Church administrator accused of embezzling $400, 000 in Canada

A longtime parishioner says she’s ready to forgive after hundreds of thousands of dollars were allegedly stolen from the St. Bernadette Parish in Windsor Park.

A former church administrator is accused of stealing $400,000 from the Roman Catholic church on Cottonwood Road.

Leo McCaughan, 39, is charged with theft, fraud and falsification of documents dating back to March 2009. None of the allegations has been proven and he is presumed innocent.

Denise Novog, a parishioner at St. Bernadette for 40 years, said she never suspected anything of McCaughan and will forgive him if he is convicted.

"It’s easier to forgive if it wasn’t your money," she said with a laugh. "But you’ll have to do it.

"My dealings with him is that he was very nice and he tried to help me with whatever I was doing," she said Wednesday.

"It’s kind of disappointing. We just have to keep on fundraising. Embezzlement is wrong, certainly. It happens and we just have to go on."

Audit uncovered problems

McCaughan, of Winnipeg, was an administrator at St. Bernadette for about a decade before an audit uncovered problems.

Police allege that, over a nearly five-year period ending in December 2014, McCaughan exploited his position by embezzling and withdrawing over $400,000. He then covered up his actions by entering false information into the general ledger, police added in the release.

The inconsistencies were detected during a routine audit done by the Archdiocese of St. Boniface that began in late May 2015. The church called in the police commercial crime unit in July.

McCaughan worked at the church for about 10 years and left of his own accord in January 2015, prior to the church audit. He is single and didn’t have any children — a fact that meant some who knew him didn’t think twice about his spending, an acquaintance told the Free Press.

Parisioners 'feel betrayed'

The police had already been informed of the fraud allegations by the time St. Bernadette parish pastor Fr. Phil Daley was appointed to the church in August 2015.

Daley said he has never met McCaughan.

The priest said he believed the funds were stolen through fraudulent cheques, cash donations being pocketed and "creative bookkeeping."

Daley said he’s going to help his parishioners — about 1,500 to 2,000 families — heal from the news their donations and Sunday collection money was allegedly stolen for years and used to pay for a "lavish" lifestyle.

"It’s a place where a lot of people come together and they think they’re doing good, they know they’re doing good. So to have somebody betray that, I think that’s really where the biggest impact of victimization for the parishioners is going to be. They’re going to feel betrayed by this, and we’ll have to get over that."

The church was bleeding money even though the community was "trying desperately" to raise money for necessary renovations to the aging building, Daley said.

He said the church was in need of maintenance when he arrived: lights were burnt out and paint was peeling.

"They were having trouble making ends meet, even just from the point of view of maintaining the parish and they were talking about ways to cut. They were constantly cutting and still not making it," Daley said.

A new bookkeeper took over after McCaughan left and the church now has more oversight in place to make sure one person doesn’t have authority over all the money-handling, Daley said, and there are plans to seek restitution for the stolen funds.

McCaughan worked for many years with the previous pastor, Fr. Fred Olds, who left St. Bernadette last summer after 20 years. He’s now a pastor at St. Timothy Parish in St. Vital, but could not be reached for comment Wednesday.

'Devastating' news: usher

Don Buccini has been an usher with the church since 1968 and described the news as "devastating" for the church.

He acknowledged that McCaughan was no longer a member of the congregation, but said most of the regular church members were just finding out why he left the organization.

"I think a lot of this was hush-hush," Buccini said Wednesday, adding it was most likely for privacy reasons. "I know there is going to be a lot of comments."

As a longstanding member of the church and usher, Buccini said he was informed of the allegations about six months ago when the archdiocese conducted the audit.

"I did not know anything about what was happening and I knew Leo very well," he said. "It was very surprising."

Buccini described McCaughan as a friendly thrill-seeker who used to race cars at Red River Co-op Speedway and was a frequent face at the church.

"He (McCaughan) has been there for a long time and I have done business with him for a long time," he said. "But it is only one person and sometimes you have to take a backseat and see what transpires."

