Where the money went

Forensic accountants say the sponsorship program actually cost $355 million - not $250M as originally estimated - and that some of the money may have inadvertently been spent on sponsorship:

Auditors hired by the Gomery inquiry have uncovered another $105 million spent on sponsorship-related activities by the Liberals.

A report tabled at the inquiry on Tuesday by the Kroll Lindquist Avey firm revealed a total of $355 million could be linked to sponsorship actions – that's more than the $250 million Auditor General Sheila Fraser pegged in her report.

The auditing firm, commissioned by the inquiry at a cost of $7.5 million, said it included spending going back to 1994 because it discovered special programs similar to sponsorship activities. Fraser's report examined contracts between 1997 and 2003.

The Kroll Lindquist Avey report also found:

* $150 million of the $355 million went in commissions and fees to ad agencies.
* $51.2 million went to salaries and bonuses to owners of advertising firms.
* $42 million was spent on sponsor amateur sports events.
* $10 million was directed to professional hockey, mostly spent on the Montreal Canadiens and the Ottawa Senators.
* Groupaction Marketing issued $406,514 in cheques in the name of the company's president Jean Brault, his wife or associates that could have been converted to cash and provided to the Quebec wing of the party under the table.
* $780,000 was donated above board to the party by Groupaction. [emphasis added]

Dang, I really went into the wrong line of work.

Posted by damian at May 24, 2005 09:35 PM | TrackBack