Friday, October 28, 2011

Barinder Sall guilty plea bargain in Kash Heed election overspending case: $15,000 fine, 1 year probation, 200 hours community service, no jail time


BC Liberal MLA Kash Heed's 2009 election campaign manager Barinder Sall avoided a jail sentence Friday afternoon but was fined $15,000, put on one year's probation and ordered to perform 200 community service hours in the Vancouver-Fraserview election overspending case.

Sall admitted to six violations of the Elections Act in a guilty plea bargain deal that saw serious Criminal Code obstruction of justice charges dropped that could have seen him sentenced to up to 10 years in jail. 

UPDATE #1 - And in a new development tonight, CBC TV is reporting that Sall told them up to $40,000 in additional elections expenses were unreported to Elections BC.  In an exclusive interview with CBC, Sall says: "I have accepted full responsibility for my actions and errors. But I did not act alone."

Heed's lawyer David Gruber denies Sall's charges, CBC reports.

UPDATE #2 - The South Asian Link Newspaper is reporting it has obtained copies of emails allegedly between Heed and Sall that have Heed: "demonizing everyone from Liberal MLA Mary McNeil to former police chief Jamie Graham and former fellow VPD colleague Jim Chu" but it has not published those emails. The Link also reports that Sall makes claims in an exclusive interview about the $6,000 paid to Sall and campaign worker Sameer Ismail from government constituency office funds after the election.

The charges came after Heed's campaign printed and distributed a vicious and inaccurate leaflet trashing the NDP but didn't report the costs - which exceeded election spending limits.  Sall and Khanna also admitted they lied to RCMP and Elections BC investigators when contacted about the leaflet and other expenses.

Heed was never charged with any offences but admitted to overspending and was fined $8,000 but allowed to keep the Vancouver-Fraserview seat he narrowly won over NDP opponent Gabriel Yiu by less than 800 votes.

UPDATE #3 - Oct 31 - NDP candidate Gabriel Yiu has requested Elections BC start a new investigation into the Kash Heed 2009 election expenses based on media reports from the CBC and the allegations of Barinder Sall that up to $40,000 in election spending was not accounted for. And the Vancouver Sun has a front page story today repeating Sall's allegations and detailing Sall's long relationship as an advisor to Heed.  Yiu's full letter to Elections BC is at the bottom of this story.

Barinder Sall speaks to media after sentencing - Bill Tieleman photo
NDP MLA Bruce Ralston & 2009 Vancouver-Fraserview candidate Gabriel Yiu - Bill Tieleman photo
Co-accused Dinesh Khanna, owner of the mailing firm that distributed the leaflet, was fined $6,000, put on probation for 90 days and ordered to perform 50 hours of community service after pleading guilty to three Election Act violations.

But no explanation was made in any of the proceedings about two cheques worth a total of $6,000 paid to Sall and campaign worker Sameer Ismail from Heed's government funded consituency association account a month after the election campaign.  Heed signed both cheques, $4,000 to Sall and $2,000 to Ismail, with his lawyer David Gruber telling 24 hours newspaper that Heed "understood the cheques to be for services rendered to the constituency office."

Judge Joe Galati told Sall and Khanna that: "That they should consider themselves fortunate in the outcome of this case.  Both of them, but especially Mr. Sall, had taken actions to circumvent the laws."  But Galati said he took into account that both men had no criminal record, showed remorse, were of past good character and had pled guilty, making a three week trial unnecessary.

Yiu said outside Provincial Court in Vancouver that he was "very disappointed in the sentence" while NDP MLA Bruce Ralston said the case leaves Heed's legitimacy as an MLA in doubt.

"The laws were broken outrageously," Ralston said.  "Voters must be asking themselves if it was a fair election."

Yiu was even more critical about the whole situation.

"This is a sad precedent for democracy in BC - will the RCMP actually spend the time to investigate Election Act violations in the future?"

In Court, Special Prosecutor Peter Wilson outline the details of the plea bargain and how Crown and defence counsel had agreed to a Statement of Facts in the case.

