A woman who accepted thousands of dollars from customers as deposits for new kitchen cupboards, but used the money to try to keep her struggling business afloat, was spared jail time Friday, but ordered to pay back every penny of the money she owes.
Regina Fitzgerald pleaded guilty to accepting deposits from four customers and misappropriating the money by using it to pay salaries, rent and other business expenses in the hope that she would be able to secure financing to keep her company afloat.
Fitzgerald, 41, was the owner of Regalwood Kitchens, which operated out of a plaza on Topsail Road in St. John’s.
According to an agreed statement of facts filed in provincial court, the business did well in early 2014, but by the end of that year was experiencing difficulties due to an increased cost in material, a drop in the Canadian dollar and a downturn in the local economy.
That December, despite knowing her business was suffering, Fitzgerald took a deposit of almost $4,000 from a customer for new cupboards. In February 2015, she accepted deposits from three more clients, to the tune of $9,786, $14,000 and $9,226, repsectively.
Fitzgerald was forced to declare personal bankruptcy on April 24, 2015 and three days later her clients realized the business was gone. The Regalwood website had been taken down, the phone number was no longer in service and a sign on the business’s door said it had closed.
Two of the clients had paid with their credit cards and were reimbursed through their insurance. The other two are still out money — a total of $23,226 between them.
One of the customers filed a victim impact statement with the court, saying the experience has caused her stress and embarrassment, and delayed her retirement as well as her husband’s.
Crown prosecutor Erin Matthews asked Judge David Orr to sentence Fitzgerald to 45 days in jail, to be served intermittently, and an order to pay the money back to her clients.
“She was responsible for causing this loss to them, so she should be responsible for making them whole again,” Matthews said.
Fitzgerald’s lawyer, Candace Summers, said Fitzgerald is remorseful for what she did, and wasn’t aware at the time she used the deposits to pay for other business expenses that it was against the law.
Summers asked Orr for a conditional discharge and restitution order, with two years to pay back the money.
A conditional discharge would allow Fitzgerald to acquire the certificate of conduct she needs to keep her new job as a massage therapist in Alberta.
Fitzgerald told the judge she had taken the deposits with good intentions.
“It hurts me terribly that I had to hurt those people,” she said. “I would never, ever have taken the orders if I hadn’t thought I could deliver.
“I just couldn’t get financing. I wish things were different, and that’s the truth.”
Orr gave Fitzgerald two years probation with a conditional discharge at the end if she successfully abided by court orders. He also gave her one year to pay back the $23,226.
“It is paramount in this case that the people who lost money should be compensated,” Orr said. “It would go a long way to make amends.”
Twitter: @tara_bradbury
