Sask. librarian off to jail for book scam
Last Updated: Wednesday, August 27, 2008 | 2:00 PM CT
CBC News
The former top librarian of a rural Saskatchewan library system will be going to jail over a massive book-buying fraud.
On Wednesday, a Saskatoon judge sentenced Bruce David Cameron to two years less a day — the maximum sentence for a provincial jail — after he pleaded guilty to defrauding the Wheatland Regional Library.
Library officials and the Crown said Cameron took $1 million over a 14-year period through a sophisticated scam involving a fake U.S. company.
Cameron admits to taking only $497,503, which he has repaid.
The court heard Cameron set up a fake company called Desert Rose Books in Carson City, Nev.
A few years ago, other library officials got suspicious and brought in a private investigator, who found the book company address was a law office. The company, which took payments for fake book orders, was registered to an alias for Cameron.
There was no evidence any book was ever shipped.
Payments for the fake orders ended up in postal box in Saskatoon. Crown prosecutor Gary Parker said repaying the money was a factor in sentencing, as was Cameron's age — 65
The library board chair, Arlene Pederson, told reporters that library staff were shocked at the breach of trust by Cameron.
"Then of course we did have the task of rebuilding the region," she said.
Cameron pleaded guilty in May. He didn't say anything Wednesday as he was taken away to begin his jail sentence.