The charges came after a complaint from the NDP when a Chinese-language leaflet appeared in the riding falsely claiming that the party would legalize cocaine, heroin and prostitution as well introduce a "death tax".

The statement of facts also says Sall arranged for $5,900 worth of radio advertising on Fairchild and AM 1320 - Chinese radio stations - and disguised the expenditure as third party advertising by two persons who did not sponsor the ad.  Sall paid for the ads through his business.

Sall's lawyer Richard Peck made a lengthy statement about the significant negative impact the charges had on Sall's reputation and ability to earn a living.

"This has been terribly depressing for him. He was on the cusp of signing a very significant consulting contract when this broke - he did not get the contract. He has not been employed since April 2010, has incurred substantial debt, spent his life saving and some of his RRSPs and has been shunned by organizations he was involved with," Peck said.

Wilson agreed in his summation, explaining in part why he agreed to the sentencing deal.

"Mr. Sall has become a pariah in the community," Wilson said.

Khanna's lawyer David Unterman also said his client, owner of North American Mailing, has suffered since the events of May 2009.

"His business has become terrible as a result," Unterman said, noting that Khanna was "relatively unsophisticated with regard to the Elections Act."

Sall and Khanna were both given two years to pay their fines.


UPDATE #3 continued - Letter to Elections BC from Gabriel Yiu requesting new investigation into Kash Heed 2009 election expenses:

Gabriel Yiu's letter to the chief electoral officer.

30th October, 2011
Dr. Keith Archer,
Chief Electoral Officer
Elections BC

PO Box 9275 Stn Prov Govt
Victoria, BC V8W 9J6
Dear Sir,
Re: New revelations concerning excessive spending by Kash Heed’s 2009 campaign

As a candidate who participated in the 2009 provincial election in Vancouver-Fraserview, I am writing to make a formal request for a new investigation into the supplementary report filed with Elections BC by the BC Liberal Party candidate Kash Heed on September 28, 2011.

On October 28, Kash Heed's campaign manager Barinder Sall revealed on CBC TV news , that the campaign he managed in 2009 exceeded the statutory spending limit by some $40,000, seven times the amount ($5,578.90) which Heed had declared in his recently filed supplementary report.

As you may be aware, Special Prosecutor Peter Wilson concluded and released his investigation report on April 2011 into Heed’s campaign report filed on August 7, 2009, while Chief Justice Bauman delivered his judgment on August 31, 2011.

Based on the serious allegations made by Sall, and on other information I have obtained through various sources, I respectfully submit that there are reasonable grounds to question the truthfulness of the supplementary report filed by Kash Heed on September 28 with Elections BC.

According to the Elections Act, Section 226, filing a false or misleading report is a serious offence, on commission of which “the member ceases to hold office and the seat of the member becomes vacant.”

In order to uphold public confidence in the integrity of our democratic system, I hereby request that Elections BC launch a new investigation into the supplementary report recently filed by Kash Heed.

Sincerely yours,


Gabriel Yiu
New Democratic Party Candidate
Vancouver-Fraserview 2009 BC Election


29 comments:

Anonymous said...

Another additional 40 grand unaccounted for???

Wow. I didn't think Kash had that many more surprises.

Anonymous said...

no big deal, this is how they do politics in india,and we welcome it with open arms here.when in Rome....oh shit that old saying is out the window.

DPL said...

Sleazy bunch, and of course Heed was one of Gordo's star candidates. Sure can pick em

Anonymous said...

How are we allowing a former chief of police plead ignorance of the law when this much blatant criminal activity is taking place?

Anonymous said...

This Liberalgovernment is corrupt to its dirty core.

Anonymous said...

We shouldn't be too surprised at the outcome of the judges decision.

Think back to Campbell's theft and corrupt sale of the BCR, farce of a trial. The police crimes swept under the carpet. Politicians and their special prosecutors, to get them off criminal charges.

Didn't Kash Heed have his own special prosecutor?

I think there has billions upon billions thieved out of this province because of Campbell. He oozes of corruption and decay.

40 grand is just a drop in the bucket, that has been thieved from the BC peoples tax dollars. We peons are supposed to thank our lucky stars, they didn't steal even more.

