David Del Mastro, cousin of Ontario MP, charged in election probe

David Del Mastro, the cousin of Independent MP Dean Del Mastro, is facing charges for allegedly breaking campaign donation limits, the Commissioner of Canada Elections said Thursday.

• Dean Del Mastro quits Tory caucus after Election Act charges
• Election agency searches business of Dean Del Mastro's cousin​

David Del Mastro and Tori-Lynn Manchulenko, who is listed online as the controller for Del Mastro's company Deltro Electric, are charged with:

• Knowingly concealing or attempting to conceal the identity of the source of a contribution.
• Knowingly circumventing the campaign contribution limit for an individual donor.

According to court documents filed in 2013, the allegations relate to donations made to the 2008 election campaign of Dean Del Mastro, the MP for Ontario's Peterborough riding.

The detailed charges listed on the commissioner's website allege David Del Mastro and Manchulenko provided "money from Deltro Electric Ltd. to one or more individuals in exchange for those same individuals making one or more contributions to the campaign of Dean Del Mastro," and had "Deltro Electric Ltd. provide money to one or more individuals in exchange for those same individuals making contributions in their own names to Dean Del Mastro."

Clean campaign

The MP has not been charged in connection with the investigation of his cousin and has said he knows nothing about the allegations.

"All donations were received in the proper form, they were properly recorded, properly reported, and properly receipted. We have done everything we were supposed to," Del Mastro said in an email last January when CBC News reported his cousin's business had been searched.

Dean Del Mastro was tried in July in a separate investigation related to the 2008 campaign. A verdict is expected in his trial on Oct. 31, the same day his cousin is due in court for his first appearance.

Dean Del Mastro has repeatedly denied any wrongdoing and said he ran a clean campaign. In his trial, he pleaded not guilty to charges that he intentionally overspent his 2008 campaign limit, tried to cover it up by reporting a $21,000 expense as $1,575, and contributed too much money to his campaign.

The MP was once parliamentary secretary to Prime Minister Stephen Harper but was shuffled out of the role in September 2013, just before the commissioner of Canada Elections announced charges against him. He held the role for just over two years.

Dean Del Mastro stepped down from the Conservative Party when he was first charged but pledged to support the government in votes in the House.