When Halifax resident Mary Thibeault died in her St. Petersburg, Florida, winter home, she left an estate valued at over half a million dollars and a will naming 13 people and five charities as beneficiaries. One of the beneficiaries was Halifax mayor Peter Kelly. Thibeault called Kelly a friend and valued his judgement: In addition to naming Kelly an heir, she chose him to be both executor and trustee of her will, responsible for distributing Thibeault’s wealth to the other heirs.
Thibeault’s estate is not especially complex. There are no property title disputes, and nobody has come forward to say that Thibeault owed them money before she died. Typically, such simple estates take about 18 months to work through probate—the legal process of distributing an estate—and they unfold in a straight-forward manner: the court recognizes the executor, the heirs are notified, an inventory of the estate at the deceased person’s death is taken, property is sold off, money is distributed to heirs and a final accounting is submitted to the court.
But Mary Thibeault’s estate has not moved successfully through probate. More than seven years have passed since Thibeault died on December 7, 2004, and there has been no full accounting of her estate. Some heirs have received some of their inheritance, but are expecting more. One heir has died waiting for his full inheritance, others are in ill health and one is very elderly, nearly 100 years old. Charities named as heirs have not been notified that they are to receive part of the estate, and have not received a dime.
Thibeault’s will and the probate file related to her estate are public documents at Nova Scotia’s Probate Court. But there is no indication in the file what is causing the delay. To find out, The Coast has interviewed dozens of people and examined hundreds of documents over an 11-month investigation. We have obtained Mary Thibeault’s personal bank records, from both before and after her death, and have examined correspondence to and from Peter Kelly’s lawyer.
That investigation reveals that one reason the Thibeault estate remains open is that, after she had died, Kelly transferred over $160,000 from Thibeault’s personal bank account to himself. The transfer of that money has become a sticking point in negotiations to settle the estate, with some heirs insisting that $145,000 of it be returned to the estate, while Kelly says he will do so only if the heirs keep secret about it.
Tuesday evening, after the city council meeting, The Coast approached Kelly and told him we intended to go to press Wednesday with an article about the Thibeault estate that contains serious allegations against him, and we wanted to give him an opportunity to respond.
“That’s in the hands of the lawyer,” said Kelly. “You need to talk to the lawyer.”
Wednesday morning, we called Kelly’s lawyer, Harry Thompson, and told him Kelly had directed questions about the Thibeault estate to Thompson.
“First of all,” said Thompson, “he’s my client, and ethically I’m bound by solicitor-client privilege, and anything that is public you can find at the office of the registrar of probate in Halifax.”
We then asked Thompson if he would answer further questions.
“No. No, I won’t,” said Thompson. “I know it frustrates your work, but nonetheless we jealously guard that relationship with every client.”
A friendship develops
In 1945, Mary Thibeault and her husband, Joseph, bought the Prince’s Lodge Motel on the Bedford Highway. The motel was a small building high on a bluff to the west of the highway, overlooking the Bedford Basin. The couple lived in one of the units until Joseph died in 1984, and some time later, Mary had an apartment/office space built closer to the road. She managed the motel, without employees, until she was into her 80s. She sold the motel in 1998 for $600,000, and soon after the property was developed into the apartment complex now known as Prince Edward Estates.
Mary Thibeault was friends with Peter Kelly’s father, Mort, and the elder Kelly would often bring his son along when he visited the motel. As Peter became an adult, he too became a close friend and advisor to Thibeault.
The motel was a seasonal operation, and Thibeault wintered in Florida, buying a trailer in the Venetian Mobile Home Park in St. Petersburg. After she had sold the motel, Thibeault moved into a small apartment in King Andrew Tower, a seniors’ complex on Main Street in Fairview, where she spent her summers.
Kelly was deeply involved in Thibeault’s affairs. Dorothy Clarke, the owner of the Florida mobile home park, tells The Coast that Kelly travelled several times to Florida to help with upkeep of the trailer. In 1995, when he was mayor of Bedford, Kelly spoke on Thibeault’s behalf at Halifax city council about a zoning issue regarding the motel property. And beginning some time before Thibeault’s death, Kelly managed Thibeault’s money and was in possession of her chequebook.
