Crown seeks prison terms in Halton Region fraud case
Two to three years sought for former employee David Ohashi, four to five years sought for Hamilton’s David Norris
The Crown is seeking penitentiary terms for two men who defrauded Halton Region.
Halton Crown attorney Arish Khoorshed is asking for a sentence of two to three years in prison for David Ohashi, a former high-ranking manager in Halton’s water and wastewater division.
Ohashi, 59, was found guilty by a jury last year of fraud over $5,000, fraud under $5,000, and uttering a forged document.
Khoorshed said the length of sentences for fraud have been rising over the past two decades because “courts have begun to realize these are insidious offences.”
He described Ohashi’s fraud as an “extreme breach of trust.”
“This isn’t a Shopper’s Drug Mart cashier who takes from the till,” Khoorshed said. “This fraud was planned and executed. It was not something that could be done on the fly.”
The Crown is seeking a prison term of four to five years for David Norris of Hamilton, the principal of a company that was a vendor and service provider to Halton Region.
The Crown has also asked for a $1.4-million restitution order against Norris, who was found guilty of fraud over $5,000, municipal corruption, and accepting secret commissions in connection with fraudulent invoices that were paid out by the region over a number of years.
Ohashi’s lawyer, Domenic Basile, asked Superior Court Justice Erika Chozik for absolute discharges on the fraud under $5,000 and uttering forged document convictions. On the fraud over $5,000 charge, Basile is seeking either a suspended sentence or a conditional sentence of four to six months. “There was no personal greed here with respect to the monies,” Basile said. “There was no personal gain for Mr. Ohashi.”
Ohashi asked to address the court and he delivered what
could best be described as a victim impact statement, even though he was the guilty party.
Ohashi didn’t apologize or express remorse for his crimes but instead told court he’s heavily in debt, his career was destroyed and “this whole ordeal has been terrible for me.”
Norris, 58, is seeking a conditional sentence and he is contesting the amount of restitution he should pay, arguing the Crown didn’t accurately quantify the amount of the fraud.
The sentences for Ohashi and Norris will be handed down June 5 in Milton court.
The two men are still facing a civil lawsuit.
In December, The Spectator published an exclusive investigation based on a confidential report obtained from a
whistleblower that raised questions about the scope of Ohashi’s actions while he was employed by Halton Region.
The 50-page report was prepared by an external forensic accounting firm on behalf of the region in October 2018, two years after Ohashi was charged.
The report, which was provided to Halton’s director of legal services, alleges Halton Region spent tens of millions of dollars over more than a decade on bogus payments, faked invoices and unnecessary equipment.
It highlights a long list of instances where Ohashi allegedly accepted bribes and kickbacks, improperly helped outside companies obtain contracts with the region and aided them
in submitting fraudulent invoices.
The forensic accountants found dozens of occasions where Ohashi allegedly accepted money, flights, vacations, hotel rooms, tickets, electronics, home renovations, “adult entertainment” and even Viagra.
The forensic accounting firm prepared the investigative report based on emails, phone logs, texts, BlackBerry Messenger messages, a computer hard drive analysis, and reviews of Halton Region invoices and contracts.
Most of the allegations contained in the report don’t appear to be attached to the three charges that led to Ohashi’s convictions.