In mid-July, a not-guilty ruling was issued in the court case involving a former Township of North Glengarry Treasury Department employee.
Former tax collector Sandra Cameron was found not guilty on all charges, which included breach of trust, mischief to computer data, fraud, false pretense, and uttering forged documents involving alleged mismanagement of township funds.
According to North Glengarry Chief Administrative Officer (CAO) Sarah Huskinson, events leading up to the case began in 2017 when irregularities were identified in approximately 700 municipal property tax accounts. Bills were allegedly sent to ratepayers for amounts they did not owe. An OPP investigation followed, and Cameron was subsequently charged. The trial took place from January to March of 2022.
Huskinson said the judge’s 47-page decision in the case explains that 100 per cent of the proof required for a guilty ruling could not be found. Complete, 100 per cent proof of guilt is required in a criminal case. The criteria for proof would have been examined differently had the case been tried as a civil matter.
The alleged financial losses to the township as a result of the funds missing from the treasury was originally approximately $1,045,654. However, Huskinson said most of that amount was written off and the real amount is only approximately $300,000.
