Ex-B.C. union official, wife charged with $1.7-million theft

Criminal charges have been laid against a former secretary-treasurer of the International Longshore and Warehouse Union Local 502 and his wife, who are accused of stealing almost $1.7 million from the union.

Robert Victor Ford and Teressa Dee Ford (also known as Teressa Dee Prentice), are both charged with fraud over $5,000 and theft over $5,000. They were arrested Thursday. According to information filed in provincial court in Surrey this week, the alleged offences took place between July 1, 2006, and Aug. 31, 2012.

On Sept. 26, 2012, the union local filed a civil claim against the Fords and their children, alleging that Robert Ford had misappropriated union money and that his wife knew about the misappropriation and helped him conceal it from the union.

In January 2014, B.C. Supreme Court Justice Kenneth Affleck found that misappropriation had taken place and ordered Robert Ford to pay back $1.69 million. Two of his children were ordered to pay $2,000 each and Teressa Ford was ordered in a later decision to pay more than $800,000.

According to the January 2014 judgment, Robert Ford, who was the union local’s secretary-treasurer for about 10 years, “wrongly” took money “well beyond his own salary and expenses” from the union local’s coffers.

Affleck said Ford used various methods to misappropriate the money, such as writing “strike fund” on cheque stubs, calling one cheque “holiday pay,” characterizing some of the money as loans and using union money to pay his personal credit-card debt.

Ford argued in court that his actions were consistent with union practices, but Affleck did not accept his explanation. Ford’s theft was not accomplished by “a clever and complex plan,” Affleck said, but happened in part because of the union local’s “lax accounting practices.” The union local paid its bills mainly by cheque, which Ford could manipulate to his advantage, and frequently dealt with cash.

Another reason why Ford escaped detection for several years is because he was widely trusted by union local members because of his many years of service, Affleck said.

The fraud was discovered in August 2012, when the bank alerted the union local president that $400,000 in cheques payable to Ford had been cashed from the union local’s account. Ford resigned as secretary-treasurer shortly thereafter and the union local hired a forensic accountant to look over its books.

The judgment states that the Fords’ finances were in bad shape. They were frequently heavily overdrawn and repeatedly borrowed against their home to spend beyond their means. The money Ford took went, at least in part, toward paying off gambling debts.

Despite the civil judgments, Robert and Teressa Ford are considered innocent of the criminal charges until proven guilty in court. The standard of proof is different in civil and criminal cases.

A union representative could not be reached for comment.