Richard Vallière, the culprit of the 'Maple Syrup Theft,' recorded as the largest theft in Quebec, has been fined billions of won after a long legal battle.
According to foreign media reports such as the BBC and CBC on the 31st of local time, the Canadian Supreme Court fined Richard Williere, the main culprit of the 'Maple Syrup theft', of 9.1 million Canadian dollars (about 8.8 billion won).
The biggest theft in Quebec's history was revealed in July 2012 when an employee checking the stock of maple syrup in a warehouse in Quebec discovered that it contained water instead of maple syrup.
The amount of maple syrup that disappeared at the time was about 3,000 tons, and the local police arrested 16 accomplices, including the main culprit Richard Vallière, his family, and his family.
At the first trial, Valierre was found guilty of fraud, illegal trade and theft.
During the trial, he claimed that he sold the stolen maple syrup for about $10 million (about 9.7 billion won) and made a profit of $1 million (about 900 million won) from this.
The second trial court upheld Vallier's claim and sentenced him to a fine of 1 million dollars (about 900 million won) corresponding to the profits.
However, the Supreme Court's decision was different.
The Supreme Court has taken the position that the amount of fines levied on Vallière cannot be limited to profits obtained through illegal means.
In its ruling, the Supreme Court said, "Separating a criminal's income and expenses is essentially justifying criminal activity." .
According to the ruling, Valierre must pay a fine of $9.1 million over 10 years, and if he fails to do so, he faces an additional six years in prison.
Meanwhile, he was previously sentenced to eight years in prison on charges of fraud, illegal trade and theft.
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(Photo='Supreme Court of Canada' Twitter)