Audit of Ramal’s ‘massively incomplete’ mayoral campaign finances referred to courts

Khalil Ramal may face legal proceedings if the courts decide that the Municipal Elections Act was violated, reports CTV's Daryl Newcombe.

Khalil Ramal, who finished second in London’s 2022 mayoral election, will have an audit of his campaign finances referred to the courts for potential legal action.

On Wednesday, Ramal pushed back against the audit’s findings during a meeting of the Compliance Audit Committee.

“I want to clear up my name and go back to my life,” he told the three-member committee appointed to oversee complaints about election finances. “I don’t want to be getting calls from the auditor every three [or] four months.”

Auditor William Molson told the committee that Ramal’s campaign finances submitted to the city clerk suffered from “massively incomplete information,” and that much of the campaign’s revenue and expenses flowed outside of its dedicated bank account.

“The Candidate did not file a true and correct Financial Statement,” Molson’s report concludes. “And hence contravened the Municipal Elections Act.”

Following the 2022 election, a complaint was filed alleging:

• A list of financial donations over $100 failed to include the mailing address and/or name of contributor
• A contribution for $1,495 exceeded the $1,200 limit
• No expenses were declared for telephone, internet, or website hosting fees
• Expenses of $2,034 and $339 for ‘steel’ should be subject to the spending limit
• Other ‘revenue not deemed a contribution’ lists ‘3x50’ worth $150, which would exceed $25 limit

Based on Molson’s examination of available documents, plus telephone and written exchanges with Ramal, he was able to confirm the violations.

In addition, he discovered that Ramal used an unlicensed accountant to confirm the accuracy of his financial documents before they were submitted to the city clerk.

The individual had claimed to be a licensed Chartered Professional Accountant (CPA) in the document.

Finally, the audit determined that “Ramal exceeded his permitted contribution limit of $25,000.00 by $11,916.27.”

“No public money was misused!” Ramal told the committee. “The whole of the issue is how are we going to deal with the future debt - which I didn’t pay yet?”

Ramal repeatedly referred to a $21,000 invoice stamped “unpaid” as evidence he did not technically over-contribute to his own campaign.

The committee was told by Molson that unpaid expenses from a campaign are considered contributions by the candidate.

Ramal said he was unaware that the individual that audited his campaign’s financial filing was not actually licensed.

Later, he held up a list of names and addresses which had been sent to the auditor identifying the donors who contributed over $100.

“I know I owe the public answers for all this fiasco, a fiasco if you want to call it [that],” he added before taking aim at the length of time required for the audit to be completed. “It’s sorry to say that because it shouldn’t take that long, it shouldn’t take thirty months.”

Molson accepted some responsibility for the length of time to complete the audit but explained the difficulty he experienced obtaining the required documentation from Ramal and the unlicensed individual who audited the original financial filing.

After going behind closed doors to deliberate, the Compliance Audit Committee emerged with its decision.

“The public interest and a municipal purpose will be served by commencing legal proceedings against the candidate,” stated Chair Andrew Wright.

“Whatever. I respect your decision,” Ramal uttered.

The committee will prepare a document explaining the rationale behind its decision to pursue legal action against Ramal.

“The next step is the clerk will circulate the notice of decision and retain an independent prosecutor,” explained Deputy City Clerk Sarah Corman.

Penalties for violating the Municipal Elections Act could include:

• up to $25,000 fine
• ineligibility to vote or run in next election
• up to six months in prison
• forfeiture of your elected office
• additional fine (amount spending limit exceeded)

After the decision, Ramal remained steadfast in his belief that the issues raised in the audit are resolved - so he isn’t worried about the matter moving to the courts.

“I’m not concerned because I didn’t do anything wrong,” he told CTV News. “And as outlined in my statement to the committee and to the auditor, I didn’t exceed my limit and still have a debt to $21,000.”

Ramal placed second to Mayor Josh Morgan in the 2022 municipal election receiving almost 23 per cent of the votes cast.