The Ontario Provincial Police have been asked to investigate the Town of Amherstburg’s financial situation.
In December, Amherstburg police Chief Tim Berthiaume reached out to the OPP, to investigate “possible wrongdoing” in regards to the town’s finances. The OPP anti-rackets branch will conduct the investigation.
“Allegations of criminal wrongdoing can be sensitive due to the complexity and fulfillment to complete them,” says Sgt. Dave Rektor, OPP anti-rackets spokesperson.
Berthiaume contacted OPP to avoid any conflict of interest; something Rektor says is a common occurrence. An exact time frame wasn’t provided, but Rektor says it will “take a while” as there’s no governing deadline.
The announcement comes a day after Amherstburg councillor John Sutton brought forth a motion to seek an external audit. The town’s debt currently sits at $38 million. In addition there’s $16 million to $17 million in unfinanced capital spending also on the books.
Sutton says he doesn’t think any money is missing, but rather funds were mismanaged.
“We’ll follow the evidence. Take it where it leads us and lay the appropriate charges,” says Rektor. “So it might be some time before we have more information.”
When asked if there was any concern over compliance from the town, Rektor said he doesn’t foresee any reason there wouldn’t be cooperation.
If anything illegal is found, the officer in charge of the case will bring the appropriate charges back to Berthiaume to be laid.
