3 | O akville B eaver | T hursday,M arch 5,2020 insidehalton.comWWW.CONCEPTLIGHTING.CA Suppliers of fine lighting to Casa Loma, North America's largest castle. ENTIRE STORE ON SALE PLUS SAVE AN EXTRA 20% OFF* OAKVILLE 243 Speers Road, Oakville See store for details*See store for details* West GTA's finest lighting store CONCEPTLIGHTINGGROUP END OFWINTER SALE OR Take 6months to paywith 0Payments&0 Interest. The Crown is seeking penitentiary terms for two men who defrauded Halton Region.Region.R Halton Crown attorney Arish Khoorshed is asking for a sentence of two to threefor a sentence of two to threef years in prison for David Ohashi, a former high-rank- ing manager in Halton's wa- ter and wastewater division. Ohashi, 59, was found guilty by a jury last year of fraud over $5,000, fraud un-fraud over $5,000, fraud un-f der $5,000, and uttering a forged document.forged document.f Khoorshed said the length of sentences for fraud have been rising over the past two decades because "courts have begun to realize these are insidious offenc- es." He described Ohashi's fraud as an "extreme breachfraud as an "extreme breachf of trust." "This isn't a Shopper's Drug Mart cashier who takes from the till," Khoorshed said. "This fraud was planned and executed. It was not something that could be done on the fly." The Crown is seeking a prison term of four to five years for David Norris of Hamilton, the principal of a company that was a vendor and service provider to Hal- ton Region. The Crown has also asked for a $1.4-million resti- tution order against Norris, who was found guilty of fraud over $5,000, municipalfraud over $5,000, municipalf corruption, and accepting secret commissions in con- nection with fraudulent in- voices that were paid out by the region over a number of years. Ohashi's lawyer, Domen- ic Basile, asked Superior Court Justice Erika Chozik for absolute discharges onfor absolute discharges onf the fraud under $5,000 and uttering forged document convictions. On the fraud over $5,000 charge, Basile is seeking either a suspended sentence or a conditional sentence of four to six months. "There was no personal greed here with respect to the monies," Basile said. "There was no personal gain for Mr. Ohashi."for Mr. Ohashi."f Ohashi asked to address the court and he delivered what could best be described as a victim impact state- ment, even though he was the guilty party. Ohashi didn't apologize or express remorse for his crimes but instead told court he's heavily in debt, his ca- reer was destroyed and "this whole ordeal has been terri- ble for me." Norris, 58, is seeking a conditional sentence and he is contesting the amount of restitution he should pay, ar- guing the Crown didn't accu- rately quantify the amount of the fraud. The sentences for Ohashi and Norris will be handed down June 5 in Milton court. The two men are still fac- ing a civil lawsuit. In December, The Specta- tor published an exclusive investigation based on a con- fidential report obtainedfidential report obtainedf from a whistleblower thatfrom a whistleblower thatf raised questions about the scope of Ohashi's actions while he was employed by Halton Region. The 50-page report was prepared by an external fo- rensic accounting firm on behalf of the region in Octo- ber 2018, two years after Ohashi was charged. The report, which was provided to Halton's director of legal services, alleges Hal- ton Region spent tens of mil- lions of dollars over more than a decade on bogus pay- ments, faked invoices and unnecessary equipment. It highlights a long list of instances where Ohashi al- legedly accepted bribes and kickbacks, improperly helped outside companies obtain contracts with the re- gion and aided them in sub- mitting fraudulent invoices. The forensic accountants found dozens of occasionsfound dozens of occasionsf where Ohashi allegedly ac- cepted money, flights, vaca- tions, hotel rooms, tickets, electronics, home renova- tions, "adult entertainment" and even Viagra. The forensic accounting firm prepared the investiga-firm prepared the investiga-f tive report based on emails, phone logs, texts, BlackBer- ry Messenger messages, a computer hard drive analy- sis, and reviews of Halton Region invoices and con-Region invoices and con-R tracts. Most of the allegations contained in the report don't appear to be attached to the three charges that led to Ohashi's convictions. CROWN SEEKS PRISON TERMS IN HALTON FRAUD CASE STEVE BUIST sbuist@thespec.com David Ohashi, a former manager with Halton Region, was found guilty of fraud over $5,000 and other charges. The Hamilton Spectator file photo NEWS