Anyway, there are no laws for the politicians, and the elite. Even the former police chief, gets away with crime.

Anonymous said...

Ohhh Boohoo. We must not stress the criminals out, because they steal from us. Didn't Kash Heed loan Sall his special prosecutor.

Campbell's theft and corrupt sale of the BCR trial. The two patsies that took the fall for Campbell, had their legal fees paid for them out of our tax dollars I mean to say, the BC people pay politicians to steal from us. Why is Sall different? He worked for Heed.

Jeff Barkley said...

This is an excellent example of why millions of people around the world are marching in the streets in the "Occupy" movement. We are fed up with our politicians and courts providing one level of justice to the 1% and a totally different one for everyone else.

Taking a fraction of the money stolen by a thief as a fine if they are caught is hardly a deterrent to them doing it again. Meanwhile plans to increase penalties when a working person is caught smoking a joint after work are under way...

Bill Tieleman said...

WARNING FROM BILL TIELEMAN: I appreciate the interest in this important story and will do my best to post all comments but I've already had to delete some that were in my view libellous.

Please remember that one cannot accuse anyone of anything that alleges wrongdoing when that has not been proven and when the evidence is not available.

Anonymous said...

Why is the Legislative Comptroller not investigating the payments from the constituency office, or for that matter the all-party Legislative Management Committee?

Ken in Victoria said...

Well, another interesting article and this typist must agree with the comments. Is there no end to the liberals problems. New ones keep appearing everyday. Thirty million to a mining company. Is that any way to spent tax money. Perhaps the liberal party should have to pay for so many political waste of tax money. The Public and other liberals including the MLA s must be insulted. I am.

Anonymous said...

Plead ignorance of the law?You can't plead ignorance,ignorance is no defense period......not for the 1%anyway,you get it know?you know the guy's on the front lawn of the VAG,maybe we should all join them hey bill good,this is just one of the reasons those young heroes are down on the lawn,your fat ass wants removed forcibly,maybe they should remove your ass from the propaganda pumping dog station,and ain't no top dog either,the only thing it's on top of is the people it screw's,oh wait a minute the old timers that still believe that bile your spewing,good riddance that the only time good should be used after bill!

Anonymous said...

Gabriel Yiu (NDP) is a popular TV personality in the Chinese community, which is the majority in the riding in which he sought a seat. The Defamation was decisive in securing Heed's victory. The other factor was: NDP refusal to make Heed's $40,000 payoff from West Vancouver, after he quit the RCMP. I wonder which party WVan councillors support? Social media committed serious sins of omission on this issue. And where was ex-Vancouver police employee (MLA Jenny Kwan) on this issue?

Anonymous said...

It is very difficult not to be angry, and shoot our mouths off in this province Bill. There is no difficulty connecting the dots.

The Campbell/Clark BC Liberals, left a trail of corruption, a hundred miles long. My opinion is, how can we prove anything with a corrupt judicial system? A totally biased media?

Even video evidence of crimes are swept under the carpet. E-mail evidence is ignored.

After Christy called citizens opposing Campbell, the Taliban....I feel quite comfortable, calling some politicians a few choice names.

In Canada politicians are permitted to, lie, deceive, be corrupt, thieve and cheat to win. They are even rewarded, for doing so.

We see all of this crap going on with our own eyes Bill. But, we can't prove it. Is our opinion all wrong, and we shouldn't say what we think?

The everyday BC citizens are not lawyers. However, we are not blind and stupid either.

vex said...

i support no politicians in their present form. libs, ndp, greens, all garbage and full of crap.

i might just sit out the next election, as i cannot honestly give this system my endorsement.

same goes in the states, democrats or republicans...just window dressing for the corrupt corporations.

i hope a new system of government emerges from the global protests, because the system now is a train wreck for the people.

Anonymous said...

Speaking of special treatment...

Campbell sought private ceremony for his Order of B.C. investiture

Justine Hunter and Ian Bailey, The Globe & Mail

In a September e-mail to the protocol officer in charge of this year’s Order of B.C. ceremony, Mr. Campbell asked: “When is it appropriate for me to use the OBC designation?”

