A probe into improper spending by four former members—and one current member—of Nova Scotia’s House of Assembly may evolve into criminal charges.
Auditor General Jacques Lapointe today issued a report (PDF) detailing his investigation in which he stated that the members in question “may have committed illegal acts related to their constituency expense claims.” Due to “the serious nature of his findings,” Lapointe said it was inappropriate for his office to continue exploration and turned over his files to the Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP).
Lapointe added that it would not be appropriate to publically release the names of those being investigated. When the story first broke however, ex-cabinet minister and former Member of the Legislative Assembly (MLA) for Bedford, Len Goucher (pictured) was mentioned as coming under scrutiny for his alleged spending of $9,328 on electronic technology, including the purchase of a copy of the Xbox 360 game Dance Dance Revolution.
Goucher later admitted that the game was in his grandson’s possession, but that he “he had no idea how it got on the list.”
Goucher has been nicknamed “The Master of Multitasking” by the Canadian Taxpayers Federation for his spending, which included his expensing “11 computers, 12 printers, five digital cameras and four video cameras” over a three-year span.
|Image from Metro Halifax|
