Mike Duffy & Pamela Wallin - "We've been 'thrown under the bus' by the Conservatives!"

Pamela Wallin committed fraud, breach of trust, RCMP allege

Senator Pamela Wallin committed fraud and breach of trust by filing inappropriate travel and living expenses inside a three-year period, the RCMP allege in court documents obtained by CBC News.

The documents filed in court by Const. Michael Johnson of the RCMP National Division allege that Wallin committed fraud and breach of trust by making inappropriate expense claims between Jan. 2, 2009, and Sept. 30, 2012.

Johnson also alleges Wallin "defrauded the Senate" in an amount exceeding $5,000 "by deceit, falsehood, or other fraudulent means."

"I believe Senator Pamela Wallin has committed the offences of breach of trust and fraud," Johnson wrote in an affidavit.

The RCMP are seeking more documents and data from the Senate related to changes Wallin made in her electronic and handwritten calendars. 

According to Johnson, the "inconsistencies and discrepancies" in her calendars warrant further investigation and "will afford evidence of the named offences."

Wallin's 'sense of entitlement'

Johnson also lists five interviews the RCMP conducted with key witnesses as part of his grounds for the allegations against Wallin.

During an interview with the RCMP on Sept. 23, Marjory LeBreton, then the government leader in the Senate, said she believes Wallin "has a sense of entitlement."

Despite LeBreton's personal view of the former broadcaster, LeBreton "does not believe that Wallin has committed any criminal offence and does not feel that the senator tried to scam the system," the RCMP said.

LeBreton told the RCMP she spoke to Wallin in October 2012 about her "serious" problems with expense claims.

The matter was brought to LeBreton's attention after a staffer working for Wallin made allegations against her with respect to her expense claims and bookkeeping.

LeBreton thought Wallin could easily resolve the matter by comparing her calendars with her expense claims.

Travel irregularities

In the the court documents, Johnson notes the senator from Saskatchewan has maintained that her primary residence is in Wadena, Sask., so she can collect travel allowances from the Senate. But Johnson believes Wallin "uses her Toronto condo as her primary residence."

On Sept. 30, the RCMP interviewed Nicole Proulx, the Senate director of finance who said she identified issues with Wallin's expenses between 2009-12 and spoke to Wallin about them on several occasions.

In 2009 Proulx, accompanied by Senate clerk Gary O'Brien, spoke to Wallin about issues surrounding her travel claims from Toronto. In 2012, they spoke to her again about her "travel irregularities."

The irregularities, according to the RCMP, included "a high percentage of travel claims without a specific purpose listed, a high percentage of stopovers in Toronto for Senate business, and concerns over the high cost of car services."

Car service costs

Proulx objected to the cost of Wallin's "car service" as early as 2010, rejecting her claims as being too expensive.

Wallin pleaded her case before a Senate internal economy sub-committee composed of three of her colleagues. The trio overturned the rejection of her car service claims, effectively overruling Proulx.

The car service costs were brought up by Deloitte auditors when they met with members of the Senate internal economy committee in August. Deloitte told the committee Wallin's claims were for $80 trips, starting from the island airport in downtown Toronto and ending at Wallin's mid-town condo. The auditors told the committee a trip of that distance would normally be a $30 fare in a taxi.

Deloitte auditors told the committee a slightly different story than the one Proulx told to the RCMP.

Wallin's car expense had actually been curtailed, Alan Stewart of Deloitte told Senator Jane Cordy, a committee member. "This was an issue that Senate Finance raised with Senator Wallin at one stage, and so the claims for the car service became less after a point in time. I do not remember when that was," he said.

RCMP wants Wallin's calendars

Gary Timm, a partner at Deloitte, is expected to provide the RCMP with a long list of documents and data which include the "travel and event descriptions, together with Microsoft Word monthly calendars listing events, and handwritten calendars related to travel expense claims."

Timm has said he has no issue with providing the information within 30 days from the day the RCMP filed the court documents.

The allegations are contained in the information to obtain a production order filed with the court to aid in the RCMP's investigation.

The Deloitte audit showed that the majority of the money Wallin claimed – $390,182 of $532,508 – was in keeping with Senate practices.

The auditors found Wallin had inappropriately claimed $121,348. Deloitte determined that an additional $20,978 was subject to Senate interpretation. The Senate determined that Wallin had to pay back an additional $17,621.98.

Wallin has paid back $138,969 in ineligible claims.

The allegations of fraud and breach of trust against Wallin have not been proven in court.

Senators Mike Duffy and Patrick Brazeau are also under investigation by the RCMP.

http://www.cbc.ca/news/politics/pamela-wallin-committed-fraud-breach-of-...

Mike Duffy, may still be eligible for a disability allowance should he resign for medical reasons.

Duffy — who suffers from a heart condition and announced he was taking a medical leave of absence just as debate on his proposed suspension began several weeks ago — could potentially benefit even more, said Gregory Thomas, federal director of the Canadian Taxpayers' Association.

Under the Parliament of Canada Act, a senator who is 65 or older and incapacitated by a proven medical condition, is entitled to receive a disability allowance equal to 70 per cent of his or her annual salary — a comfortable $94,640 per year. The allowance is paid until the senator reaches 75, the age of mandatory retirement from the Senate.

Whether that holds true for a senator who's been suspended without pay and therefore has no salary for the time being in not known. But Thomas suspects Duffy has been building up to making a play for it.

"He's been talking about his medical issues so much that I kind of see that [allowance issue] in the background," said Gregory Thomas, federal director of the Canadian Taxpayers' Association.

If pushed, he predicted the government would block any bid by Duffy to obtain a disability allowance — but not without a fight or further political embarrassment.

"I don't think Sen. Duffy cares whether he causes the Senate majority any inconvenience or not. said Thomas"

http://www.cbc.ca/news/politics/mike-duffy-pamela-wallin-may-not-be-full...