Bruce McConville told a judge he withdrew and then burnt over $1 million to keep it from going to his ex-wife.
Superior Court Justice Kevin Phillips has ruled that McConville will cool his heels in jail for 30 days, after the 55-year-old former mayoral candidate from Ottawa admitted the extremes he went to in order to keep from paying over $300,000 in spousal and child support. “How does destroying over a million dollars advance your child’s best interest?” the judge asked.
McConville admitted to selling multiple properties, banking the money, then withdrawing that money in cash over a series of 25 ATM transactions. Once he had gathered the approximately $1,050,000 together, he set it on fire. “It’s not something I would normally do,” he told Phillips. “I am not a person that is extremely materialistic. A little goes a long way. I have always been frugal. That’s why my business lasted for 31 years.”
His ex-wife’s lawyer, however, called the story more “nonsense,” explaining that while McConville claims to have no income, he runs about $9,000 in living expenses every month. Judge Phillips agreed. “I don’t believe you. I don’t trust you. I don’t think you’re honest,” he told McConville.
Phillips reprimanded McConville for the charade, saying, “You are making a mockery of this court, and its process, something I will not allow … You are conducting yourself with intent to deliberately and wilfully frustrate the proper administration of justice,” he said.
“More particularly, I find what you have done to be morally reprehensible because what you claim to have done willfully and directly undermines the interests of your children,” Phillips concluded. Not only will McConville be required to pay the outstanding alimony, he will be fined $2,000 every day until he has fulfilled his legal obligations.
“I urge you to get in compliance, because that $2,000 a day is going to run up such that you lose everything,” the judge said.
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