Calgary Coun. Sean Chu testifies for defence at former colleague Joe Magliocca's fraud trial

Coun. Sean Chu said he saw "problematic spending" by fellow Calgary councillors, who bought purses, a mattress and running shoes, but testified that former colleague Joe Magliocca's expense claims were never an issue.

Magliocca, 59, is on trial on charges of breach of trust by a public officer and fraud for allegedly lying on his expense claims submitted to the city between 2017 and 2019. 

Magliocca's lawyer Aryan Sadat indicated Wednesday that his client would not testify in his own defence.

Ward 4 councillor Chu was the first defence witness to be called in the trial. 

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Chu was the vice chair of the committee that dealt with councillors' expenses, and when the chair was unavailable, Chu had sign-off authority. 

He testified that he recalled three times when he refused to sign other councillors' expense claims.

"I didn't sign because I saw problematic spending," said Chu. "I never once refused Mr. Magliocca's receipts or heard anything about them not being approved."

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In cross-examination, Chu confirmed to prosecutor Aaron Rankin that he and Magliocca are friends and have discussed the former councillor's "expense scandal."

"He always tells me, 'tell the truth, just tell the truth,'" said Chu. 

Parade of political witnesses 

Over the past two weeks, the prosecutor called 27 current and former politicians — including Halifax's mayor, Ontario's Liberal leader and a Quebec cabinet minister — to testify as witnesses.

Although their names appeared on Magliocca's expense reports as having dined with him at conferences outside of Calgary, the witnesses testified that they never dined with him as the receipts suggested. 

Between 2017 and 2019, the Ward 2 councillor was a city representative at the Federation of Canadian Municipalities, which held conferences in different cities across the country. 

City policy requires councillors to submit the names of people they've hosted in order to be reimbursed.