Caroline Mastantuono, who once led the Lester B. Pearson School Board’s international department, has been granted an absolute discharge after pleading guilty to corruption-related charges earlier this year.

Quebec Court Judge Salvatore Mascia announced the decision Tuesday at the Montreal courthouse.

An absolute discharge means Mastantuono will not have a criminal record and will not face punishment by the court.

The prosecution had sought a conditional discharge and 15 to 18 months of probation for Mastantuono.

Mastantuono pleaded guilty to fraud and embezzlement last May.

An agreed statement of facts, signed by both prosecution and defence counsels on May 13, outlines the use of two schemes to commit various offences between June 2014 and March 2016.

The first scheme involved the forgery of tuition receipts that were used to secure Quebec Acceptance Certificates (CAQs), which authorize international students to study in the province.

Mastantuono instructed staff members to forge false receipts, misleading authorities into issuing CAQs to students who didn’t meet financial requirements. This scheme resulted in the issuance of 81 false receipts totalling $1,648,281.

However, LBPSB received only $172,497, the court document shows.

The second scheme centred on the embezzlement of funds through unauthorized payments to a recruitment agency, headed by Naveen Kolan, a Toronto-based consultant with Edu Edge Inc.

Kolan has pleaded guilty to a charge of breach of trust and is scheduled to be sentenced Dec. 20.

More to come.