'Terrified and ashamed': What led Ina Koe to commit fraud

It didn't happen every day.

But sometimes after work Ina Koe would return to her home in Fort McPherson, N.W.T., go online and gamble for hours while her children were in bed.

Court documents show that from the outside, Koe appeared to be "heavily" involved in her community. Elders and relatives said she "liked to help people" and "did a lot of volunteering."

It was also well known that she had a gambling addiction.

The 45-year-old former director of finance is at the centre of what could be the largest case of fraud against a hamlet in the N.W.T., according to the Crown attorney that prosecuted her. Last week Koe was sentenced to two years in jail for stealing $399,287.02 in hamlet funds between 2010 and 2013.

Who is Ina Koe?

According to a pre-sentence reportprepared by a probation officer, Koe grew up living a traditional lifestyle at whaling camps in the Beaufort Delta. She attended Grollier Hall residential school in Inuvik for two years. Her parents also attended residential school.

She told a probation officer she's never gotten over the death of her first son or her mother. She was also in an abusive relationship for several years.

​Koe first gambled when she was 13 years old, playing bingo with her mother. She said gambling became an addiction between 2011 and 2013.

She maintained that gambling never took over her life and her children were always cared for, though she admitted her family was living "paycheque to paycheque."

When asked for reasons why she committed the offence, Koe said since she made "good money," she also helped out friends with things like groceries.

During a telephone interview with a probation officer in June 2016, Koe admitted her actions were wrong.

When asked why she did not stop, she replied, "I don't know. One thing after another I guess."

How she did it

The fraud started in 2010 when Koe took her first cash advance of $500 from the hamlet's Visa credit card at a bank machine.

As the director of finance, Koe was responsible for recording credit card transactions for the hamlet, paying its credit card bill, preparing financial statements and reconciling bank accounts.

Over three years, Koe made 407 online cash advance transactions from the hamlet's Visa account to her personal Royal Bank of Canada account — transactions she was not authorized to make.

Most advances were for $1,000.

On some occasions the money was used to pay personal bills, such as $2,768 in insurance fees for her personal vehicle.

The court's agreed statement of facts states that Koe attempted to conceal the unauthorized transactions by not recording the cash advances in the hamlet's accounting records.

Mostly she hid the advances in a "suspended account," which is generally used as a temporary holding account until a transaction can be properly recorded.

How she got caught

Koe's theft was just part of the hamlet's ballooning $2-million deficit.

During the hamlet's annual audit in October 2012, an auditor asked Koe for information about posts she made to the suspended account, specifically about payments she made to the hamlet's Visa.

The auditor became suspicious when Koe proposed making a false expense claim of about $150,000 to hide the cash advances she made in 2012.

In February 2013, the frequent cash advances on the hamlet Visa triggered security software at Royal Bank.

RBC employees raised concerns about the account to the hamlet's senior administrative officer, and the Visa was cancelled.

In March 2013, Koe was suspended from her duties and later resigned. The RCMP launched an investigation into financial irregularities at the hamlet.

'I'm sorry for everything'

The news of Koe's fraud and arrest in June 2015 had many community members and relatives in disbelief.

Former Mayor Hazel Nerysoo said she had "no idea" Koe was stealing money.

One elder believed Koe just got "carried away." She said Koe needs help.

"She didn't try to stop herself."

In the pre-sentence report, Koe said her community probably felt "disgusted" with her actions and angry toward her.

She stated this would "never happen again."

"I'm sorry for everything. I lost a lot, I lost friendship, trust," Koe told a probation officer after pleading guilty to one count of fraud over $5,000 in May.

"I am terrified and ashamed."

Along with jail time and two years probation, Koe has also been ordered to reimburse all the money she stole to the hamlet's insurance company.