WATCH: The prosecution in the Mike Duffy trial switched gears on Monday. They’re starting to pick apart the $65,000 contract that Duffy had with a friend. The RCMP alleged Duffy paid him for “little or no apparent work.” As Mike Le Couteur reports, we learned what some of that money was spent on.
OTTAWA – Mike Duffy may have charged taxpayers for mounted and enlarged photographs of former first lady Barbara Bush, a Crown prosecutor suggested on Monday.
Documents provided by the Crown suggest Duffy spent almost $1,600 on photo services between 2010 and 2012.
It’s all part of the Crown’s case that Duffy funnelled almost $65,000 in Senate contract money through his friend for services that were not considered part of his work as a senator.
WATCH ABOVE: Laura Stone explains what is expected as a second week of trial proceedings kicks off.
They also include thousands on a personal trainer, $300 for a makeup artist and $500 to a volunteer in his office.
Crown lawyer Jason Neubauer asked the day’s witness, Senate human resources officer Sonia Makhlouf, whether such “photographic services” would have been covered by Senate contracts, which Makhlouf administers.
“I will not proceed with it and probably I will bring it to a higher level,” Makhlouf said.
Mahklouf was also asked whether a reproduced photograph titled “Miranda/Colin” – the name of Duffy’s daughter and grandchild – would have been approved by the Senate.
“This is not a type, in general, a type of service that we approve,” Makhlouf said.
“It has to be in the context of Senate business.”
Documents provided by the Crown show receipts between 2010 and 2012 from “Jiffy Photo & Print” in Kanata, Ont., where Duffy owned a home.
The invoices were billed to Duffy at “Maple Ridge Media,” courtesy of Gerald Donohue, according to the documents.
Duffy’s contracts with the company, and later its reincarnation at insulated concrete forms (known as ICF), are the subject of eight of his fraud and breach of trust charges.
According to the receipts, Donohue signed the cheques totalling almost $1,600 for photos.
One of the invoices for $34.30 from Nov. 3, 2011 contains two references to Bush: “1 8 x 10 Medite Mounted – Barbara Bush + 1 11 x 14 Medite Mount – same,” it says. It says Duffy was charged another $10.99 for an “11 x 14 enlargement (B.Bush # 2).”
Bush is also mentioned in Duffy’s diary on Nov. 2, 2010: “Send photos to Barbara Bush.”
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READ MORE: 10 things we learned about Mike Duffy from his diaries
Towards the end of the morning’s testimony, Neubauer also asked whether two 5×7 enlargements of a photo described as “lady, man and child” would be approved by Senate officials.
“How would you deal with that?” Neubauer asked.
“I never received a request of this nature,” Makhlouf replied.
“It’s not related to the services contract that I usually approve.”
The Crown spent the day reviewing the contracts that Duffy awarded to two companies headed by Donohue, his friend, over a four-year period.
Court ended early Monday as Duffy’s lawyer argued the Crown did not provide sufficient time for disclosure of Senate guidelines.
Court heard that senators are in charge of their own office budgets, ranging from approximately $149,000 to $161,000, but need official approval from Senate administration to award contracts for external services.
Makhlouf said on the stand that she has a general knowledge of reasonable amounts for contracts, and “If everything appears to be logical, I’ll leave it to the discretion of the senator.”
Duffy is alleged to have funnelled the contracts through his friend to pay a personal trainer, makeup artist and a volunteer in his office.
Neubauer asked his witness whether she would have approved such contracts.
“If the description of services had also said makeup services for the senator, would you have approved that?” he asked.
“I (would) not proceed with the request and will inform the senators office that’s not Parliamentary work,” Makhlouf answered.
She said the Senate would not have approved monetary gifts for staff members, nor contracts for “physical fitness.”
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“It’s not Parliamentary-work related,” she said.
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Court heard how Duffy amended the contracts after being told by Senate finance officials that he was running low on office funds.
He also requested Senate approval for the contracts after they had already been awarded, which Makhlouf testified was against Senate policy.
In one case in 2009, Duffy asked the Senate to reduce a contract he awarded to Donohue’s company, Maple Ridge Media, from $20,000 to $10,000.
He then asked on March 10, 2010 to have that amount increased to $14,000, saying he needed Donohue’s advice for a project on “the aging of the Canadian population.”
In a memo to the Senate, Duffy described Donohue’s duties as a researcher, a writer and editor of speeches and press releases, and as giving advice on webpage design and development.
The RCMP have alleged in documents released by the court that Donohue did little to no apparent work and did not perform any of the services Duffy described.
Watch: First witness in Mike Duffy Senate expense scandal trial
Last week, court heard from only one witness, the Senate’s former law clerk Mark Audcent, who explained there are few specifics in place for claiming expenses from the Senate.
Duffy’s lawyer, Donald Bayne, suggested his client was a “rookie senator” who was encouraged to campaign for the Conservatives by none other than Prime Minister Stephen Harper.
Bayne even showed the court a blown-up photograph of Duffy and Harper with a handwritten message from the prime minister thanking Duffy for being “one of my best, hardest-working appointments ever!”
Duffy is facing 31 charges of fraud, breach of trust and one for bribery in relation to Nigel Wright’s $90,000 cheque to pay off his expenses.
Judge Charles Vaillancourt will ultimately decide if Duffy defrauded taxpayers by billing for expenses he wasn’t entitled to claim.
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