NB: Rumour has it this refers to the Tour Trans Canada. I'd say the CCA who worked for them back then must be running scared!!!!
Advertising executive Paul Coffin leaves following his first day of testimony before the Gomery Commission on April 26 in Montreal. (CP PHOTO/Paul Chiasson)
MONTREAL -- Ad man Paul Coffin, the first person charged in the federal sponsorship scandal, pleaded guilty Tuesday to 15 fraud charges.
Three of the 18 fraud charges that Coffin originally faced were withdrawn by the Crown.
Coffin is president of Communication Coffin. He was arrested in September 2003 on the charges relating to federally sponsored events which took place between 1997 and 2002.
The events included local automobile and bicycle races, festivals and ski activities.
Sentencing arguments will take place on Aug. 16.
Coffin's jury trial had been set to start June 6 before he decided to plead guilty.
In testimony at the federal sponsorship inquiry, Coffin said he falsified bills earning him more than $1.5 million in sponsorship income following requests by his friend, then-sponsorship boss Chuck Guite.
Coffin told the inquiry his stream of bogus bills began to flow from the first day his firm was chosen as part of a select group of Montreal ad agencies charged with managing sponsorship files in 1997.
Guite and advertising executive Jean Brault also face fraud-related charges related to the sponsorship scandal. Their joint trial is set for October.
At the inquiry, Coffin helped shed light on alleged bureaucratic collusion in a scheme to create a lengthy trail of falsified paperwork and inflated bills for several files, including Jean Chretien's Clarity Act on Quebec secession.
Coffin testified that his firm earned $86,500 while fronting for Clarity Act work actually done by Montreal-based BCP, a firm with close ties to the federal and Quebec Liberals.
The inquiry, chaired by Justice John Gomery, is examining irregular spending in the sponsorship program, which was supposed to promote Canadian unity but has been accused of funnelling millions in government contracts to Liberal-friendly ad firms.
Coffin has also said he fronted a Health Canada ad contract for a second agency, Gingko Group, and took a commission even though Gingko did all of the work.
He told the inquiry he had a close friendship with Guite and once hired the bureaucrat as a consultant following Guite's retirement.
Coffin singled out Guite and the bureaucrat's assistant, Huguette Tremblay, as participants in a scheme to top off production-fee budgets for a number of sponsorship files from 1997 to 1999.
He told the sponsorship inquiry that Guite asked him to bill for hours worked even though Coffin's firm didn't keep time sheets.
Coffin and fellow ad man Jean Lafleur have both said Public Works officials approved, and even encouraged, the massive fees each agency took for managing $250 million in sponsorship deals from 1997 to 2003.
In many cases the middlemen couldn't say what they did to earn the fees. Sometimes they billed for entertaining clients at hockey games or simply passing along paperwork and cheques.
Coffin himself admitted he sometimes billed taxpayers for work done by his wife, who was not on his payroll.
Advertising executive Paul Coffin leaves following his first day of testimony before the Gomery Commission on April 26 in Montreal. (CP PHOTO/Paul Chiasson)
MONTREAL -- Ad man Paul Coffin, the first person charged in the federal sponsorship scandal, pleaded guilty Tuesday to 15 fraud charges.
Three of the 18 fraud charges that Coffin originally faced were withdrawn by the Crown.
Coffin is president of Communication Coffin. He was arrested in September 2003 on the charges relating to federally sponsored events which took place between 1997 and 2002.
The events included local automobile and bicycle races, festivals and ski activities.
Sentencing arguments will take place on Aug. 16.
Coffin's jury trial had been set to start June 6 before he decided to plead guilty.
In testimony at the federal sponsorship inquiry, Coffin said he falsified bills earning him more than $1.5 million in sponsorship income following requests by his friend, then-sponsorship boss Chuck Guite.
Coffin told the inquiry his stream of bogus bills began to flow from the first day his firm was chosen as part of a select group of Montreal ad agencies charged with managing sponsorship files in 1997.
Guite and advertising executive Jean Brault also face fraud-related charges related to the sponsorship scandal. Their joint trial is set for October.
At the inquiry, Coffin helped shed light on alleged bureaucratic collusion in a scheme to create a lengthy trail of falsified paperwork and inflated bills for several files, including Jean Chretien's Clarity Act on Quebec secession.
Coffin testified that his firm earned $86,500 while fronting for Clarity Act work actually done by Montreal-based BCP, a firm with close ties to the federal and Quebec Liberals.
The inquiry, chaired by Justice John Gomery, is examining irregular spending in the sponsorship program, which was supposed to promote Canadian unity but has been accused of funnelling millions in government contracts to Liberal-friendly ad firms.
Coffin has also said he fronted a Health Canada ad contract for a second agency, Gingko Group, and took a commission even though Gingko did all of the work.
He told the inquiry he had a close friendship with Guite and once hired the bureaucrat as a consultant following Guite's retirement.
Coffin singled out Guite and the bureaucrat's assistant, Huguette Tremblay, as participants in a scheme to top off production-fee budgets for a number of sponsorship files from 1997 to 1999.
He told the sponsorship inquiry that Guite asked him to bill for hours worked even though Coffin's firm didn't keep time sheets.
Coffin and fellow ad man Jean Lafleur have both said Public Works officials approved, and even encouraged, the massive fees each agency took for managing $250 million in sponsorship deals from 1997 to 2003.
In many cases the middlemen couldn't say what they did to earn the fees. Sometimes they billed for entertaining clients at hockey games or simply passing along paperwork and cheques.
Coffin himself admitted he sometimes billed taxpayers for work done by his wife, who was not on his payroll.
