(DARREN RATHWELL / iNFOnews.ca)

As the Thompson Nicola Regional District redraws its financial policies in the fallout of a forensic audit investigation, taxpayers have been on the hook for at least $1 million in spending so far.

This includes the cost of the report and the former chief administrative officer's severance and expenses before his departure that were more than what was permitted.

The two largest bills include the forensic audit, which amounted to $497,527.50, and former chief administrative officer Sukh Gill's severance of $455,311.54.

The severance amount includes wages, vacation pay and benefits, but it does not include some of the other perks negotiated in the severance agreement.

Gill's departure was sudden and an investigation revealed a culture of spending and bullying at the regional district under his lead as the top employee, according to the forensic audit report by BDO Canada LLP.

In Gill's severance agreement with the regional district, the regional district agreed to pay $3,000 of his legal fees, according to a document dated Feb. 20, 2020.

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The regional district also agreed to buy Gill a new Samsung S20 plus smartphone — a roughly $1,000 item. It also agreed to pay his 2020 Chartered Professional Accountant dues, which can range from $200 to $1,000.

Audit investigators began their work in the spring, which began by examining expense reports and per diems for employees and board members, but it later expanded to uncover a network of people and organizations that may have benefitted from close relationships with regional district administration.

While the forensic audit initially was approved for up to $75,000, the continued investigation and interview work that BDO Canada auditors conducted brought the total up to nearly half-a-million dollars.

While elected officials have said they stepped back to allow the auditors to pore over emails and financial documents, current administration employees were active in assisting with auditors' needs over the months-long investigation.

The public report does not include all information uncovered by the investigators, but it does summarize expenses that went over and above what financial policies should allow for.

The regional district offers allowances for meal expenses through the course of a year. From expense claims filed between 2014 and 2019, investigators found $24,379 in meal expenses that were more than the regional district would allow for.

That amount, however, included the top ten individuals or categories of people that expensed their claims.

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Telus home internet and mobile bills for multiple people were paid for by the regional district. More than $12,000 was paid to Telus, including for one contractor not employed by the regional district.

Investigators also looked at gift card purchases, which amounted to more than $6,000 within the five year scope. Some of the purchases were deemed legitimate, but they were an item of suspicion because they tended to lack proper itemized receipts.

While not tallied in the report, there was at least one regional district-related trip where extra hotel days were expensed.

The report notes multiple instances where receipts were not itemized and some individuals were incorrectly named to have been present for expensed dinners.

The report does note, however, that investigators looked at gifts that were given to employees at the regional district that were often within the bounds of what regional district policies would allow for.

Sometimes these gifts were handed out to recognize an employee's performance, and others were given when someone retired.

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The roughly $1 million figure does not include legal fees the regional district may have paid for over the two years since Gill's departure.

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