The former executive-director of the Maple Ridge-Pitt Meadows Chamber of Commerce has been charged with fraud over $5,000.
Dean Alan Barbour appears in Port Coquitlam provincial court April 2 for arraignment, when a plea will be entered.
The offences are to have taken place between Dec. 15, 2008 and Jan. 15, 2010.
According to a court document, the offence of defrauding the chamber is to have taken place between Dec. 15, 2008 and Jan. 15, 2010.
Also accused is Shannon Milne, who faces a charge of fraud under $5,000, with the offence to have taken place during the same time period.
The two also face a combined charge of issuing a forged document.
Charges were sworn against the two on Jan. 26.
Current chamber president Ken Holland didn’t want to comment on the charges. “We’ve heard a lot of rumours, but a lot of them are not true.”
Friday he was focusing on the Business Excellence Awards banquet, which had sold out.
The charges were a surprise for Barbour.
“This kind of came out of left field – very, very disappointed.
“It’s in the courts right now and we’re going to defend ourselves.” He added that he expected positive developments in the next few weeks.
He pointed out there are two sides to the story and hasn’t yet had a chance to refute the allegations.
He said the charges have nothing to do with the chamber’s financial situation and said when he left “there was a lot of stuff said that wasn’t true.”
Asked if the chamber was in a deficit when he was executive-director and Barbour said it depends on how you look at the numbers. “I don’t consider it to be bad as some people might look at it on the surface. But again, it’s neither here nor there.
“It never was completely understood, what was going on, in my opinion.”
But the charges have nothing to do with that rumour of the deficit, he said.
He added there’s no reason for Milne to be involved. “To get named in this is really, really sad. It just makes zero sense.”
Barbour says in his Linkedin profile that he served as executive-director for the chamber from November 2007 to July 2010.
He’s also currently listed as a senior business strategist.
