Oilmen's Club in Taber. (Lethbridge News Now)

By David Opinko/LethbridgeNewsNOW

Charges dismissed in $500K fraud case in Taber

Mar 12, 2021 | 9:00 AM

TABER, AB – A Taber man saw all charges against him dropped this month.

Scott Blanchard, 50, was charged with theft over $5,000 and fraud over $5,000.

The allegation was that, while he was the manager of the Oilmen’s Club in Taber, he took nearly $500,000 from the business in October 2014.

A two-day trial was held in Taber on March 3 and 4.

The crown called the owner of the Oilmen’s Club, Darcy Hertz, and a bookkeeper for the establishment to the stand while the defense ordered Blanchard to testify.

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Blanchard’s previous lawyer, Doug Carle, told LNN in 2016 that “any funds that [Blanchard] took from the Oilmen’s, here in Taber, was not only with the knowledge of the owner, but was with the absolute consent and direction of the owner.”

In the end, the judge ruled that the crown had not sufficiently proven guilt beyond a reasonable doubt, and therefore, acquitted Blanchard.