Orsi added that McNabb was a "part of the family", with her being granted access to his Florida home and their immediate families becoming close friends.

Since the incident, Orsi, who still lives in Bradford for part of the year, has suffered from a number of physical and emotional issues.

"She has destroyed my faith and belief in humanity," he said in his victim impact statement, read out by Crown lawyer Jennifer Armenise in court. "I am emotionally depressed, I find it difficult to decipher between friend and foe. I spend many sleepless nights wondering why this happened."

He added that the worst part was that had McNabb only asked for financial help, he would have gladly handed it over.

Orsi's daughter, Michelle, said words cannot express the kind of impact the fraud has had on her family.

"This has ruined his life, our family's life," she said, explaining that Orsi has since suffered a heart attack. "He is a very trusting man, he's a good man who would help anyone. He has a tough time leaving his home now, we barely get together anymore. We've known these people and their daughters for years, since they were born."

McNabb's replacement at the company, Carolyn Theil, said until the incident, Orsi's long-standing motto had been, “If you don't have a person's trust and goodwill, you have nothing".

McNabb's dealings were uncovered Dec. 12, 2012 after Theil uncovered financial irregularities and sent a letter to McNabb asking for an explanation.

In reply, she was sent a cheque for $66,227.74 along with a note, which only raised further suspicion.

Soon after, a forensic accountant was hired to look into the books.

The criminal proceedings focused on more than $300,000 worth of fraud, even though overall irregularities showed more than double that.

The court heard how McNabb used Bearsfield Development, another of Orsi's companies, to pay her TD Visa personal credit card bill between Jan. 1 2004 and Dec. 31, 2011.

Some of the money was even paid to the Town of Bradford for municipal taxes as part of the fraud, the court heard.

In a separate civil proceeding, it was found that a further $350,000, intended for suppliers, had been made payable to cash.

A judgment was rendered in that case for $821,380 and costs of $395,277, totalling $1.2 million.

The fraud could be even worse, but Orsi said his company's financial records that went back decades, went missing from his home.

According to Henein, McNabb has also suffered her fair share of medical problems since the proceedings began, including general anxiety disorder, hypertension and a 2015 cancer surgery.

She received a number of letters of support from friends and family, noting she has given a lot of her time to charities, the church and the community and the fraud was "out of character".

One daughter, Miranda, told the court her mother was "caring and kind-hearted", while her other daughter, Karissa, both of whom are nurses in New Brunswick, called her the most "caring, genuine and inspirational person in my life".

Yorkregion.com found that in 2011, Karissa, was a recipient of the Frank Laskoski scholarship from the York Regional Police Association, the funds for which are paid via union fees to help with officers’ children's educations.

While no one is aware exactly where the money went, Orsi thinks it was divested to those around her.

After the hearing, Orsi said that if McNabb was an actress, she would win an Academy Award for her performance while working under him all those years..

"It was unbelievable what she pulled off," he said, noting he does not believe the punishment fits the crime in this case.