Thibeault wrote the final version of her will on October 30, 2003, and named “my friend, Peter Kelly” as both an heir and as “executor and trustee” of her estate. Kelly was to receive five percent of the estate and he was charged with disbursing the rest of the estate to the 17 other heirs—five charities and 12 people—who were each to receive either five or 10 percent of the estate according to Thibeault’s instruction.
“It is my direction,” Thibeault said in the will, “that my Executor shall be entitled to a minimal fee for services rendered with respect to my estate. It is my intention that the specific gift provided for in the Will to my Executor is in lieu of executors’ fees aside from the the minimal amount stated herein.”
While the will does not otherwise state what the “minimal amount” should be, it seems clear that Thibeault felt the five percent of the estate she granted Kelly was sufficient payment for his services as executor, and aside from minor expenses he may incur, he was not to charge the estate much, if anything, for his services.
The next year, 2004, Thibeault died in Florida of natural causes. Kelly was in communication with Floridian officials, was the source of information for Thibeault’s death certificate and arranged for Thibeault’s body to be transported back to Nova Scotia. He attended her funeral, and then the burial at Gate of Heaven Cemetery in Sackville.
Mary Thibeault’s money
The Coast has examined Mary Thibeault’s bank records. Until the the date of her death, December 7, 2004, the records show no unusual activity in her bank account, which was held by the Royal Bank of Canada branch on Almon Street.
The cheques presented at the bank after Thibeault’s death, however, are interesting.
The five payments for her Fairview apartment for the months of January through May, 2005, were on sequentially numbered cheques signed by Thibeault but filled in, including the dates, by a distinctive handwriting—blockish letters that often lean slightly to the left, and “E”s written like backwards 3s. That handwriting looks like the handwriting that is on forms Peter Kelly signed and submitted to the probate court.
The apartment rent cheques were dated the first of each month and deposited by Templeton Place, the owner of the apartment building, a few days into each month. A similar pattern applies to a storage unit Thibeault had rented.
It cannot be determined from the bank records if Thibeault signed filled-in, post-dated cheques for the apartment and storage rental before leaving for Florida for the winter, or if she had signed blank, undated cheques before leaving.
On March 24, 2005, the same day the probate court recognized him as executor of Thibeault’s estate, Kelly wrote and signed a cheque to himself for $10,000 from Thibeault’s personal bank account. The memo line on the cheque reads “expenses.” There is no accounting for those expenses filed with the probate court.
Toward the end of March, 2005, there was roughly $45,000 in Thibeault’s personal banking account. On the last day of that month, Peter Kelly redeemed a GIC in Thibeault’s name worth $100,066.78 and deposited it in her bank account, bringing the balance of the account up to about $145,000.
Then, on April 15, 2005, a cheque from Thibeault’s account and made out to Peter Kelly for $100,000 was deposited in a bank account at the TD Bank branch on Barrington Street, across the street from City Hall. This cheque was signed by Mary Thibeault, but was filled in, including the date, with handwriting that looks like Peter Kelly’s. The date on the cheque is October 25, 2004, more than a month before Thibeault died and almost six months before it was deposited in Peter Kelly’s account at TD bank. Written on the memo line on that cheque is “misc.-gift.”
Three days later, on April 18, a cheque for $15,000 to Kelly’s son Craig Kelly was deposited in the Bank of Nova Scotia. This cheque was signed by Mary Thibeault but filled out by handwriting that looks like Peter Kelly’s; it too was dated October 25, 2004. The memo line on that cheque reads “education fund-gift.” At the time, Craig Kelly was 14 years old.
Thibeault’s bank, however, reversed the $100,000 and $15,000 cheques, returning the money to Thibeault’s account. There is no explanation in the records reviewed by The Coast explaining why the cheques were reversed, but the same day the bank reversed the cheques—April 19, 2005—Peter Kelly redeemed and deposited into Thibeault’s account a second GIC, this one valued at $100,197.26.
