Regina vs. Harold Ballard

Sports Entertainment
Management Fraud

Wedding: a hockey expense

This was the first case in Toronto to answer the question as to whether there is one law for the rich and a different law for the poor when a high profile person in the community is the subject of a major fraud. Harold Ballard was the owner of the Toronto Maple Leafs NHL hockey club and I had the pleasure of working in Maple Leaf Gardens identifying vendor invoices that were later determined to be fraudulent – with wedding expenses charged to the Gardens’ hockey stick expense account. The accused gave instructions to their staff and suppliers on how to complete vendor invoices. This was my first experience with a high profile case and it proved to be great training particularly learning how to work within the confines of the accused premises. And yes, only one law as the accused was found guilty and received a three-year sentence.