The former director of a construction firm that was used to pay some of Mike Duffy's Senate expenses testified that his father did help set up the corporate structure of the company, even though he didn't have an official role in the company.
On the 12th day of Duffy's trial in a provincial court in Ottawa, defence lawyer Donald Bayne questioned Matthew Donohue who agreed that while he, Donohue, was involved in the day-to-day business of running the company, decisions about the setup of the company were made by his dad Gerald Donohue.
On Tuesday, Matthew Donohue testified he didn't know his father was using the company to write cheques to pay for some of the now-suspended senator's Senate expenses. He also testified on Tuesday that he didn't know his father was using the company to write cheques for services unrelated to the construction business.
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Matthew Donohue, 30, also said in court that he didn't believe his father had cheque-signing privileges for the company Maple Ridge Media Inc., which later became Ottawa ICF in 2009.
Duffy has pleaded not guilty to 31 charges of fraud, breach of trust and bribery related to expenses he claimed as a senator and later repaid with money provided by the prime minister's former chief of staff Nigel Wright.
The court is now hearing from Nicole Proulx, a former director of the Senate finance department.
Court heard that Gerald Donohue is recovering from serious health issues and won't be able to testify until at least next week.d in the day-to-day business of running the company, decisions about the setup of the company were made b
The RCMP have alleged that Duffy awarded contracts worth roughly $65,000 to his former colleague Gerald Donohue, but that "little or no apparent work" was done in exchange for the payments. The Crown has argued that Donohue, a former CTV technician, used that money to pay for inappropriate or non-parliamentary services for Duffy.
Cheques signed by Gerald Donohue to pay for those services, which were billed to the taxpayer, came from either Maple Ridge Media, or later Ottawa ICF, court has heard.
But Matthew Donohue said his father had a minor role with either company and had no official position or title. He told the court that his mother, Gail, had a 60 per cent share of the company and the title of president, and that he, Matthew, owned the remaining 40 per cent and did the day-to--day work in his role as director.
He said he was with the company from 2003 to 2013, and that to his knowledge, the company focused exclusively on construction work.
Donohue confirmed his father's signature on company cheques presented as evidence but said he didn't believe that his father had authority to sign cheques.
When asked by Crown prosecutor Mark Holmes if he knew his father was writing cheques unrelated to the construction business, Donohue said that bookkeeping wasn't "really my thing" and that his interest in the business had declined by mid-2010.
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