Senator Mac Harb pays back $231,000 in expenses, retires

Mac Harb is stepping down from the Senate, dropping his legal action and repaying the remaining $180,000 the Senate says he owes for inappropriate living and travel expense claims.

Harb, who was a Liberal senator until his spending came under scrutiny through an external audit, had already paid back $51,482.90. He did so under protest and had asked the court for a judicial review of the order from the Senate to pay money back.

In a news release Monday, Harb said he delivered a cheque to the chair of the Senate standing committee on internal economy for $180,166.17. That means he's repaid a total of $231,649.07.

Senate expense scandal: Ottawa man tied to $9M in federal contracts behind loan to Mac Harb

OTTAWA—An Ottawa lawyer whose hotel has received millions of dollars worth of federal government contracts was behind a $55,000 loan to troubled Sen. Mac Harb .

Corporate records show Brian Karam, an Ottawa businessman and lawyer in private practice, is listed as the sole owner of the numbered company — 1202864 Ontario Ltd. — that property records show provided Harb with a $55,000 loan against his Ottawa condominium on May 17.

Housing bill for Sen. Mac Harb totals just over $230,000

OTTAWA — Sen. Mac Harb is on the hook for more than $230,000 in living expenses — more than four times what the Senate originally figured he owed.

The total bill of $231,649.07 was contained in a letter sent to Harb earlier this month.

Trudeau defends Sen. Mac Harb in Senate spending scandal

OTTAWA – Beleaguered Sen. Mac Harb will have a place back in the Liberal caucus, so long as he pays his dues once an investigation into his expense claims wraps up, Liberal leader Justin Trudeau says.

Harb resigned from the Liberal caucus last month after an independent audit found he wrongly collected $51,500 in Senate housing allowances. He consequently hired a lawyer, determined to fight the finding in court. Meanwhile, Harb could be asked to repay thousands beyond the initial assessment as the spending review stretches farther into his past.

RCMP poised to open criminal investigation into senators' expenses

The RCMP is set to conduct a criminal investigation into improper spending by three senators whose expense filings were the subject of external audits, CTV News has learned.

Sources say that the Mounties have been investigating the three senators -- Liberal Mac Harb, Conservative Mike Duffy and Independent Patrick Brazeau -- for months, monitoring the ongoing Senate probe and media reports.

Duffy, Harb and Brazeau should be expelled from the Senate

Bev Oda, Stephen Harper’s one-time Minister for International Co-operation, was hounded from office after she ordered  a $16 glass of orange juice while staying at the Savoy Hotel in London, and then tried to write off both the juice and the luxury hotel room — as well as a $1,000-a-day limousine — as expenses.

Oda sought to defend herself, arguing that she was on official business at the time, but the hue and cry was too great and she stepped down just before an anticipated cabinet shuffle in which she was all but certain to be demoted or fired.

Senators Brazeau, Harb to repay thousands in living expenses

Two senators whose housing and meal expenses were audited will have to repay tens of thousands of dollars, CTV News has learned.

Liberal Sen. Mac Harb will have to repay more than $100,000 while Independent Sen. Patrick Brazeau will be asked to reimburse the taxpayers about $30,000.

La Passe residents surprised to learn Senator Mac Harb is their neighbour

WHITEWATER REGION — The only sign of life at Senator Mac Harb’s big brick house in the Ottawa Valley is a tangled string of Christmas lights illuminating a trellis in the morning sun.

The snow-covered driveway and path to the front door of 52 Crosby Trail suggest no one has been on the property that overlooks Marion Island in the Ottawa River for several days.

RCMP probes Senator Mac Harb over business trips to Bangladesh

The RCMP is investigating Liberal Senator Mac Harb for criminal breach of trust, alleging in a sworn affidavit that he travelled to Bangladesh on a special passport reserved for federal officials, where he lobbied members of the country's government on behalf of Niko Resources, a Calgary-based oil and gas company.

For nearly four years, a team of Mounties has been investigating Niko Resources' natural-gas operation in Bangladesh, and on Friday, the company agreed to pay a fine of $9.5-million after pleading guilty to trying to influence a junior Bangladeshi minister by providing him with a luxury SUV as well as a paid trip to Calgary and New York.

What didn't emerge in court, however, is that police are probing Mr. Harb, a former member of Parliament for Ottawa Centre.

The Mounties allege his travels to Bangladesh were “for a purpose other than the public good.” Mr. Harb has not been charged with a crime. He did not respond to repeated requests for an interview prior to publication of this story in Saturday's Globe and Mail, but he has been questioned by the police. However, on Saturday he released this statement.

In a statement, Niko said that it retained Mr. Harb only in a personal capacity, and “not as a Senator.” The company said it paid him $65,000 for work done between September, 2005 and July, 2006.

“The company inquired and was advised by Mr. Harb that he had obtained all of the necessary approvals from the Senate Ethics Committee to be able to carry out this engagement,” the company's statement said.

RCMP Corporal Kevin Duggan has alleged in a sworn affidavit that between 2004 and 2006, Mr. Harb travelled to Dhaka at least four times to lobby Bangladeshi officials about a dispute over natural-gas payments – despite warnings from Canada's diplomatic corps that he was not welcome. Specifically, a former high commissioner to Bangladesh told the Mounties that because Mr. Harb was “personally involved with the company” his trips were “not good for the image of Canada.”

The 72-page affidavit, which was obtained by The Globe and Mail after a year-long legal battle with the Alberta Justice Department and Niko, was released this week but, by the order of Mr. Justice William Tilleman of Alberta's Court of Queen's Bench, it was heavily redacted.

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Source: Globe & Mail