Police probe of Mayor Susan Fennell will go deeper than city audit
Investigation is expected to look for potential criminal acts, not just broken city rules — and could lead to jail time.

theStar.com
Aug. 8, 2014
San Grewal

Municipal law experts say Brampton Mayor Susan Fennell or other officials could see jail time if an upcoming police investigation of council spending leads to any convictions.

“The inquiry by the police will be concerned with possible criminal wrongdoing,” said St. Catharines-based municipal lawyer Thomas Richardson. “They’re not interested in (the city’s) internal rules.”

Following a decision by city council, a yet-undetermined police force will soon receive the audit findings of Deloitte Canada, which spent four months investigating the spending of Brampton Mayor Susan Fennell and her staff, as well as spending by councillors.

It found that Fennell and her staff broke the city’s expense and spending rules 266 times in seven years, for transactions totalling $131,581 (not including misspent money later reimbursed). An additional 79 transactions, totalling $155,952 may have breached the city’s rules, but Deloitte said it did not receive sufficient information from Fennell or staff to make a determination.

The other ten councillors were found to have misspent $42,979 over the same period.

The question on many observers’ minds is: What could be the outcome of a police probe?

“You could see jail time if there’s proof beyond a reasonable doubt, if there’s a criminal standard,” said Toronto municipal lawyer John Mascarin.

He explained that with council’s vote Wednesday to send the audit results to the police, it’s no longer just Brampton’s own rules that apply, or even the province’s own rules that specifically govern municipalities.

“It’s being taken out of the realm of the Municipal Act and into the realm of criminality.”

Mascarin explained which three sections of the Ontario Criminal Code could be applied if the police investigation leads to criminal charges.

Fennell, any other councillor or staff who possibly broke the law could be charged with fraud, breach of trust by a public officer, or municipal corruption.

Each offence carries a maximum prison term of no more than five years.

While Brampton council’s motion triggered a police review, it will not be done by the Peel Regional Police because councillors felt Fennell’s membership on the Peel Police Services Board represents a conflict. Richardson and Mascarin both suggested that Ontario Provincial Police are the likely target.

But neither would speculate on which charges might be laid, if there’s enough evidence, or which spending infractions might lead to charges.

Fennell and her staff misspent $134,847 on 190 flights that were not booked at the economy fare. In January she told the Star that the flight passes she used were for “economy fare” flights. The audit states Fennell told Deloitte that a 2007 flight to London for $3,950 was approved by the city’s acting chief administration officer. Deloitte wrote in its investigation report that “no documentation was provided” to support Fennell’s claim.

The investigation also found that Fennell had $144,150 in 38 transactions for her 24/7 on-call limousine service over three years. But no records were provided to show that the limo was used for city business.

One of the co-authors of the Deloitte audit told council Wednesday that a police investigation might employ warrants to get information the auditors could not get.

Another potential issue is the $24,294 charged to city credit cards issued to Fennell or her staff — including at least $10,000 spent in Miami Beach, where Fennell owns a condo — that was later reimbursed by her private fundraising gala. The gala, which is not a registered charity, solicits funds that are supposed to be distributed to Brampton community groups.

“In London (former mayor) Joe Fontana was found guilty, and that was for $1,700,” Mascarin said, pointing out that the London, Ont., mayor’s spending infraction — using government funds to cover his son’s wedding reception expenses — occurred while he was an MP.

In June, Fontana was found guilty of fraud and sentenced to four months’ house arrest.

Mascarin said it’s not uncommon for municipal officials to be investigated.

“I know the OPP is investigating matters in a number of municipalities. I’m out of town right now to interview a mayor about questionable expenses.”