Brian Caskenette, the former president of the Cornwall Minor Hockey Association entered a plea of not guilty to begin his trial Tuesday morning.
After initially charged with fraud over $5000, Brian Caskenette was also charged with theft after it was alleged he used the CMHA credit card for purchases completely unrelated to the CMHA. Caskenette was suspended from his duties after a trustee was called in to audit the association’s financials.
Crown attorney Andre White stated there were 20-30 charges on the Visa that had come under question. Some of the items included a set of tires purchased from a local Mazda dealership and two television sets purchased from a Leons Furniture store. Although when police executed a search warrant on Caskenette’s home they found neither of the two televisions.
When current president of the CMHA Gerald Sommerville took to the stand and put under questioned by both the Crown and Defense, he could find no reasons for a credit card to be used under the parameters of the CMHA. Under the guidelines of the association, only mileage, postage, telephone and office supplies could be written off.
Sommerville noted when asked about the televisions, that there were no TVs owned or needed by the CMHA and testified that all big-ticket items needed to be brought before the board of trustees before any significant purchases could be made.
The trial is expected to continue throughout this week and into next.
Canadian Fraud News will update this story when a conclusion has been reached.
Read the full story over at the Standard Freeholder
