4 arraigned in MLA spending scandal

One currentMLA and three former politicians were arraigned Wednesday on charges connected toapolitical spending scandal in Nova Scotia.

Trevor Zinck, Richard Hurlburt, Dave Wilson and Russell MacKinnon were not in court for the brief proceedings. They were all represented by their lawyers before Halifax provincial court Judge Bill Digby.

Zinck who is the only current MLA andsits as an Independent is charged with fraud, breach of trust and two counts of theft over $5,000. He is due in court on May 20 for election and plea.

His lawyer, Lyle Howe, refused to comment outside the courtroom, but Zinck said before the afternoon sitting of the legislature that he intends to plead not guilty.

"I'd like to say that I've stuck around over the last year because I believe in the work I'm doing and I believe in the fact that I am innocent and I look forward to taking the next steps to have my name cleared," he told reporters.

"If you add it up, why would anyone want to go through this if they have done anything illegal? So I'd like people to think about that."

The other three cases came up in Halifax provincial court later Wednesday.

Hurlburt,MacKinnon and Wilson each face counts of fraud over $5,000, breach of trust by a public officer and uttering forged documents.

MacKinnon, through lawyer Joel Pink, elected a judge-only trial. He is due in court on June 21 to set a date for a preliminary hearing.

"There's no question that he will be pleading not guilty," Pink told reporters outside the courtroom.

Hurlburt's election and plea was put over to June 21, while Wilson'sis now scheduled forJuly 7.

"The charges all arise out of expense claims which were filed by these individuals when they were members of the legislative assembly," Crown attorney Andrew Macdonald told reporters outside the courtroom.

"All of the charges, whether they're theft or breach of trust or uttering forged documents, relate to expense claims which they submitted."

The Nova Scotia RCMP's commercial crime sectionlaid a total of 52 charges against the four politicians in February after an eight-month investigation.

That investigation began after Auditor General Jacques Lapointe turned over his files to the RCMP afterhe looked atMLA spending between July 2006 and June 2009, detailing "excessive" and "unreasonable" claims by some of the province's 52 MLAs.

While Lapointe said at first that he did not find anything that could lead to a criminal investigation, more information came to light later, which prompted him to conduct a forensic audit. He referred a total of six cases to the RCMP.

The RCMP said although all six cases were investigated, two of the people were not charged and thus, were never named.

There was a public furor as a result of Lapointe's original audit and in the aftermath, Hurlburt a Progressive Conservative and Wilson a Liberal resigned their seats. Zinck was ejected from the NDP caucus and continues to sit as an Independent.

MacKinnon, a former Liberal cabinet minister, was an MLA until 2006.