N.B. RCMP say late principal secretary of lieutenant-governor stole $700,000 over 7 years

The former principal secretary to the New Brunswick lieutenant-governor is believed to have stolen over $700,000 from his employer over a seven-year period.

In an affidavit sworn by Const. Patrick Lemerise of the New Brunswick RCMP, Timothy Richardson, who worked for the office of the lieutenant-governor for 20 years, is alleged to have withdrawn funds from the lieutenant-governor’s bank account to cover personal expenses between October 2012 and June 2019.

The affidavit was filed with the Court of Queen’s Bench in Fredericton as part of a Crown application to prevent Richardson from selling his house, which the RCMP believe to be partly funded with the stolen money.

According to other documents filed with the court, Richardson has since died.

On Thursday the Fredericton police were called to a house on McKeen Street to investigate a sudden death. A spokesperson for the department says it will not be releasing the name of the person who died and referred questions over the cause of death to the coroner’s office. In Lemerise’s affidavit, Richardson’s home is listed as an address on McKeen Street.

An investigation into “financial regularities” in the office of the lieutenant-governor began on Aug. 2, 2019, the same day former lieutenant-governor Jocelyne Roy-Vienneau died. That investigation was sparked by a joint audit performed by the Department of Canadian Heritage and the Office of the Comptroller of New Brunswick that found $270,000 in federal and provincial funds were missing.

The affidavit says the money in the lieutenant-governor’s account comes from the federal Department of Canadian Heritage, the provincial Department of Transportation and Infrastructure, revenue from Government House and donations from the public.

New Brunswick comptroller reviewed financial practices of the office

The comptroller’s office began looking into the lieutenant-governor’s office after the Canada Revenue Agency alerted it that the office was behind on payroll in April of 2019. After monitoring the payroll account for a few months and finding that no regular payments were being made, the office of the comptroller began to review the financial practices of the lieutenant-governor’s office on June 26, 2019.

The comptroller’s office found “an absence of financial controls” and that Richardson “maintained control over all financial matters.” Lemerise writes that Richardson had sole signing authority for the bank accounts of the office of the lieutenant-governor and was the only person with online access or with a bank card.

An interview with Roy-Vienneau conducted by the audit team found that when she first took the position of lieutenant-governor, she was told by Richardson “not to worry about” the finances of the office.

The comptroller’s review turned up cash withdrawals of $336,000 between April 2017 and May 2019. When asked about the withdrawals, Richardson confirmed that he did indeed make them but said they were all for “work related purposes.”

“Timothy Richardson provided the office of the comptroller with a box of unsorted receipts for various years as well as personal financial records,” Lemerise writes in the affidavit.

“The office of the comptroller found at minimum, there would be approximately $272,493 of unaccounted for cash withdrawals.”

Findings of the RCMP investigation

Once it began to investigate, the RCMP established that the alleged offences began as far back as October of 2012.

In total there were over $1 million in cash withdrawals over the seven-year period. Over that same period, $700,000 was deposited into Richardson’s personal bank account.

Lemerise writes that according to documents provided by the Department of Transportation and Infrastructure, the office of the lieutenant-governor was given funding by DTI for three positions over a 20-year period, but as of 2010, just one of those positions was occupied.

The investigation found that including the salary of that one position along with those of the tour guides still does not make up for the amount of the grant being issued by DTI. Over the seven-year period in question, Lemerise writes that the grant was overstated by as much as $383,331.

The affidavit also suggests that Richardson was under financial pressure. The last of three estimates suggests that Richardson was facing a shortfall of $500,000 in his personal finances over the seven-year period. Lemerise goes on to say that Richardson had “several overdue credit card statements, bills and a notice from a collections agency.”

Links were also drawn between the timing of several vacations taken by Richardson and withdrawals from the office of the lieutenant-governor’s bank accounts. Lemerise writes that withdrawals from the accounts coincided with Richardson paying personal bills.

“Bank records revealed many cash deposits into Timothy Richardson’s bank account and e-transfers being sent on the same day,” Lemerise writes.

“Furthermore, bank records also revealed cash deposits either being deposited a few days prior to, on the day of, or shortly after core expenses such as mortgage or car payments debited to his account.”

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Lemerise says that a forensic accountant found that between eight and 16 per cent of Richardson’s mortgage was paid with cash deposits.

Another part of the affidavit mentions that $360,000 was sent via e-transfer to a person whose name is redacted in the documents. The passage goes on to say that Richardson discussed body-building and steroids with this person. During searches of Richardson’s home and his office, Lemerise writes that what were believed to be steroids and steroid-related pharmaceuticals were found.

The investigation into the alleged crimes continues and the above information was only available as part of an application from the Crown to hold the McKeen Street house owned by Richardson.