Former IWK Health Centre CEO Tracy Kitch found guilty of fraud
CBC
Former IWK Health Centre CEO Tracy Kitch was found guilty of fraud over $5,000 on Monday. Another charge of breach of trust was stayed.
Judge Paul Scovil delivered his decision in a Halifax provincial courtroom after a two-week trial that wrapped before Christmas.
Kitch was charged after a former board chair at the Halifax-based children's hospital went to the police following an internal investigation in 2017 that revealed Kitch billed $47,000 in expenses deemed personal to a corporate credit card during her tenure.
Kitch stepped down from her post in August 2017, eventually paying back all the money considered to be personal charges.
In October 2018, police charged Kitch, as well as former hospital chief financial officer Stephen D'Arcy. D'Arcy, whose trial is scheduled for later this year, is charged with breach of trust, unauthorized use of a computer and mischief to data.
During Kitch's trial, lawyers for the defence and Crown presented different pictures of whether a fraud occurred.
Kitch's defence team, who called no evidence, argued that Kitch never hid her use of the corporate credit card, which included bills for taxi rides to the airport and flights to Ontario, where her family was still living.
The defence argued Kitch and her assistants kept track of that spending and the former executive would repay charges as she went.
The Crown, meanwhile, argued that hospital policy made plain that corporate credit cards were not for personal use and failure to follow the rules could result in penalties up to termination.
Although several witnesses testified to having concerns about the way Kitch managed her expenses, no one said they witnessed her misrepresent what she was doing with the card or trying to hide the charges she submitted.
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