Former CFO of Edmonton-based agri-business charged in $2.45M fraud

The former chief financial officer of an Edmonton-area agri-businessgrouphas been chargedwith misappropriating millions of dollars in corporate funds.

Patrick Stephen Bieleny, 52, was arrested last Thursday and charged with 12 counts of fraud over $5,000, Edmonton police said in a news release Wednesday.

The business involved, which police did not name,launched an internal audit in late 2015 after an employee noticed a suspicious expenditure, the releasesaid.

The audit discovered$2.45 millionhad been misappropriated through transfers, non-business billings and other means between 2009 and 2015, police said.

Bieleny's employment was terminated in April 2016, police said.

Five months later, the fraudulent activity was reported to police and theEPS economic crimes section launched an investigation.

Bieleny has been released and is scheduled to appear in court on April 10.