The former chair of the city’s Christmas Cheer Fund has been charged with fraud.
According to a media release issued Monday, the Thunder Bay Police Service allege that Linda Gambee defrauded the charitable organization of $22,000.
Police say they received a complaint in January regarding financial concerns from the Christmas Cheer committee which resulted in an investigation by the Economic Crime Unit.
“I speak on behalf of the board when I say we are profoundly disappointed,” said current Christmas Cheer Fund chair Jolene Kemp, who took over late last year.
“As any organization is, we’re very cognizant of the fact we have to be open with how we collect things. We have many checks and balances in place and as volunteers we run a very tight ship right now and with the help of our auditors we will continue to do so and do what’s best for the families we provide service to.”
Thunder Bay Police spokesman Chris Adams said it appears there were a number of instances that were questionable.
It took investigators only a month to file charges.
“With economic crime they can be very complex investigations which can involve very long and lengthy sorting of financial records but in this case the records and audit and investigation were done in such a way the investigations were able to reach a conclusion in a reasonable amount of time,” Adams said.
The investigation is the latest chapter in what has been a controversial past six months for Gambee.
She was ousted from the Canadian Lakehead Exhibition board of directors last September over a disagreement regarding the board’s open liquor cabinet policy.
She resigned as Christmas Cheer chair shortly afterwards, which was taken over by Kemp.
Kemp emphasized that despite using one of their buildings, the Christmas Cheer Fund is a separate entity and is not overseen by the CLE.
Gambee, 60, has been charged with fraud over $5,000 as well as breach of trust and is scheduled to appear in court on March 4.
The charges against the accused have not been proven in court.
