A book-keeper was this afternoon found guilty by a jury of stealing hundreds of thousands of dollars from a client over the course of four years.

Bambi Lee Pimental, 54, was convicted of three counts of theft, fraudulent false accounting, and using criminal property, while subcontracted as a book-keeper by the roofing firm JW Gray and Company between June 2016 and June 2020.

The jury reached its unanimous verdict in about 2½ hours.

Puisne Judge Juan Wolffe remanded Pimental and adjourned her case until November 12 for sentencing.

During the two-week trial, jurors heard that more than $700,000 was transferred into Pimental’s bank accounts over a four-year period.

Todd Boyd, an accountant who investigated the transactions, told the jury that the cash going into the defendant’s three accounts did not match the amount of money she should have been making.

He added that many transfers were either listed as happening before the date of their actual transfer or after, with two being listed as taking place in 2014 when Pimental did not start until 2016.

Among the charges, Mr Boyd noted that $27,512 had been paid to Disney Resorts in five instalments in 2019, while another $11,828 was given to Smith and Wick, a boating equipment company in Florida.

The jury heard evidence from the partners of JW Gray, including Jonathan Gray, Pimental’s primary employer.

Mr Gray said that he looked into his business accounts after his company “never seemed to have much money” despite cost-saving efforts, only to see the transfers.

He said that he confronted Pimental and recorded their conversation — which was played during the trial — without her knowledge.

Pimental could be heard on the recording claiming that there must have been a “mistake” before later saying that she wanted to “pay it off” and work for free.

However, she denied wrongdoing, said that she had only paid herself what she was owed and alleged that her employer, Mr Gray, had “set her up” to get the deeds to her house.

Pimental added that while she gave herself multiple loans over the course of her employment at the company, she had been given “blanket permission” by Mr Gray to do so.

Pimental alleged that after she was confronted, Mr Gray demanded that she hand over the deeds to her house and, when she refused, asked for the deeds to a condo.

Shaunté Simons-Fox, for the Crown, said that Pimental stole a “life-changing amount of money” from Mr Gray and admitted taking the cash on several occasions.

The prosecutor added: “She told him that she promised herself that she would stop – but she didn’t.

“This isn’t just the actions of someone who made a mistake. She only stopped because she got caught.”

Ms Simons-Fox said that Pimental had every opportunity to share the invoices that she believed proved her innocence with the police, but instead waited until she was on the stand to divulge them.

Victoria Greening, for the defence, argued that Pimental believed she was owed the money and that Mr Gray would have approved the transfers.

She said that her client told the court that Mr Gray always offered her monetary relief, and that on four occasions she took him up on his offer.

Ms Greening added: “She said that she believed what she did was honest – and if you accept that she believed what she did was honest, then you must acquit her of theft.”

She reminded the jury that, although her client did not give police her personal evidence, she was within her rights to keep her information to herself until consulting her lawyers.

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