Clarion Staff
Leslie Glauser has been sentenced to three years in jail after a joint submission was made to Kindersley provincial court on Tuesday.
Crown prosecutor Darren Howarth presented the submission as Glauser, a former travel agent who owned and operated T & T Travel in Kindersley, sat beside her lawyer Robert Robbenhaar. Howarth presented a summary of the facts to Judge Robert Jackson.
A guilty plea was entered by Robbenhaar and Glauser over the phone at a previous court appearance. Howarth said the former travel agent pleaded guilty to a single charge of committing fraud in an amount greater than $5,000.
Former Kindersley travel agent Leslie Glauser was sentenced to three years in jail and ordered to pay $200,000 in restitution. Here, she’s escorted from court in Kindersley on Tuesday morning.
The Crown had pursued a global charge in light of the more than 250 complaints against the accused. Howarth said the Crown and defence have agreed on the total amount of money lost in the case. He told the court that the loss to victims totalled more than $1.02 million.
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Howarth, who likened the fraud to a ponzi scheme, said it’s difficult to determine the amount of money that went to Glauser for personal gain, but it’s safe to say she benefited. He noted that it’s impossible to separate what could be considered business income from the ponzi scheme income.
Court heard how Glauser used money from new clients to pay for trips she didn’t have the money to cover. The cycle continued to repeat and even after borrowing money from friends and family to cover trips, she kept up the charade.
Although there were 250 victims, the determinable loss was for closer to 50 victims. About $550,000 had been paid back to people by a credit card clearing company, so money was owed to the company alone.
After the two lawyers addressed court, the facts were heard and four victims read impact statements as Glauser wiped tears from her face.
Jackson ordered her to serve three years in jail and to pay back nearly $200,000. She was also ordered to pay a victim surcharge fine within 30 days.
Glauser was escorted out of the court by an RCMP member.
More details of the fraud case and commentary from the court proceedings will be published in next week’s edition of the Kindersley Clarion.
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