Nova Scotia court quashes hospital CEO’s conviction for fraud, calls for new trial – Halifax

Nova Scotia’s highest court has quashed the fraud conviction of a children’s hospital CEO who used a corporate credit card to pay for $47,000 in personal expenses.

Tracy Kitch, former chief executive of the IWK Health Centre in Halifax, was sentenced to five months in jail on Aug. 10, 2022, but she was released on bail pending her appeal.

Defence lawyer Brian Greenspan said today the Nova Scotia Court of Appeal called for a new trial in a decision issued after a hearing on Tuesday, but the three-member panel did not offer its reasons at that time.

Greenspan says he told the court that Kitch used the credit card to cover personal expenses, but he argued that her actions were not fraudulent.

He says she had disclosed to the hospital what she had done and was prepared to provide reimbursement, which was in keeping with the hospital’s policies.

It is now up to the Crown to decide if a new trial should be held.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published March 8, 2023.

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