Mr. Clement said he expects that investigators will focus on where the transferred funds originated in the ongoing criminal investigation into the transaction between Prime Minister Stephen Harper’s (Calgary Southwest, Alta.) former chief of staff Nigel Wright and Senator Mike Duffy.
Mr. Clement told The Hill Times that investigators would look at whether or not Mr. Wright had received a $90,000 transfer from a third-party account around the time that the government claims Mr. Wright gifted Sen. Duffy $90,172.24 to cover ineligible living expense claims that the Senator had made since joining the Upper Chamber in 2009.
“They’re going to want details on that account—where it came from, was there money transferred in from the special account that all the parties have,” said Mr. Clement, who served 30 years in the RCMP before becoming a private consultant on white collar crime and fraud investigations.
“If it comes out of an account that is controlled by the Conservatives, they may have to answer some questions with regards to whether they are part and parcel of the breach of trust,” said Mr. Clement.
According to the Senate Internal Economy Committee, Sen. Duffy reimbursed the receiver general for $90,172.24 on April 19, but in May it was revealed that Mr. Wright had given the Senator the funds as a “personal gift.”
Within days of the payment being made public, Mr. Wright resigned on May 19.
The government has maintained that the transfer was a personal transaction between Mr. Wright and Sen. Duffy, but in June the CBC published a story alleging that since 2006 successive PMO chiefs of staff have overseen a “secret fund” for political operations that includes taxpayer and donor funds. The government has strongly denied that taxpayer and donor funds were used to bail out Sen. Duffy, who was ousted from the Conservative caucus on May 16 and now sits as an Independent.
Mr. Clement said that RCMP investigators will also make an effort to determine the intent behind the payment, and whether any conditions were established around how the funds were to be used. He said it was “doubtful” that Mr. Wright had paid Sen. Duffy without conditions in place.
“Not even from an investigator’s point of view — it’s extremely hard for Canadians to swallow that somebody writes a $90,000 cheque with no strings attached,” Mr. Clement said. “I think everyone believes that there is more to this story than has come out publicly. Anybody would be naive not to believe that.”
The transaction could be in violation of sections 120 or 122 of the Criminal Code. Sec. 120 states that bribery is punishable by up to five years in prison. Sect. 122 states that a breach of trust by a public officer is also punishable by up to five years in prison.
Mr. Wright, who served as Mr. Harper’s chief of staff since the beginning of 2011, is described as “a genius” in Tory circles. The Bay Street lawyer and executive is a graduate of University of Toronto and Harvard law schools, and served as managing director of Onex private equity firm before becoming Mr. Harper’s right-hand man.
Sen. Duffy was appointed to the Senate on Mr. Harper’s advice in 2009 after a lengthy career in Ottawa’s press gallery. The former CBC and CTV journalist played a major role in raising money and campaigning for the Conservatives in the 2011 federal election campaign.
The opposition has had a field day with the scandal, demanding that the Prime Minister’s Office produce a copy of the cheque that Mr. Wright allegedly gifted to Sen. Duffy. Mr. Clement said that with a criminal investigation already underway, producing a copy of the cheque would not accomplish anything.
Keith Beardsley, a former adviser and deputy chief of staff to Prime Minister Harper, said that the PMO wasn’t in the position to produce a copy of the cheque or force Mr. Wright to do so, but he admitted that it was “a good tactic” for the opposition to demand proof of the transfer.
“From the opposition’s view point, it’s a wonderful attack line because the government really has no offence or defence,” observed Mr. Beardsley, who directed Conservative Party research while the party was still in opposition. “Personally, it’d be pretty well impossible for [the government] to have it if it was a personal cheque. The only people who have copies of that would either be Duffy or Wright.”
The Hill Times contacted the Office of the Receiver General of Canada to confirm Sen. Duffy’s repayment, but the Public Works division was unable to confirm that it received a payment of $90,172.24 from the Senator. The agency referred questions surrounding the Senator’s repayment back to the Senate.
