A man who stole more than $100,000 from a Burnaby mobility aid business and stayed out of jail because of COVID-19 has now also had his probation shortened by 10 months.
Fangjie Li, a Chartered Professional Accountant, was handed a three-year suspended sentence in October 2020 after pleading guilty to defrauding the Burnaby branch of Motion Specialities of $102,658.68 between Sept. 1, 2016 and Aug. 30, 2017.
During that period, Li made 112 separate fraudulent credit card refunds, according to court documents.
Crown prosecutor Bridget Petherbridge had called for a six-month jail term, noting Li’s fraud was not an impulsive action but a persistent fraud that went on for some time.
B.C. provincial court Judge Gregory Rideout said Petherbridge’s submissions were “quite appropriate” but there were special circumstances in the case.
First, the case had taken too long to get resolved – considering Li had confessed to the crime twice before charges were even laid – and, second, anti-COVID-19 measures in jails prevented Rideout from imposing an intermittent jail sentence.
Rideout ultimately imposed a three-year suspended sentence with conditions, including a curfew for the first 45 days of the sentence and 50 hours of community work service.
Li had already repaid all the stolen money by the time he was sentenced, according to court documents.
On Thursday, Li appeared in Vancouver provincial court again, this time to get his probation order changed.
He said he was currently unemployed and “can’t find any job.”
He wanted Rideout to take out a condition in his probation order that requires him to tell prospective employers about his sentence if he’s applying for a job that gives him “authority over the real property, money or valuable security of another person or corporation.”
Petherbridge said the Crown opposed the move, saying the order didn’t prevent Li from seeking “general employment” or even from jobs requiring him to handle money – “simply that the employer needs to know.”
Petherbridge said the “message of deterrence and denunciation” would be undermined if the order was curtailed.
“The Crown’s position is the message of deterrence and denunciation would be undermined if, less than 18 months after it was imposed, the probation order would be curtailed in a case of consistent dishonesty by a professional, licensed chartered accountant who’s committed an offence over a 17-month period,” she said. “There’s also the question of the protection of the public. The only condition that affects Mr. Li’s employment is that, if he is going to handle money again, he does need to let the employer know.”
Rideout did not agree to change the order but lopped 10 months off its duration, after noting Li had completed his community work service and repaid the stolen money.
Li sounded taken aback when Rideout told him he’d have to “hang in there” until Dec. 31, 2022.
“Oh really? I thought it was three years,” Li said.
“I know. I’m reducing it for you,” Rideout said.
“Oh, OK. Sorry about that,” Li said.
“Don’t apologize. I’ve got a big list today, so it’s all good,” Rideout said.
Follow Cornelia Naylor on Twitter @CorNaylor
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