Hickman’s Equipment fraud case headed to NL Supreme Court

St. John’s — The four former senior managers of the defunct Hickman Equipment, charged with defrauding the company, will be tried in Newfoundland Supreme Court.

When the cases of William Parsons, Hubert Hunt, John King and Gary Hillyard was called in provincial court Friday, Parsons’ lawyer Randy Piercey told the judge his client opted to be tried by judge and jury.

A decision was also made to waive the preliminary inquiry, which is often held to determine whether there is enough evidence to proceed to trial.

King’s lawyer, John McGrath, said he would rather the case be heard in provincial court. However, all lawyers have to be in compliance in order to do that.

Parsons, the defunct company’s former vice-president, Hunt, the former general manager, King, the former sales manager and Hillyard, the former chief financial officer, were all charged with swindling money from the company 10 years after the shuttered John Deere dealership went bankrupt.

They face almost 20 charges each, including fraud over $5,000 and conspiracy to commit fraud by falsifying company books and financial records.

Hickman Equipment, owned by a local family, went bankrupt in 2002. The company was in the hole to the tune of $113 million.

Police investigated suspicions that someone who worked for the company was selling millions of dollars’ worth of machinery the company didn’t own.

All four will be arraigned in Supreme Court in St. John’s on Sept. 9.