Charges had been laid against four people accused of defrauding two Catholic churches in Cochrane, Ontario, reports Timmins The Daily Press.
These charges against the four people, Remi Lessard, Helene Gauthier (both of Cochrane) and Herve Sauve (Chapleau Township), and Elizabeth McInnis (Kapuskasing) totalled around $200,000. These charges had been dropped.
The two churches involved, St. Patrick’s Catholic Church in Kapuskasing and Transfiguration Parish in Cochrane, were defrauded over several years. The Ontario Provincial Police laid charges after an investigation had been conducted with the results of a series of unauthorized transactions had been made over the years.
On April 13 the case came before the Ontario Court of Justice. The lawyer representing the case, Pierre Dumais explained to the Daily Press that the two crown attorneys on the case could not find any possible way of conviction, asking the judge to withdraw the charges.
At this point in time there was no resolution given by the prosecution.