Mike Duffy trial: Following the trail of cheques

A review of all the payments made by Gerald Donohuefor a number of services incurred by Mike Duffy revealsthat the suspended senator's friend doled out 31cheques totaling$33,028.68to 14 different individuals or companies.

That money came from aseries of Senate research contracts worth $64,916.50awarded by Duffy toDonohue,mostly to perform editorial, research, consulting andspeech-writing services.

And the balance of that nearly$65,000? So far,witnesses,court exhibits andRCMPdocuments have yet to make clear whathappened to the rest of thatmoney$31,887.82.

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Over the first 17 days of the Duffy trial, Crown prosecutors have called a series of witnesses to testify, in part,thatthey received cheque payments from Donohue, through his family-owned company Maple Ridge Media Inc. (which later became Ottawa ICF).These payments were forservices incurred by Duffy as a senator between and including the years2009 and 2012, the trial has heard.

For example, the first cheque, paid through Maple Ridge Media, went to L. Ian Macdonald, a former speech writer for prime minister Brian Mulroney and currently a freelance writer and consultant. MacDonaldwas hired shortly after Duffy became a senator to writea speech that was titled "Why I am a Conservative."

The $7,350MacDonaldreceived for the speech was deposited on April 3, 2009. However, Donohue's first government cheque for his first contract with Duffy ($10,500) is dated April 22, 2009, meaning Donohue paid for this speech expense before he had received any money from his first Duffy-related contract.

Why Duffy gotDonohueto pay any ofthese particular expenses using the $65,000 Donohuereceived in contract moneyhas yet to be fully explained at the trial. Duffy's defence lawyer, DonaldBayne, has argued that while it was"administratively irregular" to not have these expenses paid out through Senate finance, the actioncertainly wasnot criminal.

Some witnesses have testified that invoicing Maple Ridge Media Inc. or Ottawa ICF ensured a faster payment than having to go through Senate finance.

However, it's the Crown's contentionthat Duffy set up afund withDonohuetopay for some inappropriate or non-parliamentary services expenses, the Crown believes, wouldn't have been covered by Senate finance. Some of these expenses have included payments for makeup, a personal fitness trainer andpersonal photos.

As for the editorial and consultingservices that Donohue himself was contracted to perform theRCMPhas alleged thatDonohuewas paid "for little or no apparent work."

Donohue, the RCMP allege,was awardedcontracts and paid "an inflated rate for the type of service purportedly provided."

Donohuehimself has said,accordingto theRCMP documents,that he did not "produce any tangibledocument, report or work product," "never did speechwriting" and "didn'tperform the duties" described in his broad job description.

Meanwhile, according to an RCMP affidavit filed by then Sgt. Greg Horton, the lead investigator of the Duffy case, Donohuestated that the "moneywas paid to the business, and that he never personally received any of it."

Duffy faces 31 charges of fraud, breach of trust and bribery related to his Senate expense claims and their repayment. He has pleaded not guilty to all charges.

The Donohue cheques

* The date of the actual date of the cheque to MacDonald is unclear. The April 3 date is the day the cheque was deposited.

Government payments to Gerald Donohue (or Donohuefamily related firm) for 4 contracts