Cambridge man arrested for defrauding Guelph company of more than $100K

Illuminated keyboard keys can be seen in this undated stock image. (meo/Pexels.com)

A Cambridge man is facing multiple charges after police said he defrauded his employer of thousands of dollars.

Guelph Police said the man, who was working as the head of the Guelph company’s IT department, was fired in 2022 due to performance issues.

They were told the man was on an extended leave of absence in 2021 and refused to provide passwords required by the company to access records.

Eventually, the passwords were deleted from the system and the employer had to hire an external IT company to get the systems working again.

An investigation revealed the man received several payments from the company in 2018 and 2019 after he said he had bought computer systems and equipment using his own money. Investigators said those items had never actually been ordered and the total loss to the company comes in at $108,000.

On Friday, a 38-year-old Cambridge man was arrested. He has been charged with four counts of fraud over $5,000, two counts of fraud under $5,000 and mischief to data.