CBRM launches external investigation into credit card charges from previous administration

Cape Breton Regional Municipality has launched an external investigation over outstanding credit card charges going back more than a year, but few details are being released.

Council met for more than two hours in an emergency session behind closed doors Tuesday morning at the city hall in Sydney, N.S.

An online agenda only said the topic was confidential legal advice.

After the meeting, councillors declined to comment and Mayor Cecil Clarke left without talking to reporters.

In an emailed statement Tuesday afternoon, CBRM said an "unresolved financial issue from the previous administration" is holding up a financial forecast for the rest of the fiscal year and it has asked Sydney lawyer Robert Sampson to investigate.

The statement said no supporting documentation has been made available for a "legislative" credit card used over the last 14 months and that CBRM policies require approvals and documentation and charges must be directly related to municipal business.

Lawyer asked to audit account

CBRM said Sampson has been asked to audit the credit card transactions and attribute the expenses on the account.

It's not clear what a legislative credit card is, but CBRM's legislative budget covers councillors' pay, costs related to council operations, meetings and travel, among other things.

It's also not clear how much was charged to the credit card, but CBRM's annual legislative budget is $1.7 million.

CBC News asked if the matter would be considered criminal, but was told no one was available Tuesday to answer that question.

In its statement, the municipality said no further comments will be made at this time.

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