Charges stayed against spa owner

Extortion and fraud charges have been stayed against the owner of an award-winning spa in the resort town of Manitou Beach.

Dwight Hayter, CEO of Manitou Springs Resort & Mineral Spa, was arrested in April 2015, accused of trying to defraud and extort money from three employees — two men and a woman — between January 2013 and July 2014. He was initially charged with three counts of extortion and three counts of fraud.

During Hayter’s preliminary hearing, a judge found there wasn’t sufficient evidence to proceed to trial on one set of charges. The remaining two counts of extortion and two counts of fraud set for trial at Saskatoon Court of Queen’s Bench were stayed on Sept 14. Unless new information comes forward within the next year, the charges will be dropped.

RCMP said in a news release the employees were allegedly forced to pay money in order to keep their jobs and stay in Canada.

“They were legally working in Saskatchewan, Canada, at the time,” RCMP spokesperson Mandy Maier said after charges were laid.

Hayter still faces a charge of accepting repayment of an employee’s wages under Section 76 of the Labour Standards Act.

In the criminal case, Crown prosecutor Buffy Rodgers said the Crown did not believe there was a reasonable likelihood of conviction given information that came forward during and after the preliminary hearing.

Rodgers said the employees, from St. Lucia and Jamaica, were in Saskatchewan under the Temporary Foreign Worker Program.

The government declined to comment while the matter is still before the court. Hayter could not be reached for comment.