Final chapter in $110M fraud case closes, as Hickman Equipment manager acquitted
CBC
A former sales executive implicated in Newfoundland and Labrador's longest-running fraud scandal has been acquitted.
William Parsons faced 20 fraud-related charges connected to his time with the long-defunct Hickman Equipment, which sold John Deere products before declaring bankruptcy in 2002.
The former vice-president of equipment sales was one of four managers charged.
Three of them — former chief financial officer Gary Hillyard, former general manager Hubert Hunt and former sales manager John King — were sentenced in 2018 to house arrest for their roles in the $110-million fraud case.
But Parsons, who says he has maintained his innocence from the outset, was told Friday that he's now a free man.
"This marks the end of what's been a 20-year ordeal for me and my family," Parsons told reporters, reading from a prepared statement. "I'm an innocent man that's been accused of many things that were not true, and today these false charges were finally put to rest."
It's the final chapter of Newfoundland and Labrador's lengthiest fraud scandal, the investigation into which started in 2002. The alleged crimes date back 10 years earlier, to 1992.