'Major setback' for St. Bernadette: archdiocese

In a written statement, the Archdiocese of St. Boniface said since the discovery of the missing funds, it has issued an audit report outlining recommendations to establish internal controls. The archdiocese said it is working closely with the church’s new pastor and the parish finance committee to implement safeguards to ensure parish assets are protected. The archdiocese has been conducting routine audits of all parishes during the last two years.

"The Archdiocese of Saint Boniface is deeply saddened for the parishioners of St. Bernadette. People have donated funds to the parish in good faith," said the statement. "This is a major setback for the people of St. Bernadette. However, the archdiocese, the new pastor, the deacon and the staff are committed to working together to heal the parish’s wounds."

Winnipeg Police Service spokesman Const. Jason Michalyshen said the case is "incredibly concerning."

"Whether we’re talking about $1,000 or $400,000 is essentially irrelevant," Michalyshen said.

"If an individual is in a position of trust such as this, any group or organization has those high standards or the expectation that they’re going to conduct themselves professionally and ethically.

"But unfortunately, from time to time, individuals will take advantage of their positions."

Michalyshen said co-operation from the church and archdiocese moved the investigation forward.

"This is serious. This is a significant amount of money and it’s important that these funds, that essentially come from the public, that this be made public," Michalyshen said.

Rev. Robert Couture guilty of embezzling $169K from church in Canada

A jury in Windsor has convicted a southern Ontario Catholic priest of embezzling more than $150,000 from his Tecumseh church.

Assistant Crown attorney Tom Meehan said Thursday he will seek jail time for Rev. Robert Couture.

Couture could face up to 10 years in jail, Meehan said outside the Ontario court of justice in Windsor.

Couture, 52, was released on a promise to appear Feb. 5, when a date will be set for sentencing.

Jurors began deliberations at 5 p.m. Wednesday before breaking at 8:30 p.m. They returned a guilty verdict at about 10 a.m. Thursday.

Meehan said he was pleased with the jury's verdict, calling Couture a trusted figure in the community who broke that trust.

During the trial, which started Nov. 24, the jury heard Couture used the money to fund a lavish lifestyle that included trips to Europe, New York, Disney theme parks and fine dining.

Couture was parish priest at Ste. Anne Parish's church in Tecumseh, just east of Windsor, when parish officials asked KPMG to conduct a forensic audit of the church's books. That investigation found thousands of dollars in missing funds between 2002 and 2010, and prompted the parish to contact police.

Ontario Provincial Police said the audit revealed at least $169,000 in irregularities, and Couture was charged with one count of theft over $5,000 nearly two years ago.

The Crown accused Couture of stealing in several ways, including taking money from collection plates and charging fees to funeral homes.

Couture would charge $260 for "prayer teams" to come to funerals, but he would then give the church cheques for only $125 to $140, and pocket the rest.

Second bank account

Couture told the jury he opened a second account for Ste. Anne without permission from the diocese.

When asked by the Crown why he needed this separate TD Bank account, considering Ste. Anne's already had an account at National Bank, Couture said used his "pastoral judgment."

Couture was the only person able to access the account, which he said he opened in order to simplify the distribution of money donated from his parishioners. He also said the bank account allowed…

Accused in Simon Fraser University embezzlement case reportedly used false credentials while working for Cultus Lake Park Board

Questions have been raised about the credentials of the man most recently in control of the Cultus Lake Park Board's (CLPB) finances.

Siamak Saidi, who faces a civil suit and a number of criminal charges connected to the alleged misappropriation of more than $800,000 from Simon Fraser University (SFU), has been using a designation he is not permitted to use, according to the Certified Management Accountants of B.C. (CMABC).

And the business he was connected to, Siamak Saidi Ltd., "is not and has never been licensed to carry on the practice of public accounting in British Columbia," according to the Chartered Accountants of British Columbia (CABC).

On Tuesday, the CABC issued a public notice-which appeared as an ad in the Vancouver Sun-that said Siamak Saidi Ltd. is not "entitled to use the designation 'Chartered Accountant' or the initials 'CA'."

