Former Pembina Hills Supt. Richard Harvey’s fraud case has been waived to Newfoundland and he’s expected to enter a guilty plea, although no date has been set.
Luke Joyce, a spokesperson for Newfoundland and Labrador’s Department of Justice and Public Safety, confirmed in a Dec. 4 e-mail that the file had been received in that province on Monday, Dec. 1.
“The assigned prosecutor will now have to arrange a court date for the entry of the guilty plea and notify the accused of same,” he wrote.
That process is expected to take two to four weeks.
Harvey, 63, is charged with fraud over $5,000 and breach of trust in relation to accusations he filed inappropriate expense claims during his tenure at the head of the local public school division.
His trial was scheduled for Nov. 17-20 in St. Albert, but on Nov. 17 court heard the matter was to be waived to Newfoundland.
Alberta Justice spokesperson Michelle Davio said in an e-mail the final court appearance in Alberta was Nov. 19, when the waiver was approved. The matter is now no longer in Alberta’s court system.
The Westlock News attempted on Nov. 21 to arrange an interview with the Crown prosecutor to explain why the waiver was granted, but Davio said on Dec. 4 that the Crown prosecutor had not responded to her inquiries.
Typically, cases are heard within the jurisdiction where the alleged crimes were committed — in this case, Alberta.
Harvey was formally charged with fraud over $5,000 and breach of trust on Oct. 16, 2012, following a two-year investigation by Barrhead RCMP.
He is alleged to have filed excessive expense claims during his four years as Supt. from Aug. 1, 2006 until leaving the division without explanation on Oct. 23, 2010.
To date, school division officials have only ever offered explanation by way of a single-line media release that stated Harvey was no longer an employee of the division.
Harvey’s first court appearance was on Jan. 8, 2013, at which time he requested disclosure from the Crown through his lawyer, and asked for six weeks to review the disclosure package.
Since that first scheduled appearance, neither Harvey, who now resides in Newfoundland, nor his lawyer, Peter J. Royal, have appeared in person. Instead, whichever lawyer has been present as duty counsel has made any requests on Harvey and Royal’s behalf.
Harvey was scheduled to enter a plea on July 23, but again asked for more time to review the disclosure package.
After several more delays, Harvey finally entered a not-guilty plea on Nov. 26, 2013 through then-duty counsel Traci Overacker.
A four-day trial had been scheduled for Oct. 14-17 in St. Albert, then rescheduled for Nov. 17-20.
