Calgary city council expense policy was so rife with administrative flaws that it led to confusion about the claims process, the lawyer for former councillor Joe Magliocca said Friday.
Defence counsel Aryan Sadat said Crown prosecutor Aaron Rankin had failed to establish a criminal intent on the part of his client over expense claims for out-of-town drinks and dinners with other politicians.
“This illustrates mistakes can and do happen,” Sadat said of the evidence of Chu, who testified on behalf of his friend and former council colleague.
“Not only with Mr. Magliocca’s office, but offices of other councillors as well,” the lawyer said.
“Mr. Chu’s testimony supports the defence argument that Mr. Magliocca’s conduct was within the established guidelines . . . and any issues were administrative fault, rather than conduct of criminal behaviour.”
Several of those individuals said they never met Magliocca.
Rankin suggested there was no doubt Magliocca engaged in “petty graft” to the detriment of Calgary taxpayers by making false claims involving fellow elected officials.
“The Crown submits that proof beyond a reasonable doubt has displaced the presumption of innocence, and that Mr. Magliocca should be convicted on both counts,” Rankin said in his written submissions.
Rankin said conduct such as Magliocca’s could deter others from seeking public office.
“It is vital in a democracy that at all levels of government, people put themselves forward for public office,” he wrote.
“It is notorious that the reputation of politicians is tarnished by a host of negative stereotypes. When the means of committing a tawdry form of petty graft is taking in vain the names of almost 30 other public officials who are blameless, there is a further gratuitous erosion of public confidence in the integrity of office holders.”
Rankin said Magliocca intentionally filed expense claims that were fraudulent.
“Mr. Magliocca signed off on expenses that contained information, which he knew the city was relying on, that he knew to be false,” the prosecutor said.
Rankin said the charges of fraud and breach of trust were “in relation to expense claims in which he purported to be entitled to reimbursement, or to have validly spent the public’s money, while eating food, drinking alcohol or smoking cigars with people who have testified that they were not his guests.”
In all, Magliocca’s unjustified expense claims totalled $3,903.73, he said.
Justice Gord Wong will hand down a verdict at a later date, which will be set next week.