Saidi is currently in jail awaiting his next court appearance in Vancouver on Oct. 3. The results of an internal audit in 2012 by SFU were turned over to the RCMP, which led to four charges in August of this year: fraud over $5,000, theft over $5,000, forgery and using forged documents.

Saidi was terminated from his SFU job in January 2012-unrelated to the alleged fraud-and was hired by the CLPB as manager of financial services later that same year.

In email correspondence while employed at Cultus Lake, Saidi put the letters CA and CMA after his name, the latter standing for certified management accountant.

A spokesperson for CMABC told the Times that Saidi was a student member for one year, 2001-2002, and that when the organization found out last month he was using the designation, he was sent a letter ordering him to stop.

After the charges came to light in August, the CLPB put him on leave until further notice. The board said staff had not found any unauthorized financial transactions after a review of accounts and investments was done.

As of Wednesday, the website for Siamak Saidi Ltd.,www.siamaksaidi.com, had the Chartered Accountants of Canada logo on the site.

A call Wednesday to the phone number listed on the website was answered by a woman who said Saidi "used to use this office." When asked about the CABC's concerns, the woman said the website was in the process of being taken down.

CLPB chair Sacha Peter-who incidentally is a CMA himself-declined to comment on the case as it is before the courts.

Church duped by accused con man, sold in forced sale in Canada

A bad business deal between an evangelical pastor and an accused con man has cost the church’s congregation its church, school and daycare.
On Friday, a judge ordered the final sale of the Victory Christian Center at 11520 Ellerslie Road. The congregation will have to be out by the end of July.
The details of the sale, including the buyer, have been sealed pending closure of the deal — but court documents show the church and surrounding lands had an appraised value of between $6.6 million and $7.14 million.
Both the church and a second mortgage holder, Edmonton dentist Ram Singh, will receive nothing from the sale. The first mortgage holder, Romspen Investments, will receive the proceeds of the sale but will still lose about $8 million.
“This is a difficult case for everyone involved,” Court of Queen’s Bench Justice Julia Topolniski told the court. “It is difficult for the congregation, the children at the school, for the daycare, and for Dr. Singh.”
The Victory Church property had been originally listed for sale at $14 million. But Topolnitsky noted that the property had been on the market for 10 months, and a new appraisal had pegged its value at roughly half its original listed price.
“The market has spoken,” Topolnitsky said.
Court documents show Victory Church pastor Cal Switzer sold the Victory property to developer Kevyn Frederick in August 2008 for $18 million. Frederick transferred the land to a numbered company he controlled but did not register the mortgage, which would have guaranteed the property reverted back to the church if he did not make his payments.
The documents show Frederick made a down payment of $2.8 million but paid nothing more.
The property fell into foreclosure and eventually a judicial sale was ordered.
As part of the original deal, Frederick was supposed to provide the church with land in Leduc for a new church. But documents show he also reneged on that deal.
Court documents show Switzer inexplicably cut the deal with Frederick on behalf of the church without any independent legal advice.
Court records show Frederick has used numerous aliases including Kevin Sheldon Frederick, Kevin Ronald Frederick and Portia Frederick.
He is the subject of numerous legal proceedings related to real-estate deals in which he borrowed huge sums to finance purchases, only to have the deals collapse when he defaulted on mortgage payments.
One of those deals was for the Chateau Lacombe Hotel in downtown Edmonton. That deal collapsed after Frederick defaulted on the mortgage without making a single payment. Another deal, the Bellavera Green Condo development in Leduc, also collapsed.
The mortgage holder in the Chateau Lacombe deal — Romspen — slapped a $32 million mortgage on Frederick’s Victory church property in an attempt to recover some of its money.
Edmonton dentist Ram Singh also put a $10 million mortgage on the property in an attempt to recover the money he is owed on the Bellavera Condo deal. It was those creditors that forced the judicial sale of the Victory property.
Frederick is also being sued by resident owners of a Fort McMurray condo building after their reserve fund disappeared.
Court documents show Frederick borrowed nearly $1.7 million from an Edmonton bank to develop the Fort McMurray building, but defaulted on the loan leaving the condo in receivership. The lawsuit accuses Frederick of “embezzlement, unauthorized misappropriation and secret misdirection” of $268,000. The condo owners are now stuck with the future cost of maintenance and repairs.
The court heard today that no one has any idea where Frederick is and that he took interest in the sale of the Victory church property.

