Angry in the Great White North

Suzan Pawlak story is coming to a close

Thanks to Liberals who decided not to listen to the people who run the party, the Suzan Pawlak story is coming to an end with little political fallout.

Suzan Pawlak picked up

The former Liberal Party treasurer who is facing charges after over $13,000 was stolen from a riding association failed to make a court appearance last week. Last night Suzan Pawlak was arrested in Toronto.

Suzan Pawlak on the run?

Suzan Pawlak, the former Liberal Elgin-Middlesex-London riding association treasurer who has been charged with fraud, has failed to appear in court. This is a strange story that refuses to die.

Major theft from a Tory riding association

There has been a serious breach of trust at a Tory provincial riding association in Alberta. An arrest has been made. Thank goodness that the justice system has been allowed to do its job without interference.

The Liberal Party history with diverted funds

If history is any guide, Suzan Pawlak has nothing to worry about. The story of Jesse Davidson suggests that the Liberal Party has a lot of tolerance for people who allegedly steal from them -- as long as they're Liberals.

In the end, what really mattered was avoiding any embarrassment.

David Pretlove's offer mixed hardball bargaining and a hint of undesirable consequences

I have more direct quotes from the offer LPC(O) Financial Director David Pretlove made to the London riding association to replace the money allegedly stolen by Suzan Pawlak, his staffer.

It is interesting because he offers to cut a cheque from the LPC(O) to cover half of the amount alleged to have been stolen, and seems to be challenging the other amounts.

The cheques he was willing to cover were made out to Suzan Pawlak.

Except for one...that was a hotel bill. [Update: Turns out it was for a riding event at that hotel that might or might not have actually taken place.]

The message to the riding association? Take the $7,200 I'm offering and clean up the rest of the $15,000 mess, or else you'll miss your Elections Canada deadline, and we wouldn't want that to happen.

David Pretlove was going to use Liberal Party funds to cover up a criminal act

The National Post is reporting on the case of Suzan Pawlak, who allegedly stole $15,000 from the London riding association of the federal Liberal Party, and the attempt by David Pretlove, the financial director of the Ontario wing of the party, to hide what happened.

The bombshell? David Pretlove was going to use party funds to cover up the alleged crime.

Some thoughts about private restitution

David Pretlove has been quoted (allegedly) as saying he was trying to help out Suzan Pawlak when he offered to pay back the London riding association of the federal Liberal Party the $15,000 that was missing from the bank accounts, on the condition that the police not be called.

If true, this means that he had reason to believe that she would be held responsible for the missing money. Pawlak was the riding treasurer until August 2006. At the time the money was found to be missing in January 2007, she had moved on and was working for Pretlove, the director of the federal Liberal Party's Ontario wing.

Was this a simple matter of restitution? I guess it depends on what constitutes true restitution.

Obstruction of Justice and Accessory after the Fact

Just checking on the formal definitions of obstruction of justice and accessory after the fact.

David Pretlove's explanation includes admitting he was specifically helping Suzan Pawlak

I've received, third-hand, an explanation by David Pretlove of why he was involved in the London riding association missing money problem. If we accept this at face value, his explanation includes confirmation that he was specifically help Suzan Pawlak out of a jam.

David Pretlove was leaving the party, so no suspension in the works

The Liberal Party is trying to play down the question of David Pretlove's apparent attempt to coverup a major theft of money from the London riding association.

David Pretlove story continues to gain momentum

The twisted story of missing money, criminal charges, and what looks like an attempted coverup in London, Ontario, continues to gain momentum. Questions concerning why David Pretlove, the director for the federal Liberal Party in Ontario, would have offered to reimburse a riding association that had been the victim of a serious loss of cash on the condition that the police not be involved continue to be asked, even as the media confirms that the person who was ultimately charged with the crime, Suzan Pawlak, was working directly for him.

Stephane Dion must suspend Suzan Pawlak and David Pretlove, NDP demands

In my post about the weird mess in London, Ontario, I pointed out that it looks like the director of the federal Liberal Party in Ontario, David Pretlove, tried to prevent an investigation into the apparent theft of $15,000 from the London federal riding association. What was disturbing was that Pretlove attempted to suppress the investigation that ultimately resulted in charges being laid against Suzan Pawlak, the former treasurer for the London riding association, and at the time Pretlove made his offer, one of Pretlove's employees.

Given that at the time no one knew who Pawlak was or that she would be facing charges, Pretlove's prescience looked very suspicious. The obvious question to ask is whether Pretlove actually knew Pawlak was involved when he made the offer, and if so, why try to suppress the investigation.

I'm not the only one wondering. The NDP has issued a press release calling on Stephane Dion to suspend both Pretlove and Pawlak until these questions are answered.

Did a senior Liberal try to protect Suzan Pawlak from prosecution?

When $15,000 went missing from the federal Liberal Party riding association accounts for London, Ontario, David Pretlove of the Ontario wing of the federal party offered to cover the shortfall as long as the police were left out of the picture. The riding executive turned down the strange offer and called the police.

Today police have charged former riding association treasurer Suzan Pawlak with 42 counts related to fraud and forgery.

But here's the strange thing. Suzan Pawlak was working for David Pretlove when the riding association first discovered the financial irregularities. Coincidence?

London-area Liberals fuming at stolen funds and party coverup

A massive theft of funds from the Liberal Party riding association in London has prompted a criminal investigation. But there is a serious political side to this as well, with allegations of an offer from the Director of Finance of the Liberal Party of Canada (Ontario), David Pretlove, to cut a cheque to cover the shortfall with the promise not to take this to the police.