He was told: “In British Columbia … the common practice is that the postnominals are used after the investiture ceremony has taken place. However, technically, there is nothing wrong with using the designation immediately.”

So, Mr. Campbell is technically a member of the Order of B.C., but he has not yet been invested. He has been invited to next year’s ceremony, however, to pick up his medal.

Anonymous said...

@ Anonymous Sunday, 30 October, 2011 12:20:00 PM PDT


The msm is a huge problem in BC. The private media is wholly propaganda and even the cbc is slipping.

Notice that no where in the article:

http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/british-columbia/story/2011/10/28/bc-heed-campaign-overspending-sall.html

is BC Liberal ever written.

Anonymous said...
This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.
Anonymous said...

Nothing new here.

Interesting that this keeps being dragged on and on.

The NDP "picks" their candidates too.

Lessons to be learned here.

The so-called "rising starts" and yes there are a few on the NDP side, are over-rated.

The real volunteers are those who work for the cause and want to effect positive change.

The non volunteers work for themselves and want opportunity.

Anonymous said...

The MSM continues to ignore the corruption and therefore becomes just as corrupt.
It's no wonder I watch Brian Williams,CNN and ignore the clowns at Global and CTV.

Anonymous said...

The MSM is just awaiting orders from their bosses back East as to how or how not to cover the story. Remember how they hounded Glen Clark out of office on the Casino scandal and then shut off the 'Gordo drunk driving story" after just a few days. I dont watch or read the news media anymore as they just are a right wing joke.

Anonymous said...

The MSM is just awaiting orders from their bosses back East as to how or how not to cover the story. Remember how they hounded Glen Clark out of office on the Casino scandal and then shut off the 'Gordo drunk driving story" after just a few days. I dont watch or read the news media anymore as they just are a right wing joke.

Typical response. Wait until the MSM starts diging out the NDP once they are in government.

Glen Clark was the carrier of his own errors. No one to blame but him.

Anonymous said...

i hope a new system of government emerges from the global protests, because the system now is a train wreck for the people.

News for you.

The Occupy Movement IS a train wreck.

When they decided to protest the Holy Roasary Cathedral on a Sunday morning, they lost credibility.

Anonymous said...

It is astonishing that the pab are trying to spin this into a critique of the NDP. A+ for effort against all rational expectations...

Anonymous said...

Chief Electoral Officer reviews new allegations in Heed affair


By Jonathan Fowlie, Vancouver Sun October 31, 2011 5:07 PM


Read more: http://www.vancouversun.com/news/Chief+Electoral+Officer+reviews+allegations+Heed+affair/5635095/story.html

Anonymous said...

I drove by the Art Gallery today and I was inspired. I felt true joy when I saw the tents - the signs - the people and the ideas!

Thank you Occupy Vancouver. You have inspired me and I support you!

Anonymous said...

Sall gelds the Stallion

“This was an error in judgment that I paid a significant price to learn from,” Barinder Sall complained. “But I did not do this alone — I worked very closely with the former solicitor-general Kash Heed.”

The rise and fall of Kash Heed’s political operative
by Ian Mulgrew, The Vancouver Sun

Anonymous said...

"I drove by the Art Gallery today and I was inspired. I felt true joy when I saw the tents - the signs - the people and the ideas!"

Thank you Occupy Vancouver. You have inspired me and I support you

What inspiration? ALl they've done is talk and junk up Vancouver's front yard.

If someone is inspired by a junkyard of tents and soggy cardboard signs from oblique left wing groups, there's obviously something wrong.

and just how many of these Occupy People posess and use Big Bank credit cards? Quite a few more than they are willing to admit.

Drove by. Let's review:

Vehicle made by Big Corporation, powered by gasoline made by Big Oil, and obviously bought with money obtained from a Big Bank, and driven on a road built with equipment made by Big Companies.

The hypocrisy in that support group is rampant!

Anonymous said...

Barinder "Birdi" Sall....ain't karma interesting! You got what you deserved & now good luck getting your career back on track!