Surrey, B.C. (Surrey Now) – A former RCMP homicide investigator who submitted a bogus claim for $700 in overtime while working on the Surrey Six murder case has dodged a criminal record.
Steve Perreault, who had been with the Integrated Homicide Investigation Team and worked with the RCMP for four years, pleaded guilty to attempting to defraud the RCMP “of monies under $5,000.
He made the false overtime claim in August 2009 while investigating the October 2007 multiple slayings, where six men were shot dead in a penthouse suite in Whalley’s Balmoral Tower.
Perreault’s crime came to light when he showed the bogus claim to a co-worker who knew he hadn’t work on that particular day. The co-worker reported the matter to his superiors, an investigation was launched and Perreault confessed.
He wasn’t suspended from his job but was instead transferred to general duty in Chilliwack.
“Mr. Perreault’s future with the RCMP is uncertain,” Judge Brian Bastin noted in his reasons for sentencing. “He will likely face a disciplinary hearing after the completion of the subject proceedings.”
Bastin noted that Perreault, 39, has been “shunned” by colleagues since the criminal charge was laid against him. The judge noted that the Mountie said he did it because money was tight. “At the time of the offence, Mr. Perreault was being asked by his fiancée to spend more time with her when, at the same time, financial pressures were requiring him to work many hours of overtime.”
Since then, his fiancée has left him and he filed for bankruptcy. The judge noted Perreault underwent counseling “in an effort to understand why” he filed the bogus overtime claim.
The Crown had sought a two-month jail term followed by a year’s probation, arguing that as a police officer, Perreault should be held to a higher standard than regular people.
The Crown argued the officer had committed a breach of trust against taxpayers and against his duty as a police officer to uphold the law and noted the crime was “not spontaneous.”
The defence argued for a conditional discharge, which the Crown opposed as being “contrary to the public interest.”
Perreault’s defence lawyer conceded that while his client had made a “foolish but serious mistake” his offence didn’t involve “direct dealings” with the public and that police officers who commit crimes shouldn’t be treated more harshly than anyone else.
Bastin noted that the defence had argued that Perreault was “just not thinking properly,” that he shouldn’t get a criminal record for his “single mistake,” and that he should be given a second chance.
“By any rational analysis, it was absurd for a person in Mr. Perreault’s position to do what he did,” the judge noted. “He was almost certain to be found out, because of the card access system that recorded the days he worked, including overtime. Furthermore, by showing his overtime claim to a co-worker who knew it was false, Mr. Perreault ensured that his false claim would be discovered. For the sake of trying to illegally obtain $700, Mr. Perreault put in jeopardy virtually everything that was important to him in his life.”
Bastin decided against imposing a jail term and gave Perreault a conditional discharge. Given the “unsophisticated and senseless nature” of the offence, he concluded it is “not contrary to the public interest” to order a discharge.
He also ordered that Perreault complete one year’s probation and “keep the peace and be of good behaviour, et cetera.” Further, he was ordered to complete 50 hours of community service and was fined $500.
Eileen Mohan, whose son Chris was one of the six murder victims, said she was “very disappointed” by what Perreault did. “It was very self-serving,” she said. But she added that she’d glad that this situation was “dealt with accordingly” prior to the murder trial as she wants to ensure that “this file is spotless” before the Surrey Six case goes into trial mode.
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