Richard Harvey expected to plead guilty to expenses fraud

A former top administrator with the largest school district in Newfoundland and Labrador is expected to plead guilty to expense-account fraud related to his time as a board superintendent in Alberta.

Richard Harvey, 63, appeared at provincial court in St. John’s Tuesday morning.

He is facing two charges — fraud over $5,000 and breach of trust.

Harvey’s lawyer, Tom Williams, told the judge the matter will be resolved by “speedy disposition.”

That almost always indicates a guilty plea.

The charges were transferred to Newfoundland from Alberta earlier this month. Harvey now lives back in St. John’s.

Former assistant director of personnel

Harvey left his job as assistant director of personnel with Newfoundland’s Eastern School District in 2006 to become superintendent of the Pembina Hills regional school division north of Edmonton.

According to The Westlock News, Harvey abruptly left his Pembina Hills post in October 2010 under mysterious circumstances.

The Alberta newspaper reported that Pembina Hills declined to offer any details on his departure from the job.

Harvey was charged two years later.

According to court documents, the alleged fraud spanned from 2006 to 2010 — the entire period that Harvey worked as superintendent for the Pembina Hills board — and involved "submitting excessive expense claims."

Court filings made public to date shed no light on the exact amount of cash involved.

Those details are expected to be revealed when Harvey’s case is called back to court in the new year.