WATCH ABOVE: Pamela Porter, the 52-year-old wife of the disgraced former MUHC head and spy watchdog, Arthur Porter has been denied bail. Rachel Lau reports.
MONTREAL – Pamela Porter showed little emotion as judge Robert Marchi rendered his decision this morning.
The 52-year-old wife of the disgraced former MUHC head Arthur Porter has been denied bail.
She faces charges of conspiracy and money laundering in connection with the awarding of the MUHC super-hospital contract.
“The court has decided that Mrs. Porter constitutes a flight risk and that therefore she should remain detained pending trial,” said prosecutor Marie-Hélène Giroux.
“We are now getting ready for preliminary inquiry.”
Porter was arrested with her husband in Panama on May 26, 2013.
She returned to Canada on June 14, 2013 after spending two weeks in jail.
Due to a publication ban, details of the judge’s decision cannot be reported, but the crown believes that Porter poses a flight risk.
“She has available to her great amounts of money as the evidence has shown,” said Giroux.
“But there’s a publication ban on the facts of the case so I’d rather not go any further on that.”
To date, Porter is the only person arrested in connection to the MUHC super-hospital fraud who is still detained.
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“If ultimately she had tried to avoid extradition, ultimately unsuccessfully, then one is left with the impression that she really wasn’t willing to face charges in Canada,” said criminal defence attorney Eric Sutton. “The issue of flight risk becomes prominent in the court’s mind.”
Porter’s defence attorney refused to comment.
Porter’s husband, Arthur Porter remains in custody in Panama and is fighting extradition.
Sutton says bringing him back to Canada shouldn’t be too difficult.
“Extradition is hard to fight,” he said.
“The prosecution in Panama will simply have to show that there’s enough evidence to justify the need to be put on trial. The threshold is very low.”
Pamela Porter’s next court appearance is July 3, 2013, where the court will set a date for her preliminary hearing.
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