WINNIPEG — There will be no criminal charges laid against former Red River College president Stephanie Forsyth after allegations she used marble from the college’s renovations in her former Winnipeg home.
Winnipeg police have completed a nearly two year review and said there is ‘no evidence to support a criminal investigation.’
“We haven’t concluded there wasn’t any criminal activity,” said Const. Rob Carver. “We have concluded, and I want to be very clear about this, that we didn’t have evidence to support a criminal investigation.”
Forsyth became the centre of a major financial audit that led to allegations of misusing college resources. The suspicion dates back to October 2014 when allegations that some of the surplus marble used to transform the Union Bank Tower into RRC’s culinary school made its way into Forsyth’s Wellington Crescent kitchen and home renovations.
READ: Damning review details former Red River College president’s spending
In January 2015, the college asked police to review allegations Forsyth used marble from a college project in her own home.
The college says the results of its own internal investigation last year were ‘inconclusive’ which is why they asked the police to review the matter.
“Regardless of the reason why there were suspicions or concerns… in this instance there simply wasn’t enough information for us to open a criminal investigation,” said Const. Carver.
Since the financial audit the college has implemented all 45 recommendations they were given, including making policies regarding surplus goods more clear.
“In the case of the marble, we’re talking about the disposal of scrap items,” said Schreyer. “There was a policy in place. That policy has been reviewed. The procedures policy has been tightened up such that there are clearer steps for disposing of items, such as what we are talking about.”
The college said they will not be pursuing the issue any further and are just happy the investigation is complete.
“The last few years were difficult,” said Lloyd Schreyer, chair of RRC’s board of governors. “It’s been a long process. The file has now come to an end and we are happy about that. We’ve moved on and we continue to move on. We have a new president in place and things have improved considerably at the college.”
In a separate review the college found “potentially questionable fiscal prudence” citing claims for discretionary expenses despite an allowance of four per cent of Forsyth’s base salary already being paid for such expenses.
Forsyth resigned Aug.31, 2014.
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