A former general manager of the UW School of Architecture in Cambridge was found guilty of fraud, theft, and forgery on Oct. 13.
Jeffery Lederer was charged in 2013 after he was found to be overpaying his mother-in-law for work she did at UW and using a business credit card for personal use.
According to CTV Kitchener News, Lederer had approved $139,000 for his mother-in-law’s wages. The credit card expenses came to around $38,000. A payroll manager testified that the behaviour could have started as early as 2004.
Lederer worked as an administrator at the School of Architecture from 2003 to 2004, then general manager from 2004 to 2011. According to his LinkedIn profile, he was also a project manager and researcher in the Faculty of Environment from 2001 to 2011 and adjunct professor from 2003 to 2011.
Lederer was asked to leave by the school in 2011, but it is unclear whether it was related to the charges made in 2013.
The school has stated that “the University of Waterloo is committed to its fiduciary responsibilities and is grateful for the alertness of staff who noticed the financial irregularity and reported it. The university investigated. The individual is no longer an employee.”