The next month, on May 6, 2005, Peter Kelly wrote and signed a cheque to himself from Thibeault’s account for $30,000. The memo line on the cheque reads “per 117/119 instructions M.E.T.”
That cheque cleared.
Eight months missing
The point of the probate process is to provide a public, and transparent, accounting of the deceased person’s property and how it was handled and dispersed by the executor. To that end, an inventory of the deceased’s estate is to be filed promptly—within 90 days—and all handling of the property and money is documented in subsequent reporting. Heirs and other interested parties are therefore able to challenge various expenditures as inappropriate and, based on the public accounting they have access to, if the heirs are dissatisfied with the executor’s actions, they can petition the court to remove the executor.
The probate court named Kelly executor of Thibeault’s estate on March 24, 2005. By law, he was to file an inventory of the estate within 90 days—by June 24, 2005—but Kelly missed that deadline.
On June 30, 2005, deputy registrar of probate Pat Pozdnekoff notified Kelly that he was in violation of the Probate Act and had 30 days to comply.
Kelly failed to meet that deadline as well, and so on August 8, 2005, Pozdnekoff issued a court order requiring Kelly to file the inventory “upon receipt of this Order.”
Bank records examined by The Coast show that 11 days later, on August 19, 2005, there was a branch-to-branch transfer of over $120,000 out of Thibeault’s personal bank account. “Peter transferred $121,587.13 to another account presumably his own,” wrote someone with knowledge of the transfer, in documents given to The Coast.
The person with knowledge of the transfer said that Kelly justified it as replacements for the reversed $100,000 cheque to Peter Kelly and the $15,000 cheque to Kelly’s son Craig, plus unspecified expenses related to the estate.
That same day, August 19, 2005, Kelly submitted an inventory of the Thibeault estate to the probate court, listing just $81,430.40 in Thibeault’s personal bank account—the amount left after the $121.587.13 had been transferred.
The inventory also lists a small piece of property near Kearney Lake, two GICs totalling $400,000 and some cash on hand. Kelly claimed the total value of the estate was $503,730,73.
The inventory was sworn before Wayne Anstey, a lawyer who was then second in command in the city bureaucracy. (See the inventory on page 11.)
With the aim of achieving a complete accounting of the estate, instructions on the probate inventory form are very clear that the inventory is to represent the deceased’s property’s “value at death.”
However, the inventory of Thibeault’s property that Kelly swore an oath to and submitted as an official document to the court does not represent the value of her estate “at death”—on December 7, 2004—but rather the value of her estate more than eight months later—on August 19, 2005.
Over those months between Thibeault’s death and the inventory of her property, there was considerable activity in Thibeault’s personal banking account. Besides the rent and other minor payments, Kelly had redeemed and deposited the two GICs, each valued at slightly over $100,000.
Also, over $160,000 was moved from Thibeault’s account to Kelly’s control. (That is $161,587.13 exactly—the total of the March 24 cheque for $10,000, plus the May 6 cheque for $30,000 and the August 19 transfer of $121,587.13. That figure does not include the $100,000 or $15,000 cheques, which were reversed.)
None of the activity in Thibeault’s personal banking account between her death and the inventory is reported in any documents submitted to the court. The Probate Act makes allowances for corrections—the executor can submit a supplemental inventory—but over six years has passed since Kelly submitted the inventory, and he has not corrected the record.
To this day, there is no public accounting of the money transferred from Mary Thibeault’s personal bank account to Peter Kelly after her death. Because the activity in Thibeault’s account was not reported to the court, the heirs were unaware that Kelly had removed over $160,000 from the account. It would take years before some of the heirs would become aware of the transfer, and as luck would have it this knowledge would come just before the bank records were scheduled to be destroyed.
Gift or not?
While Thibeault’s will authorizes Kelly, as executor and trustee, to make investments and pay expenses, it did not authorize him to personally borrow money from the estate.
Of the $161,587.13 moved from Thibeault’s bank account to Kelly’s control, according to the memo line on a cheque and an explanation written by someone with knowledge of the branch-to-branch transfer, Kelly claims that $16.587.13 was for legitimate expenses related to the handling of the estate. The rest, $145,000, is a matter of contention.
