"Money laundering"

A shocking - but unsurprising - revelation at the sponsorship scandal inquiry:

Jean Carle, a former top aide to Jean Chretien and senior executive at the Business Development Bank of Canada, admitted Friday that he helped construct a phoney paper trail to conceal details of a $125,000 sponsorship deal.

Carle's startling testimony, at the public inquiry into the federal sponsorship program, drew a tart observation from Justice John Gomery. "If this were a drug deal, it would be called money-laundering," said Gomery.

"You're not wrong," Carle meekly replied.

Update: more details here. Anyone want to place bets on when Warren Kinsella writes a post saying he "never trusted" Jean Carle?

Update II: nope, Kinsella calls Carle an "old friend", and instead bashes Judge Gomery for making the "money laundering" comment. He has no comment on the fact that Jean Carle admitted to creating a phony paper trail to conceal details of the sponsorship deal.

Perhaps realizing there's no way to put a positive spin on that kind of thing, Kinsella's latest argument is that the sponsorhip inquiry has cost taxpayers more than the amount allegedly defrauded from the government. Next time I represent a client accused of stealing lipstick or a candy bar from Wal-Mart, maybe I should argue that the court appearances are costing more than the item allegedly stolen.

Posted by damian at February 5, 2005 10:22 AM