Curtis Ping faces fraud and breach of trust charges related to time serving in N.W.T. community.

An RCMP officer and his wife are both facing fraud charges for their time in Fort Liard, N.W.T.. The couple are set to stand trial in Edmonton in December.

In July 2020, The Northwest Territories RCMP reported that Cpl. Curtis Ping and Darlene Ping were charged with fraud at the RCMP detachment in Fort Liard. 

In March, the N.W.T. prosecutor stayed the charges against the Pings. Due to the close relationship between prosecutors and police in the territory, the Pings’ case was moved to Alberta. The court date is now from Dec. 13-16th at Court of the Queen’s Bench of Alberta.

Charged with fraud, breach of trust

Curtis Ping is charged with two counts of fraud over $5,000 for allegedly defrauding the RCMP between Oct. 1, 2018, and May 31, 2019.

Ping is also charged with breach of trust for allegedly signing fraudulent time sheets which took advantage of his duties as an RCMP detachment commander in Fort Liard.

Along with Curtis, Darlene Ping faces two counts of fraud over $5,000 for the same time periods as her husband and one count of “fraud altered document.” The court records state that Darlene allegedly intended to defraud the RCMP by omitting information related to hours worked on janitorial time sheets.

Darlene is also charged with one count of “falsifying employment record” for allegedly recording inaccurate hours on time sheets. 

When the charges were made public last year, the N.W.T. RCMP said they had launched their own internal code of conduct investigation, and ensured that Curtis had been suspended with pay. 

Ping is scheduled for an RCMP conduct hearing on Jan. 31, 2022.

Both the Alberta prosecutor and the lawyer for the defence declined to comment while the Pings’ case is before the courts.

This article was originally sourced by www.cbc.ca.