Mike on Crime

THE CANADIAN PRESS
MONTREAL — A judge has found a 48-year-old woman guilty of fraud for bilking a Montreal branch of the Royal Bank out of more than $4 million.
Josie Cioffi will face sentencing later this spring for helping Lorrain Theroux in a scheme to open 20 bank accounts under fake names.
The pair were able to obtain loans just under $175,000 for each account without alerting supervisors from 1997 to 2001.
Another bank employee discovered in 2001 that all the fake clients lived on the same street in Montreal and alerted supervisors.
The judge rejected Cioffi’s claim during her trial that she fell under the sway of Theroux because she was abused as a child.
The bank has sued Cioffi and Theroux but no money has been recovered.
(Radio-Canada)