Cases against former coast guard employees involve '1,000s of pages', says lawyer

One of the lawyers representing two former senior Canadian Coast Guard employees charged with fraud asked for a delay in the cases Wednesday because of the "thousands" of pages of documentation involved.

In asking for a postponement at provincial court, Brian Wentzell said he will need "more than the normal time" because of the vast amount of evidence involved in the case against Kevin Barnes and Brian Stone.

The presiding judge agreed, and set the case over until July 31.

Barnes and Stone were each charged last month with fraud over $5,000 and breach of trust.

Neither of the accused were in court for a first appearance Wednesday.

Barnes is a former supervisor of seagoing personnel, and Stone was the superintendent of the maritime search and rescue group.

Police allege the fraudulent activities were committed between 2008 and 2012 when the two men were working in the St. John's area with the coast guard, which is a branch of the federal department of fisheries and oceans.

The Crown stated it will be proceeding by way of indictment, which is more serious than a summary offence and exposes an accused to greater penalties.