Casino Thief Rues Having To Repay $1.2 Million

A thief who stole around $1.2 million from two Indian owned casinos in Saskatchewan, got more than he bargained for after being ordered to pay back the stolen money, as well as serve a 42-month prison sentence.
Commenting on his conviction Alain Joseph Nelson Germain, 51 shrugged off his incarceration but expressed regret as to having to pay back the stolen money. As he explains:
“It’s only [prison] time. But the restitution is tacked on for the rest of my life and who is really suffering is not me as an individual but it’s my family…The money can’t be returned. I don’t have it, It started over five years ago.”
Alain Germain was the director of an ATM servicing company called the Canadian First Nations ATM services, but abused his position of trust by removing around $1,212,320 in cash from ATMs at two Saskatchewan Indian Gaming Authority (SIGA) casinos; the Carlyle and the Swift Current.
After the fraud had taken place SIGA went on the offensive and filed a lawsuit against potential suspects, which included Shelley Bear, Cash is King ATM Ltd, King Cash ATM Ltd, and King Cash.
However, Germain subsequently went on to assume complete responsibility for the crime and said:
“I went on the system, changed SIGA’s account to Cash is King account, and two or three days later put their name back. Shelley Bear has nothing to do with this, and I’ll take the blame.”
Judge Marilyn Gray took into account Germain’s early guilty plea and the saving of tax payer’s money when deciding on a sentence. This was reflected in the 3 and half year sentence given by the judge, which was against the expectations of  Germain, who originally speculated:
“I’m expecting to face perhaps as high as seven to 10 years [in prison] because my understanding, by doing research myself, is it’s one of the biggest frauds perpetrated in Saskatchewan.”
SIGA is now in the process of taking over all cash machines operations within their casinos.