Former Winnipeg CAO argued he should only be on the hook for half of $327K bribe if he loses appeal

Winnipeg's former chief administrative officer tried to argue not all of the money a judge ruled he owes the city for damages belongs to him.

That's because some of the money involved in the dispute actually went to the city's former mayor.

But the Manitoba judge nonetheless ordered former CAO Phil Sheegl to pay all the money back.

In March, Court of Queen's Bench Chief Justice Glenn Joyal found Sheegl breached his duty as a senior city official when he accepted a bribe from the contractor hired by the city to build the Winnipeg Police Service headquarters.

The $327,200 payment to Sheegl from contractor Armik Babakhanians of Caspian Construction constituted a civil bribe, Joyal ruled.

"Any portion of that tainted money paid to Sheegl cannot be permitted to remain with Sheegl," he wrote in a decision issued in March.

In a subsequent decision last month, Joyal ruled the amount should be treated as damages for breach of trust, and is now payable to the city.

Sheegl's lawyer Robert Tapper said his client plans to appeal that ruling.

That appeal has not yet been filed, but a late March court filing from Sheegl in reply to Joyal's decision states half of the money he got "was paid to a person other than Sheegl."

Though that filing does not name that person, previous court documents have said that the money Sheegl was paid by Babakhanians was split with Katz.

Katz was not a defendant in the lawsuit, and there is no reference to Katz owing money to the city in Joyal's decision. 

In a judgment dated May 4, Joyal ordered Sheegl to pay the full amount as part of $1.1 million package of payments to the city.

Joyal ordered Sheegl to pay the city $200,000 in Canadian funds, plus nearly $32,000 in interest for part of the $327,000 worth of damages.

He was also ordered to pay $127,200 in U.S. funds, plus just over $18,000 in interest for the rest of the damages.