Tenured McGill University professor fired after accounting ‘twirps’ uncover $159,500 in improper spending

Avi Chaudhuri was an academic star at McGill University who had completed his PhD under a Nobel laureate at UC Berkeley and held a prestigious James McGill professorship recognizing his “scholarly excellence.”

In 2008, when questions were raised about his spending of research money, the psychology professor had little patience for the university-hired auditors who came nosing around.

“I am not going to tell some twirp with an accountancy diploma who my professional colleagues are so that he can call around and embarrass me,” he complained to his dean in December 2008.

“I will also be telling [the auditors] that I feel I have co-operated enough with their process and that I must now devote myself to scholarly work, including finishing up a major book for publication this summer.”

Seven months later, McGill fired Mr. Chaudhuri, and it was the accounting “twirps” who were largely responsible, digging up $159,500 in improper spending. In a decision rendered March 1, Quebec’s labour relations commission upheld his dismissal, agreeing with the auditors’ finding that the professor “intentionally misused funds in order to obtain personal benefits.”

Mr. Chaudhuri’s downfall began at a time of personal trauma. His mother in Toronto had suffered a debilitating stroke, and in 2004, Mr. Chaudhuri arranged for her to be flown to India so she could die in her homeland. A month before the flight, he used his McGill purchasing card to buy a $19,500 mattress designed for people with limited mobility.

He said he had shipped the mattress with his mother to be used in a study on stroke victims in India, denying that he had actually bought it for his mother. But the adjudicator hearing the case, Jean Paquette, concluded there was no evidence that Mr. Chaudhuri had ever planned a stroke study. When first questioned, Mr. Chaudhuri initially said the mattress was in a warehouse in India, but he later acknowledged to his dean that it was in an apartment owned by his family in Calcutta.

‘Chaudhuri’s version contains too many inconsistencies and implausibilities to be credible and preponderant’

The university also examined 14 trips to India that Mr. Chaudhuri made between 2006 and 2008. He charged the university and funding agencies a total of $140,000 for the trips, but the auditors questioned the legitimacy of the expenses.

The adjudicator concluded that rather than conducting research related to his university position during his travels, Mr. Chaudhuri was working on behalf of PAC Med Biotech, a private consulting company he runs with family members.

“[Mr.] Chaudhuri’s version contains too many inconsistencies and implausibilities to be credible and preponderant,” Mr. Paquette wrote.

In advising him of his dismissal, McGill principal Heather Munroe-Blum accused Mr. Chaudhuri of misappropriating funds, misrepresenting his activities and showing “blatant disregard” for university rules.

“All of this leads to an irreparable breach of trust upon which the academy is founded and upon which the collegial relationship of professors to their universities depends,” she wrote.

Jim Turk, executive director of the Canadian Association of University Teachers, said it is rare for a tenured professor to be dismissed in Canada.

The CAUT supported Mr. Chaudhuri’s legal challenge and Mr. Turk said Tuesday that he is troubled by the labour relations commission’s decision. He said Mr. Chaudhuri is currently in India and does not wish to comment on his case. The CAUT are “reviewing what options there are for him at this point,” Mr. Turk said, adding that “the consequences are devastating” for Mr. Chaudhuri.

He said pressure on scientists to combine academic and commercial work has led to a blurring of the lines, and Mr. Chaudhuri’s case was anything but clear-cut. “There have to be the kind of clear guidelines that there haven’t historically been about how you separate it,” he said.

PTO Embezzlement case will be heard by judge alone

The former chair of Discovery Passage school’s Parent Advisory Council and her husband, who are both charged with embezzling funds raised for the school, made their first court appearance Monday.