As subsequently told to some of the heirs, Kelly claims the $145,000 reflects Thibeault’s stated desire to convey the money to him and his son as a gift. The $30,000 cheque Kelly signed says “per 117/119 instructions M.E.T.” The other $115,000—part of the transfer Kelly made out of the account—he claims replaces the reversed “misc.-gift” and “education fund-gift” cheques.
Does it make sense that Thibeault gave the cheques to Kelly as a gift?
The reversed $100,000 and $15,000 cheques—are dated October 25, 2004; at that time there was only about $50,000 in Thibeault’s bank account. Was the understanding that Kelly would cash them after the maturation of her GICs? We’ve seen that for her apartment and storage unit rent, Thibeault either left post-dated filled-in cheques or undated blank, but signed, cheques. If she was in the habit of post-dating cheques, why would wouldn’t she post-date the “gift” cheques to the date the GICs matured? On the other hand, if she was in the habit of leaving signed, but blank, cheques, Kelly could fill in whatever he wanted.
Additionally, the timing of the redemption of the GICs raises a question: With the small increase over $100,000—$66.78 for one, $197.26 for the other—were they fully mature?
Another issue is the “misc.-gift” written in the memo line of the $100,000 cheque. Who calls a $100,000 gift—about a sixth of the total value of Thibeault’s estate—miscellaneous?
More to the point, Thibeault could have simply written the $145,000 gifts into her will, but she did not.
Also, Kelly would later agree to return the $145,000 to the estate—on the condition that the matter be kept secret. This insistence on confidentiality, coupled with the absence of an account of the transfer on the probate inventory, raises serious questions about Kelly’s intent.
Heirs not notified
The Nova Scotia Probate Act outlines how heirs should be told of their coming inheritance: The executor should fill out a form—in the Thibeault case it is Form 24, “Notice to Beneficiaries (Residuary)”—and send it via registered mail or a process server to each of the heirs. The registered receipts showing that delivery was made then become part of the court record, and the executor fills out another form—Form 28, “Affidavit of Service-Notice of Grant”—in which the executor is to specify which heirs were notified, and which heirs the executor could not identify or find.
As executor of the Thibeault estate, Kelly has failed to file both Form 24 and Form 28. The requirement is that after being named executor, the executor must notify all heirs within 30 days. Nearly seven years have passed since Kelly was named executor and there’s no indication in the court records that he has properly notified any of the heirs.
Of the 12 people besides Kelly named in Thibeault’s will, nine were told by word of mouth that they are heirs. These nine people are either related to Thibeault or they are close family friends living in the Halifax area.
The tenth and eleventh people named in the will are Thibeault’s brother, Fabian Halleran, and a second cousin by marriage, Yvonne Comeau. Both died before Thibeault.
The twelfth person named in the will is “my friend, Ann Levey of Baltimore, USA.” As a child, Thibeault spent many summers in Baltimore, where she struck up a friendship with Levey; the pair remained close, if distant, friends for the rest of Thibeault’s life.
Levey was presumably alive when Thibeault wrote her will in 2003. The Coast has not been able to locate her or her heirs.
“In the event that an heir is missing, there are procedures in place to protect missing or unascertained heirs,” explains Cora Jacquemin, the current registrar of the Nova Scotia probate court. “The personal representative is expected to make every reasonable effort to find a beneficiary who is missing. ie: contact former friends and family, searching canada411.ca; placing an ad in the major newspaper of the last known city where they resided, to name a few methods.”
