Former Calgary city councillor Joe Magliocca has been found guilty of fraud for lying on his expense claims.
Magliocca was acquitted on the charge of breach of trust.
In the decision issued Monday, Justice Gord Wong also issued a scathing review of sole defence witness Sean Chu’s evidence, calling the Ward 4 councillor the “polar opposite” of a credible witness.
Magliocca was found to have falsely added the names of various politicians to receipts so that he could claim expenses for food and alcohol.
Magliocca was charged on Oct. 8, 2021 — 10 days before he lost his bid for a third term as Ward 2 councillor in Calgary’s civic election.
The judge’s decision follows a two-week trial last September.
Politician witnesses
Between 2017 and 2019, Magliocca attended several meetings as part of the Federation of Canadian Municipalities (FCM) conferences. He also attended the Carnaval de Québec.
At the time, Magliocca was the City of Calgary’s FCM representative. Prosecutor Aaron Rankin called two dozen current and former politicians to testify.
Included in the prosecution’s witnesses were Halifax Mayor Mike Savage, Ontario Liberal Leader Bonnie Crombie, Quebec cabinet minister Jonatan Julien, former Edmonton Mayor Don Iveson as well as city councillors from PEI, Toronto, Ottawa, Quebec City and Petite Riviere, Que.
The Crown’s witnesses each appeared in Magliocca’s expense claims as having been “hosted” by him (the requirement for reimbursement) with food and alcohol during his travels.
All but one of the witnesses testified they never dined with Magliocca.
Some had never met the then-councillor, some had simply exchanged business cards with him.
Audit, police investigation
On top of the alleged hosting frauds, Magliocca was also accused of checking out of one hotel following an FMC conference and then checking into a more expensive hotel for two nights.
On his expense claim, Magliocca detailed that the stay was for “FCM director debriefing” when, in fact, there was no debriefing.
An audit and subsequent police investigation were triggered after reporting in 2020 by the Calgary Herald showed Magliocca’s expensed about double what other councillors claimed for their trips to the FCM conference in Quebec City.
The report found Magliocca improperly claimed $5,657 in expenses. It raised questions about another $10,000.
Magliocca has repaid some of that money.