City alleges former CAO invented land deal to cover up bribe in police HQ project
Lawyers for the City of Winnipeg allege a phoney land sale was invented to cover up a bribe taken by former CAO Phil Sheegl.
The city is suing Sheegl and two dozen other defendants over the construction of the downtown Winnipeg police headquarters that went tens of millions of dollars over budget.
Last year a judge agreed Sheegl’s case could be heard separately from the other defendants.
The city is seeking an order for Sheegl to pay back his $250,000 severance package, $150,000 in punitive damages and $327,000 - the same amount of the alleged bribe.
On Thursday lawyers for both sides made their final submissions in court.
City lawyer Michael Finlayson argued Sheegl was attempting to influence events to help Caspian Construction get the police station contract.
Previous court documents filed by the RCMP allege Sheegl received a “secret commission” from Caspian’s owner worth $200,000 and shared some of the money with former Mayor Sam Katz.
Katz is not a subject of the lawsuit.
Sheegl, through his lawyer Robert Tapper, has maintained the money was for a $327,000, 2011 land deal in Arizona and had nothing to do with the police station construction. In 2017 CTV News was provided a copy of a document as proof.
But Finlayson argued there was no land transaction. He said there are no records of the deal before 2017, including text messages, emails, a memorandum of understanding, and no notice to other investors in the Arizona property about a partial sale of the land.
“The deal was concocted in order to avoid prosecution,” said Finlayson.
In December 2019, Manitoba Prosecutions announced there was not sufficient evidence to charge anyone criminally involved in the police station project.
Tapper told the court it was a handshake agreement, and that RCMP accepted the deal as legit.
“There was no bribe,” Tapper said.
He also said when it came to the police headquarters project, evidence shows various city officials made decisions, and Sheegl simply signed off on them.
There is no date yet for the judge’s decision. He asked for some additional information before he renders his judgement.
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
More than 115 cases of eye damage reported in Ontario after solar eclipse
More than 115 people who viewed the solar eclipse in Ontario earlier this month experienced eye damage after the event, according to eye doctors in the province.
Toxic testing standoff: Family leaves house over air quality
A Sherwood Park family says their new house is uninhabitable. The McNaughton's say they were forced to leave the house after living there for only a week because contaminants inside made it difficult to breathe.
Decoy bear used to catch man who illegally killed a grizzly, B.C. conservation officers say
A man has been handed a lengthy hunting ban and fined thousands of dollars for illegally killing a grizzly bear, B.C. conservation officers say.
B.C. seeks ban on public drug use, dialing back decriminalization
The B.C. NDP has asked the federal government to recriminalize public drug use, marking a major shift in the province's approach to addressing the deadly overdose crisis.
OPP responds to apparent video of officer supporting anti-Trudeau government protestors
The Ontario Provincial Police (OPP) says it's investigating an interaction between a uniformed officer and anti-Trudeau government protestors after a video circulated on social media.
An emergency slide falls off a Delta Air Lines plane, forcing pilots to return to JFK in New York
An emergency slide fell off a Delta Air Lines jetliner shortly after takeoff Friday from New York, and pilots who felt a vibration in the plane circled back to land safely at JFK Airport.
Sophie Gregoire Trudeau on navigating post-political life, co-parenting and freedom
Sophie Gregoire Trudeau says there is 'still so much love' between her and Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, as they navigate their post-separation relationship co-parenting their three children.
Last letters of pioneering climber who died on Everest reveal dark side of mountaineering
George Mallory is renowned for being one of the first British mountaineers to attempt to scale the dizzying heights of Mount Everest during the 1920s. Nearly a century later, newly digitized letters shed light on Mallory’s hopes and fears about ascending Everest.
Loud boom in Hamilton caused by propane tank, police say
A loud explosion was heard across Hamilton on Friday after a propane tank was accidentally destroyed and detonated at a local scrap metal yard, police say.