“Although payments are made payable to the Receiver General for Canada, they are remitted directly to the appropriate institution, in this case the Senate and subsequently deposited by that institution into the Government’s bank account. The Receiver General is not in possession of this information,” Public Works communications adviser Lucie Brosseau responded in an email to The Hill Times.
Requests for the details of repayment were also rebuffed by the Senate’s communications department, which has been handling all media requests since the Senate expense claims scandal begin to gain momentum early in 2013.
“We don’t disclose sensitive private information contained in personal cheques,” Senate communications officer Annie Joannette said. She referred questions of repayment to Senator Duffy’s office.
So far, the only public documents related to the RCMP investigation are regarding the expense claims by Senators Duffy and Mac Harb, who are both accused of claiming tens of thousands of dollars in living allowances despite being long-time residents of the National Capital Region.
PMO press secretary Carl Vallée declined to comment on the ongoing RCMP investigation. He restated comments made by Prime Minister Harper in June 18 press conference.
“Mr. Wright has been very clear that he will answer questions from authorities, and he will be held accountable for his actions, and I think that’s the appropriate course of events, and this matter is between Mr. Wright and Mr. Duffy and the authorities,” Mr. Vallée replied.
Mr. Beardsley said it was unlikely the investigation would disrupt PMO operations. If the transaction between Mr. Wright and Mr. Duffy involved more people, he guessed that a few other individuals may be expecting interviews with the Mounties.
“The office is somewhere in excess of 100 people. Except for maybe a small core group, none of those people would be involved in the issue,” Mr. Beardsley said. “If there’s a core group of three or four people who may have been involved in the decision making process — not necessarily with Wright and Duffy, but maybe they were made aware of it later — they might be wondering ‘Okay, when are they going to come in and see me.’”
Sen. Patrick Brazeau is also accused of making ineligible expense claims. Court documents obtained by The Ottawa Citizen show that investigators are now looking at payments made to Sen. Duffy by 12 different Conservative campaigns in the last election.
The RCMP confirmed that it was investigating allegations swirling around the expense claims scandal earlier this month, and is currently in the midst of its own challenges. The force faces multiple lawsuits from former officers alleging that they were subjected to sexual harassment and intimidation throughout their careers.
The government recently passed legislation intended to enhance accountability and oversight to address misconduct within the RCMP.
Earlier this year, it was revealed that meetings between Parliamentarians and Mounties require the approval of RCMP Commissioner Bob Paulson or Public Safety Minister Vic Toews (Provencher, Man.).
NDP MP Craig Scott (Toronto-Danforth, Ont.) said that he’s assuming the RCMP will not face political interference during its investigation, but suggested that it wasn’t beyond Mr. Toews to get involved.
“The record of the Public Safety minister in terms of his own directives regarding the RCMP talking to outsiders suggests that he doesn’t exactly know what the lines are. Let me just say that I trust he will keep his nose out of it,” Mr. Scott told The Hill Times.
But Mr. Clement said that he had the “utmost confidence” that investigators from the RCMP’s newly-constituted National Division would conduct an independent investigation. The division will be able to draw on resources and expertise from other policing agencies and RCMP divisions across the country in conducting sensitive and international investigations.
“The spotlight is not only on the Office of Prime Minister and Senators in this investigation—it’s also on the RCMP to do an objective investigation,” Mr. Clement said. “The only way the RCMP can come out looking like they did their job successfully is to do an investigation, present the facts to the attorney general, and have the attorney general decide whether there’s sufficient evidence to go forward with charges.”
Mr. Beardsley warned that any attempts to interfere with the investigation would be extremely risky.
“I just can’t see political interference taking place because you expose yourself if you’re a political staffer or politician,” he said. “If the RCMP came out with emails from a staffer telling them to lay off, the risk would be astronomical. I just can’t see anyone wanting to put themselves at risk for interfering with an investigation.”
Original Article
Source: hilltimes.com
Author: CHRIS PLECASH
No comments:
Post a Comment