A bank teller who helped herself to more than $6,000 from a Haines Junction man's account initially lied to investigators, casting suspicion on the client she'd stolen from.

Kristin Sarah Snyder, 23, had been working as a Royal Bank teller for eight months when Steve Jones arrived at her wicket on Sept. 4, 2003.

The next day, Snyder went into the man's account and issued two placement debit cards. She went back into Jones' account three days later and changed his personal identification number.

An hour later, she was back in his account, making the first of 11 unauthorized cash withdrawals. She stole from the Haines Junction man twice that day, the first time for $500 and the second for $401.

Snyder used the bogus debit card to take $1,000 over two transactions the next day, and on Sept. 10 she tried for $1,001, but was denied.

That was likely because of the account's withdrawal limit, prosecutor Kevin Drolet said during Snyder's sentencing hearing Monday morning.

Chief territorial court Judge Heino Lilles is set to hand down a sentence Friday morning for the young woman's conviction of theft over $5,000.

Snyder's last two illegal withdrawals came on Sept. 16.

It was on Sept. 17 that Jones went back to the bank to report there were a number of transactions on his account that he had nothing do with. Once investigation cleared him of any involvement, the bank repaid the $6,101 Snyder stole.

Snyder told the bank's investigator she'd issued the new cards at Jones' request, casting suspicion on him, said Drolet.

In a victim impact statement, Jones noted he and his wife were alienated in their community because of the suspicion on them, and that they suspected others because of Snyder's lies. They also no longer trust banks.

The young woman later changed her story. She told the investigator she'd made the new cards and changed the PIN number at the request of another person, a husky native man in his 20s.

By Oct. 7, Snyder quit her job, notifying the bank she was leaving for another job.

Confronted with transaction records linked to her employee identification card, Snyder admitted to the first $500-withdrawal, but said she then lost the card. When the bank's investigator pointed out anyone else using the card would need its PIN number, she confessed to a few more withdrawals.

A magnetic ID card records each bank employee's every entry on the computer system, virtually guaranteeing Snyder would be traced.

The former teller would later give a full confession to an RCMP major crimes section investigator.

When asked if other local Royal Bank accounts were checked for missing money, a spokeswoman said this morning that she can't speak about cases before the courts.

But, said spokeswoman Diana Ward, the bank has a number of 'checks and balances' to make sure employees follow the rules. In rare cases of fraud or theft, she said, the bank will fully reimburse a client who's been stolen from.

Internal investigations are a standard practice when clients come to them with irregularities, said Ward.

The Crown is asking for nine to 12 months' jail, followed by up to two years of probation.

Drolet argued that if Snyder is given a conditional sentence to be served in the community, it should be under a tight curfew and involve 160 hours of community service. Defence counsel Jamie VanWart suggested four to eight months on a conditional sentence, as well as a similar amount of probation.

Snyder took the money to pay off debts, her defence lawyer told the court. He argued Snyder's breach of trust was on the low end of the scale because the swipe card system monitored employees and she took a 'minimal' amount of money.

He said the entire episode was triggered by the ongoing repercussions of a traffic crash Snyder had been in the year before, noting she's expecting a settlement for injuries.

Drolet argued the young woman was living beyond her means, pointing to her credit card and bank debts, debts that enabled her to drive a $17,000-car and pay its insurance.

'The motive was, quite simply, greed,' said Drolet.

Snyder hasn't paid back any of the money, nor has she apologized either to the Royal Bank or to Jones. Breaching a trust relationship is a legislated aggravating factor judges must consider at sentencing.

The prosecutor also pointed to Snyder's 'fabrication' of a cocaine addiction and 'exaggerated' problems as a youth, which, he argued, were constructed to gain some sympathy from the court. She later admitted to being only a 'recreational' cocaine user.

Drolet suggested there is little in the pre-sentence report or psychological assessment that can be trusted as much of the information comes from Snyder herself.

The young woman said her parents kicked her out of the house because of her booze and drug problems.

She also described herself as a 'follower' to the probation officer preparing her pre-sentence report, though family members described her as just the opposite.

However, when the RCMP interviewed her parents, they contradicted what their daughter said. Robert Snyder told police he'd know if she'd had a drug problem because he had just that problem with another child.

Originally, Kristin Snyder was to be sentenced March 19, but Lilles adjourned the hearing until the young woman told her family. To that point, she'd told neither them nor her boyfriend, the father of her unborn twins.

In court yesterday, mother Kay Snyder said 'we hadn't seen any of this coming at all.

'We feel terrible for what she's done,' the mother said. 'We feel terrible for what she's gone through on her own and we're standing behind her.'

Her daughter told the court she's ashamed and remorseful, and intends to pay back the money and write an apology letter.

Snyder looked into selling her car, but unless she sells it for the full value, she'll owe thousands of dollars on her car loan, VanWart said. She has cancelled the insurance.

Snyder is currently unemployed, and won't have much time to earn money once she has her twins, her lawyer said.

It's not the first time Snyder pleaded guilty to theft from an employer.

Back in December 2002, she admitted to taking a $120-cheque from her employer and another for $150 from her roommate and endorsing them to herself.

When she paid back all the money, she was given an absolute discharge. As a result, the conviction didn't show up on a criminal record.