Police say a southern Ontario community has been rocked by two high-profile frauds allegedly involving the executive directors of prominent local non-profits.
Top officials at both the Big Brothers Big Sisters chapter in Peterborough, Ont. and a local hockey team geared towards people with special needs now stand accused of defrauding their organizations of thousands of dollars over multiple years.
Peterborough police Insp. Larry Charmley said the investigations into the two organizations are not connected in any way, adding the similarities in the cases and timing of the arrests were strictly coincidental.
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Both cases involved married couples being arrested in the past two weeks for alleged fraudulent activity at organizations that have become important to the community, he said, adding the news has left Peterborough residents feeling both rattled and disillusioned.
“People are definitely shocked and disappointed,” Charmley said in a telephone interview. “And it also unfortunately makes people think about organizations, probably, and what’s going on. It’s not good for our community, that’s for sure.”
The fraud charges against the former executive director of Big Brothers Big Sisters of Peterborough were less novel, Charmley said, as one round of charges was laid earlier in the year.
He said police began investigating the organization in 2015 and initially arrested the then executive director in April of this year.
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At that time, Darlene Edwards Evans was charged with three counts of fraud over $5,000.
The investigation continued, however, and Charmley said police now allege about $300,000 of the organization’s money was diverted for other purposes between 2005 and 2015.
Last month, police charged Evans with a further count of fraud over $5,000, plus one count each of money laundering and uttering a forged document.
Evans’ husband Robert Bestard, who did not work for Big Brothers Big Sisters, is also facing a charge of fraud over $5,000.
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The second fraud case involved the co-founders of the Peterborough Huskies, a hockey team catering to children and adults with special needs, Charmley said.
David and Catherine Tuck established the team two years ago and helped create a prominent place for it in the community. The Huskies were even tapped to host the 2017 Special Hockey International tournament, which is currently slated to involve dozens of teams from Canada and the United States.
Both Tucks are now facing one count each of fraud over $5,000.
Charmley estimated the value of the alleged fraud in the case around $40,000, adding the investigation is ongoing.
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Neither Big Brothers Big Sisters nor the Peterborough Huskies responded to requests for comment.
Special Hockey International did not respond to a request for information on the status of the 2017 tournament, which is scheduled to take place in March 2017.
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