Couple admits to defrauding volunteer search and rescue organization for 6 years
CBC
A husband and wife have pleaded guilty to bilking more than $82,000 from a volunteer search and rescue organization in which they held long-time senior roles.
Brian Bishop, 74, and Marina Bishop, 71, pleaded guilty to one count of fraud over $5,000 at provincial court in St. John's on Wednesday morning.
The fraud spanned a period of more than six years, from April 2015 through September 2021.
They have since repaid the full amount they had fraudulently taken.
Eleven other charges against the duo — including forgery-related offences and breach of trust — were withdrawn.
The Crown and defence made a joint submission for a conditional sentence of 12 months — essentially, house arrest — followed by 12 months of probation.
Judge Bruce Short set over his sentencing decision until next week.
According to an agreed statement of facts filed in court, the Bishops both got involved with CASARA in the late 1980s or early 1990s.
CASARA is a Canada-wide volunteer organization dedicated to the promotion of search and rescue awareness, and helping support Canadian Armed Forces search and rescue operations. It receives federal funding.
Brian Bishop was national vice-president of finance and administration for CASARA until May 2022. He was national vice-president of training and operations for two decades before that.
Marina Bishop was elected as secretary and treasurer for the St. John's zone of the organization's wing in Newfoundland and Labrador, CASARA-NL.
In court filings read into the record Wednesday, the Bishops admitted to depositing federal GST/HST cheques into the zone account, then issuing payments of more than $14,000 to themselves.
Additionally, there were 56 fraudulent transactions related to falsified expense claims made by Brian Bishop, for flights that never happened.
That included $38,000 for claims he made in his own name, plus a total of nearly $16,000 for claims made under the names of two others.
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