Duffy ‘dishonest’ in use of office: RCMP
Friend was paid $65,000 in Senate funds for ‘no tangible work,’ Mounties allege
Sen. Mike Duffy billed the Senate for $65,000 to pay a friend who allegedly provided “no tangible work” in return, even after Senate finance officials raised concerns, the RCMP allege. Now the police want to know where the money went.
The RCMP laid out the new accusations of misspending against Duffy in a court document filed Tuesday in Ottawa, which seeks the banking information of Gerald Donohue. Investigators say he is a longtime friend of Duffy who told the RCMP he did little if no work for the senator in exchange for the cash.
The new allegations stem from an investigation of Duffy’s travel and housing expenses, which has now been expanded to include his office spending. The RCMP say he paid about $65,000 over a four-year period to Donohue — including a payment Duffy allegedly tried to back-date 11 months — “for little or no apparent work.”
None of the allegations has been tested in court nor have any charges been laid.
The work Donohue was supposed to have performed included speech-writing, work on Duffy’s website, help on a Canadian heritage project and a project about Canada’s aging population. Donohue told investigators he didn’t work on Duffy’s website, did little if any speech-writing or project work, but would often watch the news and tell Duffy what he had seen, the RCMP allege.
When Senate officials raised concerns about the vagueness of Donohue’s contracts, Duffy’s office wrote a new job description with more details.
Police have interviewed Donohue and he “acknowledged that he produced no tangible work product for Duffy,” Cpl. Greg Horton, the lead investigator, writes in the document.
“A public official is expected to spend taxpayers’ money in a transparent and responsible manner. Based on the facts … I believe that Senator Duffy, in his role as Canadian senator, breached the standard of responsibility and conduct demanded and expected of him as a person in a position of public trust,” Horton writes. “He used his office for a dishonest purpose, other than the public good. In doing so, he committed Breach of Trust and Fraud.”
Nowhere in the document does it say why Donohue took money from Duffy if he in fact did nothing in exchange, but Horton writes that all the payments to Donohue from the Senate were by cheque, and that Donohue “never funnelled any of the money back to Duffy.”
Donohue could not be immediately reached for comment.
The RCMP allege the money, handed out in lump-sum payments totalling more than $10,000 at a time, went to Donohue’s media company. His wife was its president and his son was a director. The company had no employees, although Duffy wrote in one memo to Senate administration that he needed to increase the value of Donohue’s contract because the consultant had hired additional staff.
Donohue told investigators he didn’t personally receive any of the money. He said he wasn’t allowed to because he was receiving disability payments.
The question for the RCMP now is: where did the money go? To answer that, Horton argues, the RCMP require account information connected to Donohue’s company, Maple Ridge Media.
“Approximately $65,000 was paid to Gerald Donohue’s companies, and he says he did not personally receive any of it,” Horton writes. “The supporting documentation relating to the bank transactions will assist investigators in identifying where the money went after it was deposited, and who received the money if Donohue did not.”
While Donohue spoke with investigators, Horton writes that attempts to interview Donohue’s wife and son have been unsuccessful. The two have declined to co-operate with investigators, saying they have nothing to add to the investigation.
In an email Tuesday, Duffy said, “It would be inappropriate for me to comment while these matters are being examined by the RCMP.”
Repeatedly in the court document, the RCMP outlines how Duffy expensed more than $10,000 at a time for work Donohue was supposed to perform — amounts higher than what he paid to three Prince Edward Island consulting firms he hired after joining the Senate in 2009.
The court document also includes memos Duffy wrote to Senate administration, which provide few details of the work Donohue was to perform — a stark contrast from the detailed contracts for work done by “legitimate consultants” in P.E.I. that were paid much less and could easily recall the work they provided Duffy.
Donohue, the RCMP allege, had “vague” contracts and invoices and had “an inflated hourly rate … selected by Duffy.”
In 2010, Senate administration questioned Donohue’s contract and the vague job description: “editorial services” and “writing services — including speeches.” Duffy’s assistant wrote back saying Donohue provided speech-writing services, Horton writes.
“Again, this is not true,” Horton writes. “It was at this point that Duffy’s office created a more detailed job description for Donohue, but which according to Donohue contained catch-all phrases of things that he could do, not of things that he actually did do.”
The document also makes reference to a Feb. 20 email between Duffy and Nigel Wright, then Prime Minister Stephen Harper’s chief of staff, in which Duffy allegedly talks about altering his Senate electronic calendar. According to the court document, Duffy allegedly wrote in the email that he “copied and redacted my 4 years of diaries; added a summary of my days in PEI, and pics of the cottage under construction etc. and sent it to Nigel by Purolator.”
The reference to an email dated Feb. 20 has been central to the entire Duffy affair. There have been reports of an email sent or received by Duffy on that date allegedly explaining how Wright would give Duffy about $90,000 to cover the repayment of Duffy’s improper housing expenses. Wight has said he personally gave Duffy that amount. Wright resigned after the payment came to light.
The court document goes on to say that Wright provided the RCMP with a printout of Duffy’s electronic calendar as part of hundreds of pages turned over to them in the summer. It was through those documents that the RCMP were able to piece together how often Duffy spoke with or met with Donohue.
A separate document filed by the RCMP Tuesday also seeks banking information on Sen. Patrick Brazeau. Horton argues that receiving the detailed banking information on Brazeau will show that he received money from the Senate for improper housing claims. The RCMP has already been investigating Brazeau.
The document says that the RCMP are now investigating Brazeau’s tax filings from 2004 through to 2008, when he allegedly used an on-reserve address even though he did not live there.