Former Victoria constituency office employee charged with theft, forgery

A former employee in MLA Rob Fleming's Victoria-Swan Lake constituency office has been charged with theft, fraud and forgery.

Marni Ruth Offman has been charged with allegedly defrauding and stealing more than $5,000 between March 24, 2009 and Nov. 28, 2015.

The former constituency assistant was also charged with forging cheques within the same period.

Offman was charged after the case was reviewed by special prosecutor Dirk Ryneveld on behalf of Crown counsel.

Ryneveld was appointed on June 8 in order "to avoid any real or perceived improper influence" on the case because Offman was a former constituency office employee.

MLA called in police

Fleming said he filed a complaint with Victoria police after making a "shocking discovery" that funds were missing from his office.

"This has been a very disturbing matter for me because it involves someone I worked closely with," said Fleming in a statement released on Tuesday.

He added constituency office employees work for him and the community and allegations like these violate trust between all parties. Fleming is the NDP's education critic.

Despite making the accusations, Fleming said he would "reserve final judgement" until the criminal justice process was complete.

Offman will appear for the first time in Victoria Provincial Court today in relation to these charges.

With files from Richard Zussman