CALGARY -- Calgary police have referred their investigation into the expenses of Coun. Joe Magliocca to RCMP.

The findings of a forensic audit into the Ward 2 councillor's expenses had been sent to Calgary police and the minister of municipal affairs in late July for further investigation and in a statement Monday, CPS says they reached out to RCMP, "to request they lead an independent investigation in the interest of transparency and best practices."

Magliocca has been ordered by his council peers to receive training on relevant expense policies and he is banned from business trips until 2021. 

The scandal surrounding his expenses first came to light after the Calgary Herald reported through a Freedom of Information request that Magliocca had expensed $6,400 to taxpayers in the spring of 2019 during a Federation of Canadian Municipalities conference in Quebec. 

Those expenses were about double the amount of his city hall colleagues and included alcohol and meals he said were purchased for politicians he met with, but some of those people said the meetings never took place. 

At the time, city integrity commissioner, Sal Lovecchio, was tasked with investigating Magliocca’s expenses. Lovecchio would however recuse himself after reports emerged that the two had a $163 lunch together that was expensed by Magliocca.

As a result, the forensic audit was handed over to an external panel of experts from Shores Jardine LLP, which stated in a letter that there were a number of concerns regarding Magliocca’s expenses over the past two years. An exact dollar figure of how much money had been expensed since 2017 was not released in the findings, but the letter said Magliocca paid back $6,220.66 voluntarily. 

The letter also noted however that expenses totalling $2,248.58 accounted for claims that failed to provide the name of people he hosted or incorrectly named people attending meetings. 

In closing, Shores Jardine LLP has also recommended further revisions for how council handles expense claims and allowances for city staff in the future. 

Magliocca first took office as a Calgary city councillor in 2013.

Read the report below: