The man who promised, but has yet, to donate $7.5 million to a B.C. minor hockey team has been charged with fraud in relation to an unpaid restaurant bill.
Mike Gould has since repaid in cash the $8,000 he allegedly owed the Northwest Grill in Cranbrook from an event back in October, according to the owner Jolene Salanski.
Salanski alleged Gould paid for a celebratory banquet with cheques not in his name and then asked her not to cash them the next day.
This is how the police put it in a news release Tuesday: “When the business owner attempted to cash the checks, she was advised that there was insufficient funds.”
“I have no idea where he got it,” Salanski said. “He did say he expected the charges to go away since he paid me back.”
In October, Gould made national headlines when he committed the large sum of money to the Kimberley Dynamiters junior hockey club and Kimberley Minor Hockey.
The team has not received any of the funds that were committed.
Gould’s first appearance is set for Dec. 18.
A phone call to Gould went unanswered. He has not yet responded to a request for comment.
