Hamilton choir rebuilding after treasurer pleads guilty to fraud, starts paying back thousands
CBC
The former volunteer treasurer of a Hamilton-based choir who bilked the group out of thousands has pleaded guilty to fraud over $5,000 and has agreed to slowly start paying them back.
MacKenzie Jenkyns was charged with with fraud over $5,000 and theft over $5,000, police announced in December 2018, following an investigation into "accounting irregularities."
The Hamilton man had defrauded the Canadian Orpheus Male Choir of roughly $50,000 between January 2016 and October 2018, investigators alleged at the time.
"It pretty well cleaned us out," said choir president Rod Roberts when reached by phone this week.
But, he said, the group has since received its first restitution payment, adding, "we're happy about that."
Jenkyns did not respond to emails seeking comment about his plea.
He also goes by the last name Kristjon, and has produced music in Hamilton under the moniker "This Mad Desire."
In an email to CBC, lawyer Jenn Steenbeek, who represented Jenkyns at sentencing, confirmed he had pleaded guilty to fraud over $5,000 in September 2021 and was sentenced on Feb. 28.
"As a result of some restitution being paid upfront, he received a lengthy conditional sentence order followed by a period of probation with terms for regular restitution payments," she wrote.
Court documents outline that Jenkyns received a two-year custodial sentence and 15 months of probation.
It outlines that restitution will be made in the form of monthly $1,200 payments while behind bars and another $15,232.05 to be paid by the end of his probation.
The choir sings everything from popular sings to spirituals in four-part harmony, said Roberts.
"We are known as 'Men who love to sing,'" its website says.
Roberts said the average age of choir members is around 77. Their oldest member retired last year and is now 91.
This story is a collaboration between the Investigative Journalism Foundation and CBC Saskatchewan.
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