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| Stealing money is so Waltherian. CFW stole the bishop's land, gold, books, and personal property. Walther is worshiped today for his great talents (of gold). |
New Edinburgh's Saint Luke Lutheran Church alleges former treasurer Barton Burron embezzled $600,000
BY DON BUTLER, OTTAWA CITIZEN MAY 10, 2014
Officials at a century-old Lutheran church in New Edinburgh are alleging that a retired public servant who served as its treasurer for 30 years embezzled more than $600,000 from church bank accounts.
In a statement of claim filed April 23 with the Ontario Superior Court of Justice, Saint Luke Lutheran Church alleges that Barton Burron — who once worked for the Auditor General of Canada and the Office of the Superintendent of Financial Institutions — took the money from church chequing and savings accounts between June 2009 and September 2013.
None of the church’s claims has been proven in court.
In an email, Bart Burron’s lawyer Tom Curran said his client "will respond in the appropriate forum to the allegations, and in particular to the members of the Church of which he been a member and supporter for many decades.”
David Debenham, the church’s lawyer, said Burron filed a notice of intent to defend Friday.
It’s too soon to say if the case will proceed to court, Debenham said. “We really want to hear (Burron’s) explanation. We haven’t got his side of the story yet.”
The church’s statement of claim alleges that Burron “embezzled over $600,0000 from (the church) and used those embezzled proceeds to buy real and personal property, either directly, or indirectly by paying off mortgages or charges against the said real and personal property.”
It alleges that Burron took $289,000 from the church’s chequing account and funnelled it to his numbered company “for his own personal purposes.”
He also took $318,725 from the church’s savings account, the statement alleges, which was used to pay another numbered company for Burron’s “own personal reasons presently unknown to (the church).”
The “embezzled funds” were used to purchase, improve or pay off mortgages on a property at 13 Montcalm St. in Ottawa owned by Burron and his numbered company, the church alleges in the statement of claim.
The church is seeking a declaration from the court that it is the “beneficial owner” of Burron’s interest in the 13 Montcalm St. property, or alternatively is entitled to an “equitable charge” or lien over the property.
The document alleges that the “conversion” of the church’s funds was “deceitfully misrepresented” by Burron as loans and other arrangements, “thus perpetrating a fraudulent misrepresentation as well as misappropriation while acting in a fiduciary duty.”
Burron and his company were “unjustly enriched” by money they received from the church as a result of the alleged breach of his fiduciary duty, “for which they are required to make restitution,” the statement of claim maintains.
According to the statement of claim, Burron has been a chartered accountant for more than 30 years. He worked in that capacity for the Auditor General of Canada for about two decades before becoming an internal auditor at the Office of the Superintendent of Financial Institutions.
Burron retired in 2010, a spokesman for the Office of the Superintendent said Friday, but is temporarily working there again on a short-term contract.
The church, founded in 1915, has a congregation of about 150 families and is served by a full-time pastor, Rev. Bryan King. Attempts to reach King on Friday were unsuccessful.
In its statement of claim, the church says it appointed Burron as its treasurer, de facto bookkeeper, accountant and chief financial officer based on his job credentials, “trusting that he would provide honest, altruistic and careful advice” on how the church’s finance and accounting functions should operate.
Over a 30-year period, Burron was responsible for managing the church’s financial activities. He was the sole signatory on the church’s chequing and investment accounts, reconciled bank statements to the church ledger, and maintained records of income, revenue, receipts, expenses, disbursements. assets and liabilities, the church document says.
“Bart was in a key position of trust and confidence with (the church),” says the statement of claim, adding that his employment “ended earlier in 2014.”
The statement of claim alleges that Burron “maintained a system of benign neglect that allowed his access to all of (the church’s) financial records, cheques and the like so he could use (the church’s) financial assets as his own.” At some point, the statement of claim alleges, Burron “began to take advantage of his position of trust and confidence.”
