Cochrane Walmart Clerk Gets House Arrest, Restitution for $7,000 Theft Scheme

Ravneet Kaur, a 26-year-old former customer service clerk at the Cochrane, Alberta Walmart, pleaded guilty to theft over $5,000 and received a five-and-a-half-month conditional sentence to be served in the community, with the first three months under house arrest followed by a curfew for the remainder. A Calgary judge also ordered Kaur to pay $7,011 in restitution to the Cochrane store.

The scheme ran from January 25 to March 1, 2024, a five-week window during which court documents say Kaur stole goods "on at least 14 separate occasions," sometimes acting alone and sometimes "in concert with others including her then boyfriend." The Crown proceeded by indictment on the charge, which carries a maximum penalty of 10 years imprisonment.

The method was straightforward and hard to detect from the customer side of the register. Instead of scanning the correct barcode for items placed on her counter, Kaur repeatedly used the barcode assigned to individual photo purchases, which rang every item at exactly 32 cents. That produced a legitimate-looking sales receipt, which Kaur or her accomplices then used to walk out of the store without paying the correct price. Court documents described it as "the primary (though not only) method" used to carry out the thefts.

The final day of employment doubled as the most active. On March 1, 2024, Kaur took additional merchandise without paying both while she was still clocked in and again after Walmart terminated her that same day. Total losses came to just over $7,000, and none of the stolen merchandise was ever recovered.

The court ruled that a conditional discharge was not appropriate given the nature of a theft from an employer at that dollar amount. Kaur has no prior criminal record and entered the guilty plea expressing remorse, having arranged to repay the full amount. The sentencing judge also weighed potential immigration consequences: Kaur is a permanent resident of Canada and could face deportation depending on the outcome of her case.

The written decision was released March 18 in the Alberta Court of Justice.