After 9 months in jail, Summerland bank manager who stole $850,000 gets full parole

Six months into serving a three-year sentence for stealing $850,000 from the bank where she worked, former Summerland Royal Bank of Canada manager Terry Lee Sedawie was been released on day parole.

According to the Parole Board of Canada, Sedawie was granted day parole back in April, having been sentenced to three years in jail in October 2024.

“It is the (Parole ) Board’s opinion that you will not, by reoffending, present an undue risk to society if released on day and full parole and that your release will contribute to the protection of society by facilitating your reintegration into society as a law-abiding citizen,” a Parole Board of Canada decision reads. “You have a good release plan with strong supports and present as emotionally capable for dealing with the realities brought on by the nature of your criminal record and the new limitations that this presents.”

The 64-year-old former veteran RBC manager was granted full parole in September and lives with her common-law partner in an undisclosed place in BC.

Sedawie made headlines after she was fired from her senior position at the RBC branch in Summerland in 2018 after the bank said that she’d spent seven years defrauding a handful of vulnerable seniors of $846,278.

Just two years before she was caught, Sedawie received the Summerland Chamber of Commerce Professional Service Excellence award and had spent more than 30 years working for the bank.

The sentencing judge said he struggled to understand how a person could fall so far.

Over the years, Sedawie instructed her employees to transfer customers’ money into her personal bank accounts, to which none of the staff questioned it because of her senior position.

When the fraud came to ahead, 16 employees found themselves under investigation as RBC tried to trace the missing money.

Sedawie targeted elderly clients, whom she knew, and changed their addresses so they didn’t receive their bank statements. As the clients passed away, she moved on to the next one.

One victim even left her $5,000 in her will.

Another victim was forced to move from a $6,000 a month assisted living facility to a boarding house, believing they could no longer afford it. The woman lost weight and mentally and physically declined.

Sedawie went bankrupt in 2019.

It’s not abundantly clear what Sedawie spent the $850,000 on.

Two of her adult children had difficulties with substance abuse and Sedawie helped them out.

“(You) felt obligated as their parent to help them in anyway you could. You explained that they would accumulate ‘street’ debts, which included them being assaulted, and you believed you needed to help them financially to ensure their safety. This translated into your running up your credit cards and accumulating other debt and, in time, you started to think about “borrowing” the money from the accounts at your bank, but said the situation spiralled out of control, and the taking of money became a continuing habit for you,” the Parole Board decision said.

The Parole Board decision said numerous letters of support were submitted.

“One is from a long-time friend who shares that you are generally a giving person. There is a letter from your neighbour, a retired police officer, that shares that you have been good neighbour and acknowledged the struggles you have had with one of your sons,” the decision reads. “There is a letter from your son who shares he has always been able to count on you. There is a letter from your sister in law that shares how you have always been there to assist the family when in need. Another is from your spouse who speaks to the improvements he has seen in you.”

The decision said Sedawie has no previous criminal record, but in 2020, she allegedly assaulted her son by hitting him with a dustpan on the head.

“You admitted you were angry with your son having made a mess in the basement but denied injuring him,” the decision reads. No charges were laid.

Along with the jail sentence, Sedawie was barred from being responsible for other people’s money.

She applied to be allowed to send invoices for her partner’s business and organize receipts.

“You emphasize that this would not put you in a financial position as you would not have access to your partner’s banking. You submit having been doing this work for him since 2021 and never having any issues. You reiterate not being on your partner’s bank account nor having any access to it,” the decision read.

However, the parole Board denied the request.