Calgary police ask RCMP to lead investigation into city councillor's expenses

Calgary police have asked RCMP to lead an investigation intoCalgary councillor Joe Magliocca's expenses, after a forensic audit found heimproperly claimed more than $5,000in the last two yearsand that there are outstanding questions about another $10,000.

In late July,city council voted to release the report from the audit and to pass the findings along to Calgary police to "take appropriate action," as well as to the minister of municipal affairs.

On Monday, police confirmed it had received a request from the city for further investigation.

"We have reached out to the Alberta RCMP to request they lead an independent investigation in the interest of transparency and best practices," a spokesperson for the Calgary Police Service said in a statement.

RCMP confirmed it would be conducting an investigation into a city councillor.

The audit, conducted byPricewaterhouseCoopers LLP,found that of $36,687 claimed by the Ward 2 councillorbetween October 2017and March 2020, $5,657 was improperly claimed and another $10,247 will need to be reviewed by council's priorities and finance committee.

When the matter was first reported, Magliocca voluntarily reimbursed $4,477. After the councillor reviewed the draft investigation into his expenses, he voluntarily reimbursed another $1,473.

Magliocca's expenses were first brought into question in January, when the Calgary Herald reportedthe councillor hadexpensed $6,400 about double that of his colleagues during a trip to the annual Federation of Canadian Municipalities conference in Quebec City the previous spring.

Those expense claims included meals and alcohol for meetings that some attendees he claimed he met with said never took place.

In fact, the investigation found11 attendees he claimedhe hosted said they were not in attendance. PwC also saidthere were "numerous" other attendees it was unable to contact to confirm if meetings had taken place.

The city's integrity commissioner Sal LoVecchiowould have beentasked with investigating and adjudicating the matter,but LoVecchio recused himselfafter hesaid he realized Magliocca expensed a $163 lunch the pair sharedwithout his knowledge.

The investigation of Magliocca washanded to the city auditorwho hired PwC.

CBC News has reached out to Magliocca for comment, who has yet to publicly address the audit's findings.

Council voted unanimously toissue a letter of reprimand to Magliocca, request he make a public apology, order him to receive training on relevant policies and ban him from business trips until the organizational meeting of council in 2021.

Magliocca has been a Calgary councillor since 2013.