BY NANCY KELLY
Kings County Advertiser/Register
A Hants County man convicted of defrauding three Nova Scotia health boards of $400,000 is headed to jail.
Cary Lee Hollett, 42, of Belmont was arrested in November and charged with three counts of fraud over $5,000. He appeared in Windsor provincial court July 21 for sentencing, after pleading guilty April 19 to three charges of defrauding health authorities in the Annapolis Valley, South Shore and South West districts over a three-year period between March 2006 and September 2009.
The three health authorities- which share financial services- contacted police after detecting a "significant accounting irregularity" last fall. Hollett, who was employed as an accounts payable clerk during the period in question, was dismissed following an internal review.
In January of this year, following a criminal investigation by the Kentville Police and an internal forensic audit, Annapolis Valley Health, South Shore Health and South West Health also launched a civil suit against the former employee. The three health authorities are seeking repayment of $408,076 from Hollett and his wife.
At his July 21 court appearance, Hollett was sentenced to three years and six months of jail time for each count, to be served concurrently. He was also handed three stand-alone restitution orders to repay $145,412 to Annapolis Valley Health, $125,422 to South Shore District Health and $137,242 to the South West Nova Health Authority; an amount totaling just over $408,000.
