A former Edmonton bank manager accused of defrauding his employer of more than $16 million and spending the money on a lavish lifestyle pleaded guilty on Monday.

“I plead guilty,” Nicholas Lysyk, 54, who managed a Bank of Montreal branch in west Edmonton, said in court.

He was arrested in August 2002 after an internal bank investigation, and charged with 63 counts of fraud over $5,000.

The bank accused him of falsifying dozens of loans to fictitious customers and spending the money on lavish houses, classic convertibles and jewelry for himself and his estranged wife, daughter, son-in-law and six mistresses.

His wife, Jennifer, is also alleged to have received more than $1 million, including an expensive house and a six-figure investment account.

Officials have been able to trace only about one-quarter of the missing money.

Almost all of Lysyk’s belongings have been sold or auctioned off to repay the money.

Lysyk also faces a civil lawsuit filed by the Bank of Montreal.