Saturday, April 13, 2019 | Your community newspaper since 1916
CITIZEN PHOTO BY BRENT BRAATEN
Bannock making Loretta Yates, left, shows Lt.-Gov. Janet Austin the art of making bannock in the Smokehouse kitchen in the Native Friendship Centre Friday afternoon.
Enbridge denies Lheidli T’enneh Jail sought for cheque fraud claims from pipeline explosion Crown counsel is seeking a three-year prison sentence for a woman who stole more than $350,000 from her employer while working as an office manager in Prince George. Between November 2004 and February 2011, Debra Velma Penttila, 63, used her co-signing authority to alter 166 cheques adding up to $362,740 to make them payable to herself, the court heard Friday during a sentencing hearing. In outlining the circumstances, Crown prosecutor John Neal said that her employer “prides itself in paying its suppliers on time and, in fact, they used that as a negotiating tactic.” It meant that twice a month, Penttilla had the authority to create a large number of cheques, as many as 60. She would sign them and pass them on to her general manager who would review the cheques and the accompanying remittances then sign them in turn. “And what happened next is that the offender would alter some of the cheques to make the payee herself,” Neal said. “The company books would reflect that the company had been paid when, in fact, they had not.” Cancelled cheques that showed Penttila as the payee would disappear. As well, it was also discovered that cheques from customers to her employer were not reported in the company’s books even though they had been deposited into the account. “The belief there was that the money was being misattributed to other suppliers in order to
string out the fraud,” Neal said. He said it lasted until year-end accounts had to be reconciled in 2011 and Penttila realized she could no longer cover up the fraud. “It’s my understanding that she had a breakdown, she left the office and the person who was appointed to do her work uncovered what was going on,” Neal said. Charges weren’t sworn until February 2017 because of the time it took for the company to determine the extent of the loss and for the RCMP to gather the evidence in a way that was admissible to the court. “The books, when she left, were in terrible shape,” Neal said. “There were documents that had been physically hidden away in the office or documents, such as the canceled cheques, that were missing entirely.” In May 2018, less than a week before the matter was to go to trial, Penttila pleaded guilty to one count of fraud over $5,000. Defence counsel Jason LeBlond is seeking a conditional sentence order, where the term is served at home, of two years less a day followed by three years probation. Although it would mean Penttila would not to go jail, he noted it would mean she would be serving a term two years longer than the total Neal is seeking. Penttila admitted she was carrying out the scheme to cover the cost of her gambling addiction. At issue for Crown and defence counsels is whether she was suffering from depression in the lead up to launching the scheme. The sentencing hearing before Judge Michael Gray will continue at a later date.
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Mark NIELSEN Citizen staff
Mark NIELSEN Citizen staff mnielsen@pgcitizen.ca Enbridge is fighting back against legal action brought by the Lheidli T’enneh First Nation over the natural gas pipeline explosion last fall. In a response filed this week in B.C. Supreme Court in Prince George, the company maintains the LTFN’s entire lawsuit lacks merit and that the company has met or exceeded the standard of care for the pipeline. The company also says that notwithstanding Enbridge’s prior instructions that members living south of the Fraser River remain in their homes in event of a leak, the Lheidli T’enneh self-evacuated without instruction to do so from the RCMP or the company. Only after the evacuation did the RCMP and Enbridge agree that, for consistency, other homes within two kilometres of the rupture should also be evacuated, the company says in the response. On Oct. 9, 2018, the system’s 36inch pipeline ruptured, shooting a massive fireball into the air. The company says the location is about 700 metres from the reserve’s northern boundary while the Lheidli T’enneh says the distance is 500 metres. In February, then-Chief Dominic Frederick filed a notice of civil claim on behalf of the LTFN against Enbridge, saying in part that the explosion and its aftermath have “caused serious and constant distress and anguish
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The agreed compensation includes payments for damages suffered by individual Lheidli T’enneh members as a result of the pipeline. — Enbridge statement within the Lheidli T’enneh community.” The band is seeking an injunction ordering Enbridge to dismantle and remove the pipeline from LTFN territory. The band is also seeking damages. Enbridge’s so-called T-South system consists of two lines, one 36 inches and one 30 inches. It runs from Fort Nelson to HuntingdonSumas in Washington State, and supplies 60 per cent of the natural gas consumed in B.C.’s Lower Mainland. About 139 kilometres of the pipeline traverses LTFN territory and 1.5 kilometres runs through the southwestern corner of the LTFN’s Fort George No. 2 Indian Reserve. The LTFN also claims the pipeline trespasses on its territory, saying Enbridge never adequately consulted the band over its construction and failed to consult with the band prior to bringing it back
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into operation. In reply, company says in part that in 1955, the LTFN, then known at the Fort George Band, agreed to allow Westcoast Transmission, which has since become a wholly-owned subsidiary of Enbridge, to use lands on the reserve for the pipeline in return for agreed compensation. “The agreed compensation includes payments for damages suffered by individual Lheidli T’enneh members as a result of the pipeline,” Enbridge says. LTFN is not entitled to damages, Enbridge maintains, saying it has not suffered any loss, damage or expense and, if there were any, the band is not entitled based on the doctrine of remoteness and forseeability and a failure to mitigate. Among other things, the LTFN unreasonably failed to follow the company’s instructions to stay in their homes in the event of an incident and the company has provided accommodation and support to the band, “both financially and through the delivery of service programs.” Enbridge also denies LTFN is entitled to injunctive relief, saying the pipeline has operated safely for over 60 years and following the explosion, service was restored on a careful and incremental basis. “There is no irreparable harm to Lheidli T’enneh,” Enbridge says. None of the allegations have yet been tested in court. Both the LFTN notice of claim and Enbridge’s response are posted with this story at princegeorgecitizen.com.
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