The 23-month-long fraud investigation into an unnamed Pembina Hills school division employee has concluded with Crown prosecutors recommending charges.
Barrhead RCMP announced last week that a 61-year-old Newfoundland resident will face charges of fraud over $5,000 and breach of trust. Sgt. Bob Dodds said it’s likely the charges will be laid this week, but the name of the accused will not be disclosed. He said he only names people who are charged if they are considered a danger to the public — in this case, there is no issue of public safety.
PHRD board chair Sharon Volorney said as the matter is with police and will soon be going before the courts, she would offer little in the way of a comment.
“It’s in the hands of the RCMP and we really can’t say anything at the moment,” she said. “We’re not sure what’s going to happen but it’s a relief that it’s come this far.”
The recommendation to lay charges came from the Fort Saskatchewan Crown prosecutor’s office after the “K” Division Commercial Crimes Unit completed an investigation in August.
Dodds said prosecuting the case might be beyond the resources of the Fort Saskatchewan office, since it was likely to be a very complicated and time-consuming prosecution, in which case the file would be sent to another office such as the Edmonton Rural &Regional Response Office.
Last week’s announcement is the most recent development in a lengthy investigation. The investigation into an unnamed PHRD employee started on Nov. 5, 2010, after police received a fraud complaint in October shortly after former PHRD Supt. Richard Harvey left his post without explanation.
The story of a problem at the division’s head office came to light in October 2010 when the Westlock News learned Harvey had left his post with the division Oct. 25, two months earlier than his scheduled retirement date.
The division offered no explanation about Harvey’s departure except to issue a one-sentence press release indicating that Harvey was no longer an employee of the division.
One of Harvey’s neighbours in Barrhead, Margaret Simpson, told the Westlock News that Harvey and his wife had quickly packed up and said they were returning to Eastern Canada.
In 2011, Harvey was hired on an 11-week contract basis with the Newfoundland and Labrador Smoker’s Health Line, according to an article on that organization’s website that describes him as “well known and well respected in the education field.”
With respect to the fraud investigation, then-Deputy Supt. Colleen Symyrozum-Watt has said she could not comment on the matter except to say that about 750 employees of the division have expense accounts.
