Penticton (June 22, 2020) – The Penticton Regional RCMP Detachment laid fraud-related charges against the former executive director of the Downtown Penticton Association, Kerrilyn Marie Milton, on June 11. Four years after the allegations were first made, RCMP arrested and charged Milton with Fraud Over $5,000 and Falsifying Documents. She was released on a number of conditions. Both offenses are related to her time with the Penticton group and allegedly occurred in 2014. None of the allegations have been proven in court.
The Penticton Regional RCMP Detachment announced in a press release on June 19 that the BC Prosecution Service approved the fraud-related charges against the former executive director of Downtown Penticton Association, Karrilyn Marie Milton. RCMP investigated her time with the Penticton group during the fraud case for multiple years.
Possible fraud within the Downtown Penticton Association
In November 2016, Milton’s successor as executive director, Lynn Allin, reported a possible fraud having occurred within the association, only a couple of months after Milton left the group. The RCMP General Investigation Section started a thorough investigation into the fraud case.
The police did not disclose the amount that was missing, nor other details about how the fraud supposedly occurred. Now, the Penticton Regional RCMP Detachment announced that the BC Prosecution Service approved the criminal charges against the native of Cranbrook on June 11.
Subsequently, four years after allegations were first made, the Mounties arrested Milton and charged her with Fraud Over $5,000 and Falsifying Documents. She was released on several conditions. However, RCMP did not say what those conditions are. None of the allegations have been proven in court.
Financial irregularities
Milton left the Penticton non-for-profit society in July 2016 for the same position at the Downtown Victoria Business Association. Reportedly, she left the Victoria association abruptly in November 2017.
In 2013, she was a recipient of the Penticton and Wine Country Chamber of Commerce’s Top 40 under 40 and was recognized for her business leadership. Reportedly, the RCMP’s investigation discovered that both offenses allegedly occurred in 2014, while Milton was the executive director of the Penticton association.
Ten months after Milton left, the newly appointed executive director reported that they had discovered financial irregularities and ordered a forensic audit. In May 2017, the news of the police investigation emerged, Allin, the accused’s successor, revealed that the irregularities stopped as of July 2016 – the same month Milton left the group.
In May 2017, Milton reacted surprised to suggestions of financial irregularities. She told the Penticton Herald at the time that the association’s bookkeeping and auditing were handled by outside firms, cheques were signed by board members. ‘So I don’t even know how that would be possible,’ Milton concluded.
She is scheduled to appear in Penticton Provincial Court on July 15.
Read more: Former executive director of Hamilton Sikh society under investigation for fraud and forgery
