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The former co-ordinator of Port Elgin's Pumpkinfest appeared in Walkerton court yesterday (March 2) to be sentenced for stealing from the festival accounts. 

Lisa Irwin, 32, of Kincardine Township pled guilty to one count of theft over $5,000 and 12 counts of forgery.

She confessed that over a two-year period, she changed the bank account statements and wrote cheques to herself. She was ordered to pay back $10,000 in reimbursement, and was sentenced to six months of house arrest and two years' probation.

Irwin was charged in July, 2010, after the Saugeen Shores Chamber of Commerce reported discrepancies in its financial statement to the Saugeen Shores Police Service.

Police investigation revealed that legitimate chamber bank statements had been replaced with altered financial statements to disguise shortfalls in the account.

Financial records revealed that about $67,000 of Port Elgin Pumpkinfest money had been channeled into a personal bank account. This was accomplished through a series of illegitimate cheques written over a two-year period on the Pumpkinfest account.

The chamber has taken steps to ensure this could not happen again.

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Wednesday, March 02, 2011