Election, property records seized as RCMP expands Senate expenses investigation - The Globe and Mail
RCMP are investigating Senator Mac Harb, having seized property records for his former home as part of an investigation dubbed “Project Amble.”
The information is among court documents filed in Ottawa. Other documents show Mounties have seized election records of 12 Conservative candidates as part of an investigation into another embattled senator, Mike Duffy.
It was revealed last week that the RCMP were investigating the Senate expenses affair, including a cheque from Prime Minister Stephen Harper’s former top aide, Nigel Wright, to Mr. Duffy. The investigation into Mr. Duffy is being conducted by the RCMP’s “Sensitive and International Investigations” detachment and is focusing on whether a “breach of trust” occurred, court documents indicate.
The separate court documents show that the RCMP are looking into the cases of both Mr. Harb and Mr. Duffy, but all the reports were filed by the same RCMP officer, Constable Jane Won Kyung Lee.
Mr. Harb, first appointed as a Liberal, has been under fire for housing allowance claims he made despite living in the Ottawa area. He has been ordered to repay more than $230,000, but he has filed for a judicial review and signaled he intends to fight the order.
RCMP have also seized, on June 5, elections campaign filings of 11 candidates – Scott Armstrong, Gerald Keddy, Greg Kerr, Sandy Lee, Wladyslaw Lizon, David Morse, Joe Oliver, Tilly O’Neill Gordon, Gin Siow, Rodney Weston and John Carmichael. The Mounties seized their electoral campaign returns from 2011, “specifically expense claims and payment documents related to Mike Duffy,” according to court records.
The Globe and Mail has viewed those 11 candidates’ returns. Each of them were sent expense claims by Mr. Duffy for campaign stops during the 2011 campaign. The returns, however, indicate that Mr. Duffy billed at least five other campaigns that ultimately did not report his expenses to Elections Canada. Of all the Conservative candidates in the 2011 election, only those 11 reported paying Mr. Duffy any money.
RCMP are investigating Senator Mac Harb, having seized property records for his former home as part of an investigation dubbed “Project Amble.”
The information is among court documents filed in Ottawa. Other documents show Mounties have seized election records of 12 Conservative candidates as part of an investigation into another embattled senator, Mike Duffy.
It was revealed last week that the RCMP were investigating the Senate expenses affair, including a cheque from Prime Minister Stephen Harper’s former top aide, Nigel Wright, to Mr. Duffy. The investigation into Mr. Duffy is being conducted by the RCMP’s “Sensitive and International Investigations” detachment and is focusing on whether a “breach of trust” occurred, court documents indicate.
The separate court documents show that the RCMP are looking into the cases of both Mr. Harb and Mr. Duffy, but all the reports were filed by the same RCMP officer, Constable Jane Won Kyung Lee.
Mr. Harb, first appointed as a Liberal, has been under fire for housing allowance claims he made despite living in the Ottawa area. He has been ordered to repay more than $230,000, but he has filed for a judicial review and signaled he intends to fight the order.
RCMP have also seized, on June 5, elections campaign filings of 11 candidates – Scott Armstrong, Gerald Keddy, Greg Kerr, Sandy Lee, Wladyslaw Lizon, David Morse, Joe Oliver, Tilly O’Neill Gordon, Gin Siow, Rodney Weston and John Carmichael. The Mounties seized their electoral campaign returns from 2011, “specifically expense claims and payment documents related to Mike Duffy,” according to court records.
The Globe and Mail has viewed those 11 candidates’ returns. Each of them were sent expense claims by Mr. Duffy for campaign stops during the 2011 campaign. The returns, however, indicate that Mr. Duffy billed at least five other campaigns that ultimately did not report his expenses to Elections Canada. Of all the Conservative candidates in the 2011 election, only those 11 reported paying Mr. Duffy any money.
