Berry leased space for failed restaurant

Former city worker Angela Berry’s fraud trial Tuesday heard she deposited cheques for purported marketing and IT work into the bank account for a Riverside restaurant. Wednesday, court heard Berry’s name was on that restaurant’s lease.

“Angela paid the rent,” landlord John Murray Troup testified in Superior Court. “Every month it was a battle to get the money.” The restaurant, Real Good Grub, was located at 494 Riverdale Ave. It was on the ground floor, with residential units above, Troup said.

Only twice was the $4,250 monthly rent on time, he said. He changed the locks and terminated the restaurant’s tenancy in December 2015 — 14 months into the five-year lease Berry and her daughter has signed. At the time, there was more than $6,700 in rent owed, not including utilities, legal fees and other costs.

Berry is accused of embezzling about $36,000 from the city between September 2014 and January 2015. She held the title of parks assets analyst, a position she moved into after being on a twoyear leave of absence. That leave came after Berry filed a complaint under workplace harassment and violence legislation that painted city hall as a toxic work environment.

Troup said Berry’s rent cheques for the restaurant bounced or wouldn’t come at all. When pressed, Berry would make partial payments in cash or by e-transfer. At one point, Berry was $20,000 in arrears.

“She pulled the money together,” Troup said. “I don’t know where she got the money.” Berry’s trial, before Superior Court Justice Bruce Thomas, is taking a hiatus. It resumes in two weeks with the final Crown witness — the owner of the company whose name was on the invoices the city paid.

Berry has admitted to depositing the cheques for those invoices — purportedly for marketing and IT work — into the restaurant account.