Jessica Taylor, 35, and husband Neil Taylor, 35, stood before Justice of the Peace Christine Ballman as Neil’s defence lawyer, James Hormoth, and Brian Dybwad (agent for Doug Marion, Jessica’s defence lawyer) said they had elected to go to trial before a judge alone.

Dybwad said Marion “estimates four days (for the trial) – three days for a preliminary inquiry.”

The Taylors are expected back in court on Monday.

Both Jessica and Neil have plead not guilty to one count of fraud over $5,000 and one count of theft over $5,000. The pair allegedly stole the money from the small elementary school’s Parent Advisory Council between Dec. 1, 2010 and Jan. 31, 2012.

During that time, Jessica served as the chair for part of the 2011/12 school year and as treasurer in 2011, while Neil filled the role of treasurer in 2011-12.

RCMP Staff Sgt. Troy Beauregard said police received a complaint from the Parent Advisory Council last January, and after a lengthy investigation, the Taylors were charged on Nov. 9 with one count each of theft and fraud.

Jessica was the driving force behind a campaign to raise money for the school to fund a new playground throughout 2011 and the early part of 2012.

She was concerned after the school district tore down the old wooden climber that the students would have nothing to play on, particularly the influx of young students who were about to start all-day kindergarten that fall.

The Mirror covered Jessica’s – and the rest of the Parent Advisory Council’s – rigourous fundraising efforts over a span of a year and a half.

Over that time, the parent group raised about $8,000 through a fun fair, magazine sales, a student’s pledges collected for completing the Great Walk from Tahsis to Gold River, plus a $10,000 reimbursement grant from the province to cover an addition added to the original playground.

The school finally did get its playground after Jessica was no longer on the Parent Advisory Council, thanks to a $50,000 provincial grant it received in June 2012.

Curfew for ex-school board official in Canada

FROM THE PROVINCE.COM -


A former Surrey School District associate superintendent who stole thousands of dollars from his employer was given a conditional sentence Monday in B.C. Provincial Court.
Robert Chadwick, 63, pleaded guilty on June 10 to breach of trust by a public officer. Chadwick and his wife Barbara, who was his administrative assistant, were also charged with fraud and theft over $5,000, but those charges were stayed.
According to an agreed-upon statement of facts, between July 2001 and June 2003 Robert Chadwick, who was an associate superintendent for six years, was responsible for the financial management of a contract the school district had with San Diego State University for use of district facilities.
Chadwick put payments totalling $416,000 into an external account he set up. Of that amount, $25,000 went to the school district. Most of the remaining money was used legitimately, but almost $44,000 was not.
The irregularities were discovered after a 2006 internal audit and a hearing was ordered, but Chadwick and his wife resigned before the hearing took place. They were criminally charged in July 2010.
In 2009, the district filed a civil suit against the couple, claiming they transferred more than $167,689.32 of district funds into a separate, unaudited account.
The Chadwicks settled the civil suit out of court in March, agreeing to pay the school board $78,000 to cover the $44,000 they took and costs incurred by the district.
In his decision, Judge James Bahen said an 18-month conditional sentence was appropriate partly because Chadwick has no prior criminal record and is not a danger to the community, nor is he a risk to reoffend.
Chadwick has paid the full amount owed in the civil court decision, pleaded guilty and, according to Bahen, expressed remorse.
Bahen said the offence is "clearly inconsistent with [Chadwick's] previous career and personal achievements."
The conditional sentence includes a curfew from 8 p.m. to 6 a.m. for the first four months.

Pastor at Waterloo church arrested on theft charges in Canada

Reverend Paul Hartig, the senior pastor of St. John's Lutheran Church in Waterloo, has been charged in connection with thefts from the church.Waterloo Regional Police say the 46-year-old from Kitchener was arrested Wednesday, following an investigation into thefts of money from the church in 2009 and 2010. He is charged with theft over $5,000.He was released on a Promise to Appear, and a court date is scheduled for Jan. 17, 2011.Hartig describes his background on his blog "Confessions of a Parish Pastor," saying he grew up in the Preston area of Cambridge, completed an undergraduate degree through Wilfrid Laurier University and a Masters through Waterloo Lutheran Seminary.