A 52-year-old woman who allegedly defrauded her Burnaby employer of nearly $2 million over a 10-year period made her first appearance in criminal court this week.
Sharina Rattan, once the bookkeeper and office manager at Burnaby-headquartered Vidcom Communications Ltd., was charged on Nov. 22 with one count of using a forged document and one count each of fraud over $5,000 and theft over $5,000.
Burnaby RCMP said it launched its investigation in the case in September 2020 after a report of an "alleged cheque fraud."
Criminal proceedings against Rattan are in the early stages, but a civil case has been making its way through the courts since Vidcom launched a lawsuit against her, her parents and her then common-law partner in April 2020.
Rattan, Vidcom's sole bookkeeper during her employment, started with the company in March 2005, according to Vidcom's notice of civil claim.
The company says she perpetrated her alleged fraud over about 10 years, between January 2009 and April 2020, misappropriating nearly $2 million.
(The criminal charges relate to alleged fraud between Jan. 1, 2014 and April 30, 2020, according to the court registry.)
A "significant component" of the alleged fraud was accomplished by Rattan forging her supervisor's signature on cheques she made out to herself, according to Vidcom's civil claim.
"To cover-up or hide these fraudulent transactions, (Rattan) recorded the transactions in (Vidcom's) accounting system as legitimate payments to third parties," states the claim.
Vidcom says it discovered the alleged fraud during a review of its financial and accounting records in March 2020 while Rattan was off on maternity leave.
In three separate responses to Vidcom's lawsuit, Rattan, her parents and her former common-law partner have denied all of the company's allegations of fraud.
The civil case was last scheduled to go to trial in April but was adjourned.
Vidcom's lawyer, Gary Fraser, did not respond to a request for comment.
There have been several court rulings in the civil case.
In one ruling in June 2022, B.C. Supreme Court Justice David Crerar made an order preventing Rattan, her parents and her ex from transferring ownership of three properties in their names in New Westminster, Surrey and Vancouver respectively.
Vidcom had argued Rattan has a "full or partial interest" in all three properties "regardless of the current state of title."
In his ruling, Crerar noted Vidcom’s allegations of fraud hadn’t been proven in court but were supported by an "extensive forensic accounting report."
Rattan's next appearance on the criminal charges is scheduled for Jan. 17.
She has not yet entered a plea.
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