North Vancouver accountant charged with fraud and theft at two businesses

North Vancouver accountant Allyson Steffensen has been charged with theft and fraud after $200,000 went missing from two local businesses.

According to North Vancouver RCMP spokesperson Const. Mansoor Sahak, police were contacted on July 13, 2019 by a business owner who suspected their accountant had committed a fraud sometime between May 2018 and June 2019.

On Dec. 21, 2020 police were contacted by a second business that claimed the same accountant had defrauded their business of a large sum of money.

Sahak said that a lengthy and complex investigation followed, and that on Feb. 16, 2023 the B.C. Prosecution Service charged Steffensen with four counts of fraud over $5,000 and four counts of theft over $5,000.

“The charges allege that the two businesses had been defrauded of a total of approximately $200,000,” Sahak said.