Couple behind 2015 Ayr fundraiser plead not guilty

Josh and Cynthia DeSilva face fraud, theft charges

KITCHENER — A couple charged with fraud and theft after holding a public fundraiser in Ayr for their three-year-old daughter pleaded not guilty eight times on Monday.

Josh DeSilva, 41, and his wife Cynthia DeSilva, 37, are each charged with two counts of fraud under $5,000 and two counts of theft under $5,000.

Josh DeSilva entered his pleas in a loud voice. His wife made her pleas with an emphasis on the word “not.”

They represented themselves in Kitchener court for pretrial motions on Monday. Their trial is set to start in January.

The couple had said the money from their fundraiser in August 2015 was going to go to help research infantile neuroaxonal dystrophy.

They said their daughter has the rare genetic disorder.

Police alleged the money was not forwarded to the intended recipient.

The fundraiser was billed as an attempt to break the Guinness World Record of selling more than 236,484 balloons for a water fight.

At the time, Josh DeSilva said 27,000 water balloons were sold, raising more than $10,000.

Hundreds of people, including North Dumfries firefighters, police officers and local politicians, attended the fundraiser at Schmidt Park in Ayr.

At the event, the couple said their daughter had been diagnosed the year before with infantile neuroaxonal dystrophy, a neurological disorder that causes loss of vision, muscular control and mental skills. Most afflicted children don’t live past the age of 10.

The DeSilvas lived in Ayr at the time of the fundraiser but now live in Kearney, near the western edge of Algonquin Provincial Park, court records show.