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Duffy’s lawyer takes aim at forensic accountant hired by the RCMP

Mike Duffy’s lawyer tried to poke holes in a forensic accountant’s work Thursday in an effort to discredit the investigation into the payment the suspended senator received from Stephen Harper’s former chief of staff.

OTTAWA — Mike Duffy’s lawyer tried to poke holes in a forensic accountant’s work Thursday in an effort to discredit the investigation into the payment the suspended senator received from Stephen Harper’s former chief of staff.

Mark Grenon was contracted by the RCMP to review Duffy’s finances and trace the path of the notorious $90,000 Nigel Wright provided to ensure Duffy was able to repay his disputed housing and travel expenses.

The senator’s lawyer, Donald Bayne, tried to undermine Grenon’s objectivity during cross-examination.

Grenon told court he has been called to testify in other trials.

“Have you ever been retained by the defence in a criminal case?” Bayne asked.

“Never been asked to, no,” Grenon said. “I like to feel like my work that I’ve been doing is independent and impartial.”

Bayne also pressed Grenon on the accountant’s financial conclusions, including that “there was a continued amount of overspending” in the senator’s account which had to be financed by a line of credit that grew to $100,000 in 2012.

“Banks are very careful about who they give credit to, right?” Bayne asked.

“Clearly what you call overspending, the bank didn’t think Sen. Duffy was overspending in giving him these lines of credit and extending advances on mortgages.”

“I don’t know what the bank thought,” Grenon replied. “They are in the business to lend money to make money so they are going to lend money to people who are credit worthy.”

Justice Charles Vaillancourt has yet to determine whether Grenon’s testimony will be entered as fact.

One of the key aspects of Grenon’s testimony centres on the $90,000 payment that made its way from Wright’s bank account to Duffy’s lawyer and eventually into the senator’s bank account.

The Receiver General subsequently received $90,172.24 from Duffy, Grenon told court.

Duffy has pleaded not guilty to 31 charges include fraud, bribery and breach of trust. The single bribery charge relates to the $90,000 payment.

Grenon said the source of the cheque could have been concealed with the advice of a forensic accountant, but he said he didn’t think this was done “with the intent to hide.”

Court proceedings with pause Friday for a summer break.

Wright is set to testify when the trial resumes in August. He was investigated by the RCMP but was never charged.