Planned city council candidate named as suspect in Bowness non-profit embezzlement case

A planned candidate for Calgary city council faces a charge of fraud, accused of embezzling more than $66,000 from a Bowness non-profit. (FILE)

(Note: Court proceedings against one of the accused, Shawna Easthope, have since been stayed. The original article continues below.)

A planned candidate for Calgary city council faces a charge of fraud, accused of embezzling more than $66,000 from a Bowness non-profit.

Calgary police announced the arrest of Shawna Easthope on Monday afternoon.

The 61-year-old woman joins Nathan Michael Mizera, 41, and Joshua Tyler Bredo, 40, all now facing charges of fraud over $5,000.

“After further investigation, it is believed the chairperson of Discover Bowness, the business name associated with events hosted at the Bowness Ratepayers Scouts and Lions Hall, later rebranded as BowCommons, directly benefitted from and was complicit in fraudulent activity without reporting it to police,” a statement read.

According to police, Bowness Ratepayers Scout and Guide Hall Association directors were approached by two men in 2022 about rebranding and handing off day-to-day operations.

The hall became BowCommon, with events hosted under Discover Bowness.

Police say they were contacted in April 2024, after “a significant amount of missing funds” was discovered.

Police say investigation placed the missing amount at more than $66,000.

It’s believed this was done “by hosting events using organization funds without paying attributed fees, falsifying documents to obtain financial control and creating false receipts for services never rendered, which were then sent to fabricated email addresses and deposited into their personal bank accounts.”

Following their own charges, Mizera and Bredo issued a joint statement in which they denied any wrongdoing and accused a pair of police officers of targeting them and of corruption.

“The allegations against us are entirely false and have no credible evidentiary foundation,” the statement read.

Regarding Easthope’s charge, Mizera and Bredo issued another joint statement:

“Calgarians should be paying very close attention to what’s happening here. This is what happens when a police badge is used as both a sword and a shield — not to serve justice, but to silence those who seek it," the statement read.

Easthope is listed as a planned candidate for city councillor in Ward 1 in the next municipal election.

Mizera is listed as a planned candidate for public school board trustee in wards 1 and 2 in the next municipal election.

Bredo was sentenced in June 2017 for the August 2011 manslaughter of a Revelstoke man in Victoria, following a guilty plea.

Taking time served into consideration, Bredo was released in November 2018.