Audit discovers old ATM theft at Truro Raceway as new chair pushes change
Financial problems that pushed the Truro Raceway to the brink of closure have been well known, but many people were shocked, including the new head of the organization, when an audit revealed up to $70,000 was stolen from an ATM at the site.
Stu Rath, the chair of the Nova Scotia Provincial Exhibition Commission (NSPE) said he's doing everything in his power to make the business thrive again.
"I think we've made major progress," said Rath. He says he knew he was inheriting a long list of problems when he accepted the position 15 months ago.
One of his first priorities was to update the books, which hadn't been examined in the year and a half before he started his job.
He never imagined the audit, which looked at 2014, would reveal the large theft.
"It could have been multiple people," he said of the money, which the audit found went missing over the course of a year. The audit was conducted last year.
'You wouldn't get any money back'
Rath declined to elaborate how the money could have been taken, but the site's ATMs are now being operated by an outside company.
Rath also decided not to take the allegations to police, a decision some people have argued against since it was first reported in the Truro Daily News.
"It would be very difficult to prove, it was happening over a long period of time. You wouldn't get any money back."
Looking ahead
Rath is moving forward, trying to get rid of the cloud that has been hanging over the raceway and bringing the books back in the black.
Joe Nicholson, the general manager of the NSPE and the raceway, is taking a similar approach.
"We really want to make sure that we're moving forward and that the issues that were in the past, they're in the past and that we're doing the right thing now to help it grow."
In 2013, the raceway was on the brink of closure because it was nearly $1 million in debt.
The next year, the Nova Scotia Farm Loan board called a loan of $420,000 to the Provincial Exhibition Commission, following about $170,000 in missed payments.
The Farm Loan Board then took over the business, and Rath was brought in to turn it around.
Turning a profit
Since then, the entire board has been replaced as well as many of the staff. It's the clean slate Rath said was necessary.
"It's very important, the exhibition, the racetrack, the concerts, the dog show, it's important for economic development in the area," he said. "If the Truro track closes to harness racing, it would be clearly the end of harness racing in Nova Scotia."
He's already seeing change, like how the recent exhibition turned a profit.
"It was one of the more successful ones," he said.
Rath is hoping that by having strong control of the cash, the three levels of government will get on board and invest in the facility.
"I'm optimistic that we can turn things around."
