A former manager of the University of Waterloo’s architectural school was found guilty Thursday of fraud, theft and forgery.

The charges against Jeffrey Lederer related to claims that Lederer overpaid his mother-in-law for work at the university and used a work credit card for personal expenses.

Court heard that the personal items charged to the credit card amounted to about $38,000, while Lederer approved $139,000 in wages for his mother-in-law.

Multiple people affiliated with the school testified that they never knew of that arrangement or saw Lederer’s mother-in-law doing any work at the school.

An email from Lederer to a supervisor at the school was entered as evidence at the trial.

In the email, Lederer said that he had a gambling problem which in turn caused him to spend money compulsively.

Testifying in his own defence, Lederer told the judge that he had exaggerated the extent of his gambling issues in an attempt to garner sympathy.

In delivering the verdict, the judge called Lederer’s testimony evasive and inconsistent.

Outside the courthouse, Lederer said that he was left “in shock” by the verdict.

“I’ll have to deal with it,” he said.

He will be sentenced in January. The Crown will be seeking jail time.

With reporting by Nicole Lampa