No jail for $10K ICBC fraud
Photo: Castanet Staff
A man who bilked ICBC for more than $10,000 in a disability insurance fraud has been ordered to spend 12 months on house arrest and to pay back every penny he received illegally.
Stewart Llewellyn Emmons, 49, was sentenced on Monday in Kamloops provincial court. He was convicted following a trial in November on one count of fraud.
Court heard Emmons, who has a construction business, was injured in 2015. He continued to work while collecting disability benefits between January of 2016 and September of 2016.
Emmons was going through tough financial times when the offence took place — but provincial court Judge Clarke Burnett said that’s no excuse.
“There are many avenues available to people who are in dire financial straits,” he said. “Most people do not resort to defrauding government agencies.”
Emmons, who has no previous criminal record, will be allowed to work while on house arrest. He will also be allowed out for six hours each week to run errands.
Burnett also made a restitution order for the full amount Emmons received illegally — $10,800.
“Until the appeal, you have a good day,” Emmons said while walking out of the courtroom.
