RCMP: Duffy's office paid 65K for 'no apparent work'

[mentalfloss]

Mike Duffy friend paid $65K for 'no apparent work,' RCMP allege

A friend of Mike Duffy was paid $65,000 by his Senate office for "little or no apparent work," an RCMP investigator alleges in court documents filed today in Ottawa.

The RCMP are seeking banking information for Duffy and Patrick Brazeau, two senators named by Prime Minister Stephen Harper at the end of 2008. Duffy and Brazeau are under investigation for fraud and breach of trust over their Senate expense claims, the RCMP say in the affidavits.

In the affidavit pertaining to Duffy, Cpl. Greg Horton says he believes Duffy "hired a friend as a consultant over an approximate four-year period, and paid him a total of approximately $65,000 during that time, for little or no apparent work."

The money came out of Duffy's Senate office budget.

Horton said in the affidavit that the friend, Gerald Donohue, was interviewed by investigators "and acknowledged that he produced no tangible work product for Duffy."

Donohue, a former technician who worked for CTV and CBC, told investigators that he did internet research and provided verbal advice to Duffy, Horton wrote. Donohue had never been a consultant before then.

Duffy said Tuesday that "it would be inappropriate for me to comment while these matters are being examined by the RCMP."

..more on Duffy and Brazeau..


Mike Duffy friend paid $65K for 'no apparent work,' RCMP allege - Politics - CBC News

 

[Spade]

Fallow da cash.

 

[Kreskin]

Donohue, a former technician who worked for CTV and CBC, told investigators that he did internet research and provided verbal advice to Duffy, Horton wrote. Donohue had never been a consultant before then.
[/URL]

In other words he read Canadian Content. Bastards should be paying us!

 

[PoliticalNick]

Alright Locutus...fess up that your name is Donohue! ;-)

 

[petros]

Mike Duffy has nice shiny hair.

 

[damngrumpy]

Duffy should be made an example of by sending him to jail
if he is guilty and that is looking more likely every day it
seems

 

[grumpydigger]

payed for not doing any work.........Thats exactly the job description of a senator ..

 

[Spade]

payed for not doing any work.........Thats exactly the job description of a senator ..

Apparently

 

[pgs]

Duffy should be made an example of by sending him to jail
if he is guilty and that is looking more likely every day it
seems

He deserves his day in court like everyone else. Then throw him out with the bath water.

 

[Nuggler]

He deserves his day in court like everyone else. Then throw him out with the bath water.

I think he's clean. Every pic one sees, his fat, little, bald face is shining like the sun.

No one else gets their day in court. They can't afford a shyster.

Out with the bath water.

 

[Zipperfish]

A face that haunts Harper's nightmares, I'm sure. :lol:

 

[Goober]

Mike Duffy court documents: 5 surprising things - Politics - CBC News

1. The RCMP have enlisted forensic accounting help

The RCMP are able to dip into government departments for extra investigative help.

Mark Grenon, an employee with Public Works and Government Services Canada who is an accountant with a specialty in forensic accounting and a certified fraud investigator, has been seconded to the RCMP's sensitive investigations unit to examine Duffy's expense claims.

It was Grenon who spotted a lump sum in Duffy's expense accounts that appeared "disproportionately larger than other expenses."
2. Much of Duffy's office budget went to consultant friend

Duffy used a budget called "general expenses" to award consulting contracts to Gerald Donohue, a former TV technician who had an insulated concrete form business. The general expenses budget, says Horton, seems to be used to pay for the day to day operations of a Senate office and includes work senators commission to do with their Senate responsibilities.

Over half of Duffy's general expenses budget was spent on Donohue's contracts. That same budget was also used to purchase computers, printers, a coffee maker and a "music system."
3. Donohue billed for research for Duffy, but prepared no reports

Donohue issued invoices to Duffy for research on topics such as "the heritage project" or "aging in the Canadian population." But in an interview with the RCMP, Donohue said that Duffy asked him to prepare information on "obesity" or "being a Conservative." He also told the RCMP he never produced a document, report or product.
4. Other Duffy contractors didn't get paid as much as Donohue

The RCMP interviewed three other consultants who did work for Duffy. All three had other clients for whom they performed consulting work, and all had backgrounds in politics, government or business.

All three were able to describe in detail research they conducted for Duffy about topics such as industrial development proposals or the effect of the proposed Atlantic power accord on P.E.I. None of them were paid more than $3,000.

Yet Donohue was paid in sums of $10,000, $12,000, $13,000 and finally $24,000, sliced into payments of $2,000 over a period of a year. (Tax was added by Senate staff to Donohue's payments, bringing the total to $65,000).
5. Donohue was collecting disability insurance and not entitled to earn any income

Donohue told the RCMP he did not personally receive money from Duffy because he was collecting disability insurance and couldn't earn any income. The cheques from Duffy's office were paid to a media company Donohue set up, which did no media business and which later morphed into the concrete form company. The company, he said, consisted of his wife and son.

In March 2012, Donohue stopped accepting contracts from Duffy because, he said, he received a "personal statement" showing he was earning income, when in fact, he said, the income should have been in his company's name. He blamed the slip on Senate bureaucracy.