A preliminary inquiry to determine if there is enough evidence to try a former Essar Centre manager on fraud-related charges got underway Monday at the Sault Ste. Marie courthouse.
Trevor Zachary faces 21 charges for offences alleged to have occurred between 2008 and 2013 when he was employed by the city as the centre's marketing and events manager.
Ontario Court Justice Melanie Dunn is presiding at the hearing, which is scheduled for two weeks.
A court-ordered publication ban prohibits reporting any evidence heard during the hearing.
Zachary, 41, was charged by the Sault Ste. Marie Police Service in September 2013, following an investigation by the fraud unit of the investigation services division.
The city requested police assistance regarding financial concerns at Essar Centre in June of that year, police reported when the charges were laid.
He is charged with four counts of fraud over $5,000 related to misappropriation of funds for personal gain and preventing revenues for the Corporation of the City of Sault Ste. Marie.
As well, Zachary is charged with eight counts of forgery for creating false records which were acted upon as being genuine and eight counts of uttering forged documents which caused the city to act upon the documents as if they were genuine.
He also faces a single count of breach of trust as a public officer for deceitfully or fraudulently using public funds and municipal recreational facilities.
Through his lawyer Bruce Willson, Zachary elected to have his case heard by a judge of the Superior Court of Justice, sitting with a jury, if the preliminary hearing determines there is enough evidence to proceed to trial.
Assistant Crown attorney David Kirk is the prosecutor.
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