This may sound like a crazy 80s movie plot, but it happened right here in our backyard.
One businessman in Canada’s capital took extreme action to keep his money from going to his ex in an (obviously) acrimonious divorce proceedings.
Less than 2 years ago, he was running to be mayor of Ottawa. Now, he’s facing the wrath of a judge for what he did with all his money.
He was quite a rags-to-riches a success story. An excerpt of a story about him from the time of his mayoral bid:
McConville makes clear that he is not a run-of-the-mill garage owner, but a serious entrepreneur. He started a business in a wooden shack in 1981, and over the last 37 years built it into a successful 16-bay garage that is one of the largest independent repair shops in the city. Today, his garage employs 11 full-time workers and five part-timers in the fall. The garage has 33 loaners for customers and his inventory is worth some $2 million. He also owns property around town.
Source: OttawaCitizen
The divorce court judge took aim at his finances, and he was what you might call ‘uncooperative’.
Bruce McConville, 55, has long defied a court order to file an affidavit about the state of his finances, meaning authorities are unable to figure out what he owes in child and spousal support.
As a result, McConville hasn’t paid anything to his ex-wife. He is also accused of ignoring a Superior Court order to pay the court $300,000 as a security, and he has defied a further court order telling him not to sell his properties.
McConville appeared in court at a contempt motion on January 28, where he told Superior Court Justice Kevin Phillips he sold both properties and businesses before withdrawing a total of $1,050,000 CAD (£583,565) in cash through 25 withdrawals from six different bank accounts.
He said he had the ATM receipts to prove he withdrew the cash, but he no longer had the $1 million – a claim that confused Justice Phillips.
Source: EC
So, where can $1 Million dollars disappear to? That depends who you believe.
If you buy the husband’s explanation, the short answer is this:
McConville’s explanation that he set fire to the missing million was revealed during a contempt motion last week before Superior Court Justice Kevin Phillips.
McConville told Phillips he withdrew a total of $1,050,000 through as many as 25 withdrawals from six bank accounts — and had the receipts to back up his claim — but no longer had the cash.
“So where’s the money now? Phillips pressed.
“I destroyed it,” McConville replied.
“You’ve lost me. What do you mean?” the judge asked.
McConville rambled and spoke of anxiety about a relationship with a daughter.
“Can I back you up a bit? When you say you destroyed it, what do you mean?” the judge asked.
“I burnt it,” McConville explained.
“To the tune of how much?” the judge probed.
“In total, about a million and thirty-nine thousand dollars,” McConville said. (McConville later said he burned $1,050,000 in all.)
Source: Ottawa Citizen
He didn’t film the destruction and has no way of proving it ever happened.
The Judge, therefore, is calling BS on his story, and threw him in the cooler for 30 days, to sort out his story, with threats of much worse to come if he doesn’t come clean with the courts.
