HALIFAX - One sitting and three former members of the Nova Scotia legislature have been charged with fraud and breach of trust by a public officer after a nine-month RCMP investigation that led to 52 charges being laid in a provincial expense scandal.
RCMP said Monday that all four men have been charged with fraud exceeding $5,000 and breach of trust by a public officer.
Among those charged are two former cabinet ministers, Conservative Richard Hurlburt and Liberal Russell MacKinnon.
Dave Wilson, a former Liberal member of the house, is also facing 31 counts of uttering a forged document. Hurlburt faces three counts and MacKinnon eight counts of uttering a forged document.
Trevor Zinck, an Independent member of the house, has also been charged with two counts of theft over $5,000.
Insp. Jim MacDougall said two other politicians were investigated but were not charged.
"There were a lot of documents to review and persons involved that date back several years," MacDougall, the officer in charge of the investigation, said in a news release.
He said officers "pored over thousands of documents and spent countless hours reviewing information gathered during the course of its investigation."
At a news conference, MacDougall would not discuss any specifics about the charges.
Auditor general Jacques Lapointe released a report just over a year ago that uncovered several cases of what he described as excessive and inappropriate spending of constituency funds allotted to the 52 members of the legislature.
The RCMP began its criminal investigation after Lapointe handed forensic audit files to the Mounties last May on specific transactions involving five former members and one current member.
Lapointe's report revealed that politicians had spent thousands of dollars on everything from home installed generators and big-screen TVs to custom-made furniture and espresso makers.
Extensive reforms were put in place to make the expense system more open to public scrutiny.
Hurlburt represented the riding of Yarmouth before he resigned last year.
MacKinnon represented Cape Breton West until 2006 when he lost a nomination race after switching to the Tories when he supported their budget in 2005.
Wilson resigned his Glace Bay seat last year without explanation after his name was mentioned in Lapointe's report.
Zinck represents the riding of Dartmouth North. He was elected as a New Democrat but was kicked out of the party's caucus over unpaid constituency office bills, which he says he paid.
All four men are scheduled to make an appearance in Halifax provincial court on April 20.
