Former SACW president to plead not guilty to fraud charges, says lawyer

The lawyer representing a former president of the South Asian Centre of Windsor (SACW) says that her client plans to plead not guilty to charges laid by Windsor police last week alleging he defrauded the centreout of hundreds of thousands of dollars.

Sushil Kumar Jain, 81, was arrestedlast week and charged withdefrauding the SACW over a 12-year period, between September 2011 and June 2023.

He was also charged withlaundering the proceeds of crime and possession of property obtained by crime.

The police service says that an investigation by itsfinancial crimes unit showed$362,739 intended for the charity was instead deposited into the Jain's personal bank accounts.

Jain initially declined to comment on the charges when reached by phone last week butLaura Joy, theWindsor-based defense lawyer who now represents Jain, told the CBC that she believes in Jain's innocence and plans on entering not guilty pleas in response to the charges.

Joy said it was too early to respond to the allegations laid out by police last week.

The matter is set to be before the court again on March 13.