The RCMP Federal Serious and Organized Crime Unit will not be recommending any criminal charges related to the investigation at the Thompson Nicola Regional District.
Spokesperson Sgt. Kris Clark tells NL News it comes after a thorough investigation which essentially mirrored the BDO Canada audit report, which was released publicly on Monday.
“Some of the financial practices that were in place were certainly not the best practice, but at the end of the day certain elements need to be satisfied in order for an offence to have been found to have been committed, and in this case, not all of the elements could be satisfied after the course of the investigation,” Clark said, though he noted he was not able to get into specifics of the investigation.
He said even if the RCMP had recommended charges, the Crown would have had to approve it, based on the likelihood of a conviction.
“Again, when you look at the offence in the Criminal Code, there are certain elements that have to be satisfied, and if they are satisfied, you can proceed. If not, you can’t,” Clark said.
Kamloops RCMP got involved in March of last year, after they were contacted by members of the TNRD who “presented information that may have been associated with criminality.”
The file was sent to the Federal Serious and Organized Crime unit in May.
Clark said if new information was to arise, the RCMP could possibly get involved “at the discretion of the TNRD.”
They would need to make the request,” he said. “If there is new evidence that might satisfy the elements of the offence, it would be incumbent on the TNRD themselves to bring that forward to the police for further investigation.”
The BDO Canada forensic audit, which found an “inappropriate culture of spending” under former TNRD CAO Sukh Gill, listed several instances of excessive spending between 2015 and 2020 as well as concerns about a conflict of interest over some of the contracts awarded by the regional district during Gill’s tenure.
“We did see all over the place inconsistencies and incomplete information in terms of invoices submitted, whether names have been listed on receipts,” BDO Canada’s Simon Padgett said.
“There was just no standard pattern of events, and of course policies and procedures are designed to bring about a standard process for everybody to follow.”
The audit came about after a vote by the TNRD board in March, 2021. That was almost a year after Gill’s sudden retirement in Feb. 2020 with a severance package in excess of $500,000 and a subsequent investigation by Kamloops This Week which showed more than $517,000 of taxpayers money expensed by the Gill.
A list of where money was spent by the TNRD between 2015 and 2020 can be found here, courtesy Kamloops This Week.
You’ll find the BDO Canada Forensic Audit Report here You’ll find the TNRD’s current response to the recommendations here.
