Fraud charges in Kleefeld Recreation Association case

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This article was published 28/01/2021 (1856 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Fraud charges have been laid almost two years after a criminal investigation was launched into the alleged misappropriation of more than $100,000 from the Kleefeld Recreation Association.

On Wednesday, St. Pierre-Jolys RCMP announced Nicole Rempel, 44, of Kleefeld had been charged Jan. 15 with fraud over $5,000, as well as using a forged document.

Rempel — who had served, at various times, as the association’s president, secretary and treasurer — is to appear in St. Pierre-Jolys provincial court in March.

The RCMP said the misappropriation occurred between 2011 and 2018.

In a statement, Rural Municipality of Hanover Reeve Stan Toews said auditors first found a number of suspicious transactions at the KRA, during its annual financial year-end review in 2018.

As a result, Toews said, the RM commissioned a forensic review of the association’s books from 2011 to 2018. The completed report was submitted to both the municipal insurance program and RCMP in February 2019.

“In July 2019, the municipality received $102,029 as a cash settlement from the municipal insurance program resulting from the losses that the forensic audit identified,” he said.

“The RM of Hanover, the growing community of Kleefeld, and the current KRA board, have essentially moved on from this unfortunate ordeal by implementing stricter policies to protect taxpayer dollars and the hard-working volunteers appointed to our five community centre boards,” the reeve said.

“We are letting the provincial courts bring this matter to a close.”

Rempel could not be reached for comment. She served as the association’s secretary from 2012 to 2014, its president and treasurer from 2015 to 2016, and treasurer and secretary from 2017 to 2018.

A lawsuit into the matter was also filed by the RM of Hanover and the Kleefeld Recreation Association in November 2019.

That statement of claim said while Rempel had the authority to sign cheques, it was alleged she forged the second board member signature needed. It is also alleged she made out the cheques both to herself and to others.

As well, to hide the payments, Rempel allegedly discontinued the association’s relationship with a bookkeeper and claimed to the association its financial books were now being handled by another bookkeeper. The second bookkeeper allegedly does not exist.

The lawsuit also claims it cost the RM and the association more than $26,000 to pay for the forensic review of the financial records.

In September 2020, a Manitoba Court of Queen’s Bench justice ordered Rempel to pay more than $133,000, while her husband, Chris, and their company, Guardian Property Services, were ordered to pay more than $46,000 apiece.

kevin.rollason@freepress.mb.ca