the municipality’s money to his bank account while he was in office.
Fisher has paid almost $ 17,000, the court heard on Friday.
His guilty statement included an admission that he lied to his colleagues about the embezzlement money once he was discovered, then falsified a cyber attack to cover his clues and documents altered in an attempt to clarify herself of any irregularity.
Two other positions were suspended, fraud more than $ 5,000 and using crime profits.
Fisher began working for Gilbert Plains in 2018 and was promoted to administrative director in April 2020, judicial documents say.
The municipality sued Fisher in 2023, accusing her of pretending a cyber attack in an attempt to cover her footprints. Fisher did not file a defense statement and a default ruling declared himself in favor of the municipality.
The default trial ordered Fisher to pay $ 525,000, with an annual interest rate of five percent.
A Manitoba court ordered the seizure of his salary last year.
The Judgment Hearings for Fisher have been scheduled at the Dauphin Provincial Court next May.
