Senate expenses: Patrick Brazeau, Mac Harb charged by RCMP

Suspended Senator Patrick Brazeauand retired senator Mac Harb have been formally charged by the RCMP with one count each offraud and breach of trust related to inappropriate Senate expense claims.

RCMP Assistant Commissioner Gilles Michaudannounced the charges at a news conference at about 11:10 am ET Tuesday.

"The RCMP has proceeded to charge Mr.Brazeau and Mr.Harb with one count each of breach of trust and fraud under sections 122 and 380 of the CriminalCode, " Michaud said. "Both Mr.Brazeau and Mr.Harb will be appearing in court at a later date."

The Mounties allegeBrazeauand Harbdefrauded taxpayers by claiming travel and living expenses to which they were not entitled.

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• Senate votes to suspend Brazeau, Duffy, Wallin

Brazeauwas suspendedfrom the Senatein October along with onetime fellow Conservative Senators Mike Duffy and PamelaWallin. The three former Conservatives were suspended without pay following an outside audit of their expenses.

Harb, who was a Liberal senator until his spending came under scrutiny through an external audit, retired in August after paying back $231,000.

BothBrazeauand Harb, along with Mike Duffy and Pamela Wallin, were subject to a lengthy Senateinvestigation of their expenses claims and living allowances.

A Senate committee determined each of the four had claimed tens of thousands of dollars in expenses that they were not entitled to.

The Senate then passed its files to the RCMP.

The charges expected Tuesday againstBrazeauandHarb arethe first to flowfrom the RCMP's own lengthy investigation of thespending scandal, underway since May 2013.

Charges raise questions: NDP

TheNDP'sCharlie Angus said the criminal charges ushered in a "sobering day" in Canadian political life.

"It raises questions about the political judgment of the prime minister of this country who appointed PatrickBrazeau despite numerous red flags being raised about him. It raises questions about the judgment of Mr.Trudeau who said that Mac Harb had merely made an honest mistake at a time when the allegations around his financial dealings were getting more and more serious," Angus told reporters.

"It raises many questions though about the Senate and the fact that we have an unelected, unaccountable body with people being charged with criminal offences."

In question period, Prime Minister Stephen Harper praised the RCMP for laying charges in the expenses affair.

"We expect all parliamentarians to respect the rules and respect the law, and if not there will be consequences," Harper said.

"This is what we would expect, the RCMP has the full authority to conduct these investigationsandtohold anybody who does not respect the rules or the law responsible, that is what is being done ... and of course they will get full co-operation form the government."

Neither admits to wrongdoing

The Senate's internal economy committee orderedBrazeau,Harb, Duffy andWallinto repay their allegedimproper expenses:Brazeauto the tune ofnearly $50,000 andHarbtomore than$230,000.

Neither has admitted any wrongdoing, and both have mounted spirited campaigns in their owndefence.

Until he was suspended from the Senate last year,Brazeauhad faced a 20 per cent garnishment of his salary. It's now not clear how or if Brazeauhas continued to repay what the Senate says he owes.

Harb, on the other hand, repaid the entire amount in May and subsequently retired from the Senate. He now collects a Senate pension.

On Tuesday,Harb'slawyer Sean May saidHarbwillrespond to "any and all allegations."

"It's disappointing that charges are being laid," May said. "He's going to be prepared torespondincourtand helooks forward to that."

Other sources tell CBC News thatHarb will plead not guilty.Harbhas long said he broke no rules and did nothing wrong.

At the end of November, Brazeauappeared onCBC Radio'sThe House.Back then, Brazeau said he would havepreferred to have been charged so that he could offer an answer to the allegations that have swirled around him for months.

"I know I didn't claim inappropriate expenses whatsoever, so if there are going to be charges, then bring them on and I'll defend myself," he said.

Allegations centre on travel, expense claims

At the centre of the allegations against both men is an alleged pattern of behaviour that saw taxpayers pay expenses for travel to Ottawa and to pay for so-called secondary residencesin the National Capital region.

In both cases, the Senate, and now the RCMP allege the secondary residences were in fact the primary homes ofBrazeau and Harb. It's alleged Brazeau didn't actually live in Maniwaki as he claimed he did in order to qualify for the expenses.

Harb isaccused of a similar set of facts.

It wasn't until the longtime Ottawa resident and former city councillor was appointed to the Senate that Harb bought a house near Cobden, Ont., just on the other side ofthe 100-kilometre travelcutoff.If Harb had been any closer to the capital, he would not have qualified for reimbursement.

RCMP havealleged Harb never actually lived in that Cobden house, and neighbours have told CBC News they rarely ever saw Harb in the area.

In court documents the RCMP also alleged Harb had committed mortgagefraud in relation to his sale of99 per cent of thathouse to a diplomat from Brunei.

But today,the RCMP backed away from those allegations.

"Upon the conclusion of the investigation, we determined that the evidence gathered did not support these allegations," Michaudsaid at the news conference.

No charges yet forDuffy and Wallin

The RCMP have made similar allegations against former Conservative senators Mike Duffy and Pamela Wallin, though no charges have yet been laid.

The investigation of Duffy's expenses is complicated by the existence of other allegations that Prime Minister Stephen Harper's former chief of staff had bribed Duffy by giving him a $90,000 cheque to repay his expenses.

In the case of Pamela Wallin, although the Senate has been questioning her expenses for longer than Duffy, Brazeauor Harb, the Senate's investigation did not conclude until August and that'swhen the RCMP were finally handed the file.

"I can assure you that we continue our work on other significant files,"Michaudtold reporters.

"RCMP investigators continue to explore multiple leads to ascertain all the facts and collect the evidencein support of thesefacts. We will update Canadians when our work is completed."

The assistant commissioner also appeared to offer a defence of the RCMP's management of its investigative file. There have been criticisms of the manner in which the RCMP filed certain court documents in support of its searches and seizures called Informationsto Obtain, or ITOs.

Those ITOslaid out the luriddetails of the RCMP's best, or most seriousallegations against Harb, Brazeau, Duffy, Wallin and Wright. But, asMichaudadmitted about Harband that claim of mortgagefraud, the allegations in ITOs can sometimes be overstatements, or, simply fanciful.

In many cases, ITOs are kept sealed by the court, in order to protect investigations, but also to protect reputations in case charges never arrive.

"In filing theseITOs, theRCMPfollowed case law and determined that there were insufficient grounds to satisfy the conditions required to seal them," Michaudsaid.