Fraud charges against Dufferin-Peel Catholic District School Board Trustee Tony da Silva, 58, were withdrawn in a Brampton courtroom yesterday. Da Silva, along with co-defendants James Gollert, 69, Gary Hollo, 59, and John Danson, 61, were vindicated almost one-year after being charged in connection with a multi-million dollar fraud involving federal government grants.
All are former teachers with the Peel District School Board and senior managers with its Centre for Education and Training (CET), created by the board as a not-for-profit corporation providing career-training services. Da Silva, Hollo and Danson are retired directors, while Gollert, who served as chief executive officer, was fired.
Last May, Peel Regional Police arrested the men and charged them with fraud and conspiracy to commit fraud.
The arrests were part of a lengthy and complex investigation that began in 2003. Dubbed Project School Board, the probe began with investigators looking into the misappropriation of grants allocated to the Catholic school board from the ministry formerly known as Human Resources Development Canada (HRDC). That initial investigation led to police charging three former Catholic board employees and a teacher in 2004.
The scope of investigations broadened and police later charged more individuals, many of them HRDC employees working out of a Mississauga office.
Investigators began looking at CET records in 2003. A significant portion of services and projects administered by CET were funded through HRDC, now known as Service Canada. Those arrested during the course of the ongoing probe were accused of over billing for work, creating false invoices and bribing others to win lucrative government contracts.
Today, Assistant Crown Attorney Aimee Gauthier told a judge it is unlikely the case against the four men would hold up under trial and officially withdrew the charges. Gauthier said the arrests were made on the basis of statements made by individuals either implicated or charged during the police investigation.
After reviewing the case and consulting with police, the Crown has decided to drop the case, she told the small courtroom.
"There's no reasonable prospect of conviction in this case," Gauthier said. Only Danson was not present in the courtroom. This legal about-face brought a muted, but detectable sense of relief from da Silva, Gollert and Hollo. All four men declared innocence from the outset.
"It's been an extremely difficult and challenging year for our family," da Silva said outside the courtroom. "I feel vindicated."
He was arrested just months after becoming Brampton's Catholic school trustee for Wards 1, 3 and 4. A cloud of suspicion has made performing public duties sometimes difficult, he said.
CET and the Peel board fired Gollert in October 2004 after a forensic audit. The school board and corporation accused him of secretly extra-billing CET for his services. He launched a $475,000 wrongful dismissal suit that was settled about 1 1/2 years ago. Details of the agreement prevent Gollert from speaking publicly about the settlement.
The legal ordeal has cast a dark cloud and suspicion over his life and family for almost four years.
"To be treated this way is very hard on me," Gollert confided. "It's hard on my family."
He spent more than 30 years with the public school board. His dismissal tainted him in the workforce, he said. The board's legal posture also left a bitter taste with Gollert.
"I always maintained my innocence and it is finally shown to be the case," he said. "But this is not the way I planned to end my working career."
The experience has been wrenching on everyone, added Hollo. All three men noted the support of family and friends was immeasurable. He believes it is important their innocence be as widely publicized as the arrests.
"It's hard to put into words because so many individuals that you come across in your professional life do have a different opinion of you once they've heard this," Hollo said. The men said they have no plans to take legal action against the police or school board, but would not rule out the possibility.
Peel Board Education Director Jim Grieve said the board was unaware of Tuesday's court proceedings. However, withdrawal of the charges is good news for all involved, he said.
"It's good news for them. I think it's great news for us," Grieve said. "Because a court case, not matter what it's intent, could potentially damage the reputation of this board and of CET and that's not going to happen."