Former Town of Come By Chance manager charged with fraud a no-show at Gander court

A former Come By Chance town manager accused of defrauding the tiny Newfoundland municipalityof thousands of dollars failed to appear before aSupreme Courtjudge in Gander on Tuesday.

Jennifer Benson faces four charges in a case that's been dragging its way through the justice system for years.

An arraignment, which involves the formal reading of the charges into the record, was to take place Tuesday morning before Justice Philip Osborne.

St. John's lawyer Taylor Starrett, describing herself as the "solicitor of record" for Benson,joined the proceedings by telephone. Cory Binderup, a Crown attorney based in Clarenville,also joined by telephone.

But the accused was a no-show, with Starrett saying she sent Benson notification of the hearingbut didn't get a reply.

"UnfortunatelyI have had no contact with my client and I haven't for some time," Starrett told the court.

Binderupexpressed frustration at the latest delay in the caseand asked thejudge to issue a warrant for jurisdiction. The judge agreed, which means if Benson fails to appear at the next scheduled date on Oct. 25, she could be arrested.

"Thisis a situation where there was an arrangement, a very favourable arrangement, for Ms.Benson," Binderup said. "But unfortunatelyMs. Starrett hasn't been able to get instructionsor get Ms. Benson to appear, so that's why we are where we are."

Come By Chance is a town of just over 200 residents in a heavily industrialized area on Newfoundland's east coast.

The town receives large grants in lieu of taxes from the nearby refinery and oil transshipment terminal, and had an annual operating budget of $1.2 million in 2022, making it the envy of many small towns in the province, at least from a financial perspective.

But the town has been gripped by controversy in recent years, including disputes over conflict of interest allegations andconcerns about how the town was managing its finances.

Tensions erupted into protest in March 2021, when a few dozen angry residents assembled in front of the town hall. The protesters expressed discontent with the town counciland raised concerns about the town'scash woes.

The protest followed a petition circulated among residents that accused the town council of allowing municipal infrastructure to crumble.

At the time, then mayor Chad Giles admitted the town had fallen on hard financial times. He blamed economic uncertainty at the time related to the nearby oil refinery, which had closed a year earlier, and the theft of money.

"Because the money is gone, we've had to use our reserves to pay for our bills, pay for some of our projects. So right now, our reserves are depleted," Giles told CBC News at the time.

Giles added that the town's financial accounting practices had also been improved.

There's also been a revolving door of town councillors and municipal employees, and for an eight-month period last year, the town's affairs were administered by an official in the Department of Municipal Affairsafter the entire council imploded in dismissal and resignationin February 2022.

And for the last five years, residents have waited for answers about the fate of an investigation into Benson, theformer town manager.

• Protest in Come By Chance puts town's cash woes, council troubles in spotlight
• Dismissed Come By Chance councillors invited back, offered apology for conflict dispute

It's alleged Benson stole nearly $250,000 from the town before her departure in mid-2018.

According to court information, she's alleged to have transferred more than $217,000from the town's bank account to her own accountandcharged nearly $18,000to the town's credit card to buy personal items.

It's also alleged Benson paid herself nearly $14,000in wages more than she was entitled to in her contractand that shedeposited a $4,000 town cheque into her own account.

The case against Benson had been making its way through provincial courtbut has now been elevated to Supreme Court.

The current mayor, Carole Molloy, declined to speak about the ongoing legal matteror the town's affairs when contacted by phone Tuesday.

Molloy said she would confer with her council colleagues before making any statements.

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