School-council thief sorry, lawyer says
The lawyer for the former treasurer of the Rockcliffe Park Public School council says his client was a troubled alcoholic who was spending more than he was earning when he stole at least $65,000 from the parent-run council more than two years ago.
Mark MacDonald, 51, pleaded guilty earlier this year to defrauding the organization.
During that court appearance, the former senior Canadian military officer and defence industry executive admitted he had used his volunteer position to withdraw $124,037.83 from the school council’s account.
MacDonald had paid back more than $58,000 of that money when the fraud was detected because cheques to milk and pizza providers started to bounce in early 2012.
Since then, the school board helped cover nearly $37,000 in unpaid debts.
It was reported another $19,000 was redirected from funds raised by the school’s book fair to pay off outstanding amounts.
The school council also owed almost $30,000 for an after-school homework club run by Bettye Hyde Co-operative Nursery School.
It wasn’t the first time MacDonald had taken money and then paid it back. He admitted to taking funds from the school council accounts in 2009, but no one noticed. MacDonald paid back most of the money about a year later.
A prosecutor said MacDonald was spending more than he was earning.
MacDonald was an alcoholic who was suffering from undiagnosed and untreated mental-health problems at the time he took the money, said his Ottawa lawyer, Ewan Lyttle.
MacDonald has since spent nearly eight weeks in two separate intensive alcohol addiction rehabilitation programs in Guelph and Toronto, Lyttle said. MacDonald has seen a psychiatrist regularly for the past year and is due to undergo an assessment soon at the Centre for Addiction and Mental Health in Toronto.
Lyttle said MacDonald is remorseful about what he has done and intends to pay back the money he stole. Lyttle wouldn’t elaborate on what MacDonald spent the money on.
The theft left one of Ottawa’s wealthiest school councils “precariously close” to losing a critical after-school program paid for by the parents, a Crown prosecutor said.
“I’m just glad the justice system is working,” said Elise Zarkadas, who was head of the Rockcliffe Park School Council at the time of the fraud.
At the time of the fraud, MacDonald was working as director of business development for CGI Group in Ottawa.
Before that, he had spent 20 years in the Canadian military, where he served as a senior officer on Lt.- Gen. Andrew Leslie’s staff. MacDonald also served in Germany, Cyprus and BosniaHerzegovina.
MacDonald has since found a new job in the Hamilton area, Lyttle said.
A sentencing hearing is expected sometime next year, and Lyttle said he intends to ask the court to spare MacDonald jail for the fraud and instead sentence him to a period of house arrest as part of a conditional sentence that can be served in the community.
“His post-plea steps are absolutely consistent with somebody who is genuinely remorseful and is committed to rehabilitating himself and righting what’s wrong,” Lyttle said.
The father of three hasn’t seen his children in more than a year but continues to make regular child-support payments, Lyttle said.
Lyttle said he expects MacDonald will address the school council and apologize during his sentencing hearing.