Kimberley Goulding, 42, has been sentenced to eight months house arrest and one year of probation, for defrauding her friend and former boss, lawyer Annette Scott, of $23,000.

Goulding, who pleaded guilty to the offence in provincial court on Friday, has also been given 20 months to pay back the money.

Goulding got the money by writing cheques to herself, then she tried to hide her actions by deleting information from a computer.

Goulding and Scott had known each other for nine years, and worked side by side for five-and-a-half of those years.

In a victim impact statement, Scott said Kimberley Goulding's actions were especially hard to take because they had been friends.

"I just could not at first believe that someone so close to me would do something like this," wrote Scott. "I am a self-employed single parent and while I certainly do not claim to be poor, I am not financially comfortable and could not afford to take on this debt."

Scott says Goulding's actions caused stress

"I struggle with how deeply hurt I feel by Kim's actions and the effect this situation has had on my relationship, and that of my children, with her mother," wrote Scott.

Goulding's mother babysat Scott's children for 12 years, and was doing so at the time the fraud was taking place — and for six months afterwards.

"My daughter has asked me to take her to visit Mrs. Goulding, and I have done so on a few occasions, but it feels like a dark cloud has been cast over our relationship. She was part of my family and I miss her," Scott said in her statement.

Goulding will be serving her sentence in her new hometown of Edmonton.