RCMP probing 150 of Pamela Wallin’s travel expense claims

Suspended Senator Pamela Wallin is fighting back against allegations from the RCMP that she fraudulently claimed nearly $27,500 in travel expenses, using public funds to “pursue private and business interests.”

Newly-released court documents filed by the RCMP to obtain information about Wallin’s travels and whereabouts on certain dates show that the Mounties were investigating 150 travel expense claims submitted by the former Conservative senator.

Investigators allege in 25 of those cases, which Wallin qualified as “Senate businesses,” she was in fact attending meetings or dinners related to her position as a member of the board of directors for Porter Airlines and Gluskin Sheff & Associates Inc., and was not on Senate business.

“Senator Wallin used public funds to travel to Toronto in order to pursue these private and business interests,” one of the documents alleges.

The documents also allege that Wallin fabricated meetings, which the RCMP claim they were able to determine “have never taken place.”

The RCMP allege that Wallin “fraudulently sought reimbursement” from the Senate for expenses totalling $27,493 between September 2009 and September 2012.

The Mounties also allege that someone in Wallin’s office altered her electronic calendar after the RCMP investigation began.

None of the allegations has been proven in court, and no charges have been laid.

Terrence O’Sullivan, Wallin’s lawyer, tells CTV News in a statement that trips to and from Ottawa for board meetings in Toronto “were intended to be fully paid for by those companies” and that “through an administrative error, some of those flights were inadvertently charged to the Senate.”

“When that error was discovered, that money was repaid to the Senate and that happened a very long time ago – more than 18 months ago,” O’Sullivan’s goes on to say.

“There was no possibility of personal gain for her since those companies’ policy was to fully reimburse her for her expenses,” O’Sullivan adds. “As a result of an error some of the expenses were charged to the Senate and when that was discovered that error was corrected.”

Brad Cicero, a Porter Airlines spokesperson, tells CTV News that board members are reimbursed for “approved expenses submitted (that are) associated with Porter business.”

“Porter has supplied any and all information to RCMP requested as part of its investigation,” Cicero adds.

Wallin has denied any wrongdoing, telling a radio station last year that she regrets paying back some $150,000 to the Senate despite her belief that most of her travel expenses were legitimate.

Wallin, along with fellow former Tories Patrick Brazeau and Mike Duffy, was suspended from the Senate in November 2013 over inappropriate expense claims.

Liberal Mac Harb resigned from the Senate in August 2013 after repaying ineligible housing and travel expenses.

Duffy faces 31 charges, including multiple counts of fraud and breach of trust. His trial will begin on April 7. Brazeau and Harb have also been charged with defrauding the Senate by making false or misleading expense claims.

In response to questions about changes to her calendar, Wallin previously said she was only asked to provide information relevant to the expenses being audited, so she and her staff reformatted her calendar “without irrelevant or private or personal information included.”

The documents released Monday include a 2013 letter from Wallin’s lawyer to the auditing firm Deloitte, explaining the reasons behind those calendar changes.