OTTAWA – Several people listed as donors to a Conservative riding association in Montreal say they did not make the donations attributed to them by the party.
The donations – in the amounts of $333.33, $666.66 and $733.33– appear on the 2009 Elections Canada filing of the Conservative riding association of Laurier-Sainte-Marie, a downtown Montreal district that was represented by Bloc Quebecois Leader Gilles Duceppe until 2011, when New Democrat Hélène Laverdière defeated him.
Conservative candidate Charles K. Langford, a businessman and professor, came fifth in the riding in 2008 and fourth in 2011.
From 2006 to 2009, the Conservative riding association collected $583,318.96 from 931 donations, many from people connected with engineering companies and law firms. It also distributed $376,739.36 – mostly to other ridings around Quebec. The Megantic-Lerable riding of Industry Minister Christian Paradis, for instance, received $41,841 in 2009.
Such transfers between riding associations are legal, and are traditionally used by the Conservatives and Liberals in Quebec to gather and distribute funds for other candidates.
The unexplained donations – Postmedia News uncovered 11 – fall mostly into three groups: a group of donations of $666.66, totalling $99,999; a group of donations of $733.33, totalling $32,999.85; and a group of donations of $333.33, totalling $14,333.19.
Postmedia tried to contact all the donors on the riding’s donor list from 2007 to 2009, almost 550 people. Many failed to return calls; others could not be located. Some said they couldn’t recall making donations, and others declined to discuss the issue. But 11 said they definitely did not make donations, and would like to know how their names ended up on the list.
Rocco Carbone, who owns an asbestos removal business, was surprised to hear he was listed as a donor to the Tory riding association.
“I gave money to the party?� he said. “I never gave no money to no party.�
Italio Barone, who owns a banquet hall in Montreal’s Little Italy, said he is not a Conservative and doesn’t know where Laurier-Sainte-Marie is.
“I have nothing to do with the Conservatives,� he said. “I want to find out who the guy was doing the fundraising because I have a few words to say to him.�
Years ago, Barone, a former city councillor, hosted a supper for Mario Dumont, then the leader of Action démocratique du Québec, and made a donation to that party.
Two other names on the list are relatives of Barone who also did not donate, he told Postmedia News.
Dino Carfora, who now lives in Toronto, has no idea who might have put his name on a list of donors, but he says he didn’t make a $666.66 donation, because he was struggling to get a catering business off the ground in 2009.
“If I ever donated it might have been $50, $100, but nowhere near that amount,� he said. “Are you kidding me? I had just started a business. I had no money. There’s no way it could be me.�
Sara Castaneda, a Salvadoran immigrant of modest means who lives in Dorval, says she did not give the $1,000 attributed to her, and neither did her husband. Another man – Daniel Jean – who was listed at the same address as them on Elections Canada records, never lived there, she said.
Langford, the former candidate, didn’t respond to emails or calls requesting an interview. Angela Argiriou, the official agent for his campaign, said she had nothing to do with fundraising, which was carried out by the riding association, a separate organization.
The Conservatives collected many donations at a big fundraising dinner held at Montreal’s Queen Elizabeth hotel on May 20, 2009, according to the riding’s financial officer, Benoit Larocque.
Larocque said a pair of tickets to the fundraiser sold for $1,000 but resulted in a $666.66 donation after subtracting the cost of the event, which featured a keynote speech by Prime Minister Stephen Harper. The donations of $666.66 are dated between March and June, 2009.
Montreal’s The Suburban newspaper reported at the time of the dinner that “more than 2,300 people paid $150 a ticket,� to mingle with Harper, with then-environment minister Jim Prentice and with former foreign affairs minister Maxime Bernier.
Senator Leo Housakos, who was then Harper’s key organizer in Quebec, organized the event. Housakos, a close friend of Harper’s then-director of communications, Dimitri Soudas, did not respond to queries about his role in fundraising for the riding association.
One donor who is listed as giving $666.66 says he actually gave more, but didn’t attend the event in question.
“I know for a fact I’ve never attended any $1,000 Harper events,� said Christos Karidogiannis. “I mean for that amount, the prime minister better be there.�
Karidogiannis, a Montreal businessman who ran for city council in 1998, said he likely gave the party $1,100 in 2009, not $666.66.
A number of other donors also reported giving more than is recorded in Elections Canada’s records.
Alexander Pezoulas, who said he did not attend any fundraisers, also said he did not donate $666.66, the sum attributed to him in the records with Elections Canada. “I have a record of $1,000,� he said.
Some other donors report giving $500, but the records show they gave $333. Larocque did not respond to an email asking for an explanation of the discrepancy.
Forensic accountant Damien Alksnis, who examined a spreadsheet of donors and donations put together by Postmedia News, says the results raise a red flag and warrant investigation.
“I would want to see, if I were to be conducting an investigation, can you confirm that a cheque was written to the party from every person on that list?� he said. “If it was, OK then I guess it was. But why for that amount? It’s an odd amount. If you’re going to pay $666, odds are you’d pay $500 or $750.�
However, a fundraising event— such as a dinner or golf tournament — could explain the pattern of donations seen in the Laurier-Sainte-Marie riding, according to Alksnis.
Federal law requires riding associations to submit audited financial records to Elections Canada each year.
“Normally we check 100 per cent of the cheques,� said Robert Guindon, the accountant who audited the riding association’s records between 2007 and 2009. “I can’t say that I’m sure with Laurier-Sainte-Marie, I can check my files but I can’t say for sure. Normally, we look through all of the cheque stubs, let’s just leave it at that.�
He did not reply to a followup email asking if he had checked his records after Postmedia initially inquired.
Larocque, who was a paid organizer for the party in 2009, said he has copies of all the cheques, and was surprised to hear that some donors say they didn’t write cheques.
“That’s surprising because the cheques were made by individuals and then deposited in due course,� he said. “The donations were submitted to an auditor who oversaw them and the (financial records) have since been accepted by Elections Canada.�
He declined to produce copies of the cheques for Postmedia but said he would provide copies to Elections Canada or donors if they asked.
Last week, Barone sent an email seeking a copy of the cheque with his name on it, but told Postmedia he had not received a reply by Thursday afternoon.
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