Audit committee to probe Mayor Ford’s election finances

The city’s compliance audit committee has voted to move forward with an audit of Mayor Rob Ford’s election finances after several residents raised concerns about potential violations in his 2010 campaign.

The unanimous vote came after a two-hour hearing Friday morning examining allegations contained in two separate audit applications. A third application was withdrawn earlier this week, while a fourth, filed Thursday, was not discussed at the hearing.

Among other things, the applications questioned the relationship between the Ford campaign and the family holding company, Doug Ford Holdings, which invoiced the campaign for more than $77,000 in expenses.

Mr. Ford’s legal team argued Doug Ford Holdings was simply a vendor that subcontracted for certain goods and services, but applicants Max Reed and Adam Chaleff-Freudenthaler argued the holding company effectively acted as a lender, which would contravene the Municipal Elections Act.

The applicants also suggested the Ford campaign exceeded its spending limit by improperly categorizing certain expenses as fundraising.

The three-member compliance audit committee agreed enough questions were raised to warrant an audit.