Special prosecutor assigned to pharmacists’ fraud case

A specialized prosecutor will be handling the case of three local pharmacists who face fraud charges.

Legal counsel for all three appeared on behalf of their clients Tuesday at the Medicine Hat Courthouse, with an adjournment to June 1.

The court heard that a specialized prosecutor for economic crime has been assigned to the case, and this prosecutor who is based out of Calgary had requested the adjournment.

Specialized prosecutors are part of a branch of the Alberta Crown that focuses on “sensitive and complex areas,” as noted on the Alberta Justice website. This includes commercial crime, environmental and occupational health and safety cases, organized crime, technology and Internet crime.

No pleas have been entered by Kathryn Kaiser, Evan King and Robert Stadnyk, who each face a charge for fraud over $5,000, with allegations that they received rebates and incentive payments to the sum of $1.6 million directly through negotiating drug purchases. All three worked at pharmacies owned by the Medicine Hat Co-op (now known as South Country Co-op), and have since had their employment terminated.

Preliminary hearing

A brief appearance and adjournment occurred Tuesday for a man charged in the death of a Medicine Hat woman last November, as dates are arranged for a preliminary inquiry.

Noah Harrison Bentley appeared before court by CCTV from the Medicine Hat Remand Centre Tuesday, with his matters adjourned to June 1 — A pretrial conference is set to take place in the next week to ascertain a date for the preliminary hearing, which will then be officially set on June 1.

Bentley was charged Nov. 12 following the death of Brenda Woloski. He has been in custody since, and has not yet had a bail hearing. He has not entered a plea to the charge. Earlier this year, Bentley was sent for assessment in Calgary as to whether he could be held criminally responsible.