Former CEO of IWK Health Centre sentenced to 5 months in jail for fraud | RiseNB

Former CEO of IWK Health Centre sentenced to 5 months in jail for fraud

The former CEO of the IWK Health Centre has been sentenced to five months in jail for using public money to pay for more than $45,000 worth of personal expenses.

Tracy Kitch was sentenced Wednesday in Halifax provincial court after being found guilty of fraud over $5,000 on Feb. 28.

In addition to jail time, Kitch was also sentenced to 12 months of probabtion.

When Judge Paul Scovil delivered his guilty verdict in February, he noted Kitch used a corporate credit card and flight passes to cover numerous flights from Toronto to Halifax for personal travel to her home.

Scovil also said the former CEO of the Halifax’s children’s hospital used corporate funds to pay for taxis, hotel stays for relatives, iTunes, Netflix and data charges. Scovil said Kitch also used a rental car for personal use and didn’t pay parking tickets.

“As CEO, and having signed documents related to the same, Ms. Kitch clearly had knowledge that the use of flight passes and corporate credit cards were not to be used for personal expenditures,” Scovil said in his 17-page decision released in February.

Scovil also noted Kitch’s position as CEO of a children’s hospital demanded the strictest adherence to a high ethical standard.

“Ms. Kitch clearly breached that standard,” he said. “The evidence before the court clearly showed that Ms. Kitch used corporate funds for personal expenses, placing the IWK funds in potential peril.

“There can be no doubt that the flagrant abuse of flight passes and credit cards are a marked departure from her position of public trust.”

Kitch stepped down from her position at the IWK Health Centre in August 2017 after an independent audit found she had used her corporate credit card to bill the hospital about $47,000 in personal expenses.

Kitch paid the hospital back over $45,000 within months of her resignation.

Kitch was charged in October 2018 and went to trial in November 2021.

With files from The Canadian Press

This is a developing story…more to come.

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