Tuesday, December 14, 2010

Did One Of The Pilothouse Principals Just Throw His Former Partner Under The Bus?

AllTheLawSocietyHearings
ThatFitVille

....Why Yes, I Believe He Did.


Here is the latest, torn directly from the pixels of Mr. Brian Kieran's very fine, and very finely-personal, blog:

"....Immediately after the raid (on the Legislature) in December 2003 (Erik) Bornmann took a leave of absence from Pilothouse and never discussed with us his activities as outlined in today’s Province story (from Keith Fraser); right from the day of the raid, the RCMP refused to disclose to me any of their findings related to Bornmann; also, I was never invited to talk to a representative of the Crown until this past spring, more than six years after the raid. Even that late in the game, on the eve of the trial, the Crown would say nothing about the activities of Bornmann.

With respect to the Denver trip (by David Basi and Robert Virk and their wives to visit Pilothouse client and BC Rail bidder OmniTRAX), I told everyone involved that it was a stupid idea and a career ender. I told Erik and my associates to take no part in the planning of such a trip. I told my client in Denver not to host such a visit. After the trip was over, my client agreed to reimburse airfare and I was directed to do so on their behalf.
I met Erik for the first time about 10 years ago. My client at the time, Ron MacDonald – the CEO of the Council of Forest Industries and a former Liberal MP – introduced us and asked me if I’d take Erik under my wing. At that time Erik was in a dead-end job and hardly had enough cash in his pocket for bus fare across the city. It wasn’t that long before he was sporting new suits and pulling down six figures as a Pilothouse partner.
My reward for helping him was a profound sense of professional and personal betrayal and a ring side seat watching my once-respected boutique agency go up in flames. Thanks Erik and good luck with the folks at the law society in Toronto....."
(Please note: the material in brackets above is all mine, and was added for clarification)


****

Now.

It's great that Mr. Kieran is speaking out and putting things on the record for posterity, especially given the fact that his apparent $3,000 cash payment to David Basi formed the centerpiece in the RailGate Search Warrant #4 that was released by Justice Anne MacKenzie yesterday. Here are the 'money' quotes from Section #28 of that warrant:

...On Sept 15, 2004 Brian KIERAN was interviewed {by police}. He supplied notes of his recollection of events relating to the Denver Colorado trip {of David Basi, Robert Virk and their wives in November of 2002} and those notes are attached as appendix 1. Brian Kieran stated, to summarize:.......

{snippety doo-dah}

e. Brian KIERAN was authorized by {BC Rail bidder OmniTRAX executive} Gary RENNICK to pay for the flights {to/from Denver} and bill OmniTRAX. KIERAN expanded by saying that he withdrew $3000 cash (counter cheque attached as appendix 3) and gave the entire amount to David BASI at the Grand Pacific Hotel......

{Please note: the material in the squiggly brackets above is all mine, and was added for clarification}


In fact, if truth be told, we especially like the 'posterity' part of all this.

Because, as we've said many times before.....

The Blogspot and/or the Screenshot never forgets.


OK?


.


14 comments:

G.W. Andrew said...

Sombody needs to explain to me why Kieran wasn't charged--?

Ian said...

Kieran says he was never invited to talk to a representative of the Crown - meaning the Special Prosecutor - until last spring. Of course he wasn't that wouldn't have been too ethical.

But more importantly, the warrants show that he was interviewed by the RCMP and his office was also searched.

And Bornmann is alleged to have paid Basi for years. Are you telling me Brian Kieran, you never reviewed the books in YOUR boutique agency? Puhleeze!

Gary E said...

And if he was interviewed by the RCMP why was his testimony not sought by the crown.

Plus, these guys have been spinning for so many years I believe they are getting tired.

Leah said...

I might be a little more inclined to believe what he says when he's not so chummy with Christy Clark...and seemingly defensive of her history.

Until then, meh...no thanks.

RossK said...

Ian--

Two things....

Mr. Kieran, in his same blog post says: "....more than five years ago, we ripped our Victoria offices apart to satisfy ourselves that Bornmann’s financial transactions in no way compromised the company’s banking transactions. The integrity of the Pilothouse accounts was intact, but we felt completely betrayed...."

Now, here's the thing....It would appear that, perhaps, Mr. Kieran has parsed Warrant #1 very carefully, because in his interviews with police Mr. Bornman does explicitly state that some of the payments to Mr. Aneal Basi were not from Pilothouse but were from his (Bornman's) own company "Pacific Public Affairs"....

Importantly, however, there are many other cheques and cash payments referred to in Warrant #1 that, it would appear, were not from "Pacific Public Affairs"....

.

Ian said...

Exactly Ross,

There are two sums mentioned - the payments that add up to abut 25K and the 800K plus that the defense says is closer to 120K plus. Looks to me like some came from Pilothouse and some came from Pacific Public Affairs. Given the amounts it seems to me unlikely that Kieran was unaware.

RossK said...

Ian....

Is it possible that some of that information is in the various cancelled cheques specifically noted in the the warrant that are not attributed to Mr. Bornman's personal company?

.

North Van's Grumps said...

Where are the Auditors from Revenue Canada when you really need them? But then, they were part of the Bains criminal charges, the drug boss, and as soon as that trial happened, and quietly concluded, the Feds walked away and left the BC problems to the Provincials.

RossK said...

Very, very good point NVG....

As is stated in the warrants, and as was noted very ably by Keith Fraser in his original piece on them, it was a "chartered accountant with the federal government" that initially identified Mr. Basi's unexplained income between 2000 and 2004.

So.

Here is my question...

Why then wasn't the same the same type of analysis done for Pilothouse?

(or was it?)

.

Anonymous said...

Mark Hume has an article - Basi, Virk allegedly paid before BC Rail deal - in the G&M today.

RossK said...

Thanks Anon--

But Mr. Hume was a little late....

And only thing new was the very last bit which explains who was in on the media application to have the un-redacted warrants released (ie. they were originally released by Judge Bennett in 2006 but were heavily blacked-out at the time). Here is that new 'info':

"....The affidavits were initially released in 2006, in response to an action by The Globe and Mail, but with portions blacked out. The court released unedited versions in response to a new application by The Globe and Mail, CTV, CBC and GlobalTV."

.

Anonymous said...

Campbell's corrupt sale of the BCR trial..Was tried in a corrupt court. Presided over by a corrupt judge, who favored, brain dead witnesses. De Jong, then did the most blatant cover up, in BC's history. The RCMP, were asked to do a further investigation, of Campbell's corrupt sale of the BCR, they refused. However, the RCMP agreed to do Campbell and Craig James' dirty work. They terrorized an elderly lady in her eighties and other citizens, so they would be too afraid to sign the recall. They were told, they could be fined up to $10,000. I bet, the RCMP wouldn't even investigate, Campbell's sea to sky highway scam either. As citizens, we have to wade through a mountain of corruption in this province. Right from the top, right down to the bottom of the food chain. BC is the most corrupt province in all of Canada. We will remember, Campbell's good buddy Harper's part in the HST, come Federal Election time.

bgreen said...

rereading the BV statement of facts
2. says that three partners of Pilohouse, Bornmann,Kierans,Elmhirst all received assistance and cooperation from Basi and Virk.
So is Brian Kierans saying he worked with basi virk but didn't know they were being paid? Or is he saying the statement of facts is wrong and he didn't recieve assistance and cooperation from basi virk?

RossK said...

bg--

Both excellent questions.

Perhaps someone should ask the good Mr. Kieran.

.