RCMP officer charged with fraud in Fort Liard set to stand trial in December
Curtis Ping faces fraud and breach of trust charges related to time serving in N.W.T. community
An RCMP officer and his wife, both of whom face fraud charges stemming from their time in Fort Liard, N.W.T., are set to stand trial in Edmonton next month.
The Northwest Territories RCMP reported in July 2020, that Cpl. Curtis Ping and Darlene Ping were charged with fraud at the RCMP detachment in Fort Liard.
In March, the N.W.T. prosecutor stayed the charges against the Pings. Due to the close relationship between prosecutors and police in the territory, the Pings' case was moved to Alberta.
They are now scheduled to be tried in the Court of the Queen's Bench of Alberta from Dec. 13-16.
Charged with fraud, breach of trust
Curtis Ping faces two counts of fraud over $5,000 for allegedly defrauding the RCMP between Oct. 1, 2018, and May 31, 2019.
He's also charged with breach of trust in connection with his duties as RCMP detachment commander in Fort Liard. That charge relates to allegedly signing fraudulent time sheets.
Darlene Ping also faces two counts of fraud over $5,000 for the same time periods as her husband.
In addition, Darlene faces one count of "fraud altered document." According to Alberta court records, Darlene allegedly intended to defraud the RCMP by omitting information related to hours worked on janitorial time sheets.
She also faces one count of "falsifying employment record" for allegedly recording inaccurate hours on time sheets.
When the charges were made public last year, the N.W.T. RCMP said they had launched their own internal code of conduct investigation, and that Curtis had been suspended with pay.
RCMP did not respond to questions before publication deadline. Ping is scheduled for an RCMP conduct hearing on Jan. 31, 2022.
Both the Alberta prosecutor and the lawyer for the defence declined to comment while the Pings' case is before the courts.