Mary Thibeault’s heirs
To receive five percent of the estate:
- Patricia Richardson (sister)
- Fabian Halleran (brother, pre-deceased Thibeault)
- Sharon Mahoney (niece, Fabian Halleran’s daughter)
- Peter Halleran (nephew, son of Fabian Halleran)
- Elisabeth Herritt (cousin once removed)
- Greg Oldfield (second cousin)
- Yvonne Comeau (husband’s cousin, pre-deceased Thibeault)
- Edward Brunt (friend, died in October 2011)
- Phyllis Brunt (friend, widow of Edward Brunt)
- Catherine Ivany (friend, wife of Raymond Ivany)
- Raymond Ivany (friend, husband of Catherine Ivany)
- Ann Levey (friend, not yet located)
- Peter Kelly (friend)
- Canadian Heart Foundation
- Canadian Cancer Society
- Canadian Diabetic Society
To receive 10 percent of the estate:
- Salvation Army, USA branch
- Canadian National Institute for the Blind (Nova Scotia)
If Kelly made any such attempt to locate Ann Levey, he has not reported it to the court. Nor has he identified Levey on Form 28 as a un-locatable heir.
Thibeault named the charities in her will as the Canadian Heart Foundation, the Canadian Cancer Society, the Canadian Diabetic Society, Salvation Army USA branch and the Canadian National Institute for the Blind (Nova Scotia). There is no indication in the court record that any of the charities have been formally notified they were named in Thibeault’s will, as required by the Probate Act.
The Coast contacted the fundraising or estate-giving managers of two of the charities, and both were completely unaware that they are to receive tens of thousands of dollars. The charities’ managers declined to be quoted for this article, but one said the charity would contact court officials for clarification of the organization’s rights.
Cora Jacquemin, the registrar of probate, says “charities are also to be served under the same time lines as an individual—30 days.”
But in fact, after being named executor, and then being ordered by the court to file an accounting of the estate, Kelly took no further action on the estate. No heirs were notified as prescribed by law, and none of the other heirs, besides Kelly himself, received any money from the estate.
Nearly four more years of inactivity would pass. Then, Mary Thibeault’s sister, Patricia Richardson, who was also an heir and then in her 90s, wrote in frustration to the court. “My sister Mary Ellen Thibeault died December, 2004,” wrote Richardson on September 10, 2009. “To date her estate hasn’t been settled. I would appreciate any information regarding this matter.”
The court then wrote a terse letter to Kelly notifying him that he was in violation of the Probate Act. Kelly responded in three ways.
First, Kelly paid $25,000 to each of nine family members and Halifax-area friends who were aware they were named in the will. Four years before, having been ordered by the court to give an accounting of the estate, Kelly placed its value at just over half a million dollars; $25,000 represents about five percent of that value. Kelly also paid himself $25,000 (beyond the disputed $145,000) with five cheques for $5,000 each.
Second, Kelly retained Halifax lawyer Harry Thompson to look after the estate. Through the years, Thompson has worked on numerous other probate cases; an examination of several of those case files shows that Thompson routinely files the Form 24 notification to heirs, the registered mail receipts and the Form 28 Affidavit listing which heirs were notified and which heirs could not be located. He clearly knows the law, and would presumably advise his client, Kelly, of his responsibilities. But Kelly has still not formally notified the charities.
Third, Kelly wrote a letter to Patricia Richardson, Mary Thibeault’s sister.
“As you are aware,” he told Richardson, “you have received your allocation of the estate both here and in the States other than your appropriate share of those that predeceased as per Mary’s instructions. The lawyer that I’ve retained has instructed me to get particular information pertaining those individuals, as well as additional information for tax settling. Once that information is at hand, I will certainly forward to you and all others you[r] residual allocations.”
The letter refers to the terms of Thibeault’s will, which called for each of the nine family and Halifax-area friends, as well as Kelly, Ann Levey, Yvonne Comeau, Fabian Halleran and three of the charities, to receive five percent of the estate; the two other charities were to receive 10 percent each. In the event that any of the heirs died before Thibeault, the will called for that heir’s portion to be distributed pro rata among the other heirs.
Two heirs—Fabian Halleran and Yvonne Comeau—did die before Thibeault. Additionally, if Ann Levey died before Thibeault, or if she truly can’t be located, her five percent would likewise be distributed among the other heirs.
If the August 19, 2005 inventory of the estate Kelly submitted to the court was correct, the 10 people, including Kelly, who have already received $25,000 should each get about $4,500 more. The three charities that were to receive five percent should get about $29,500 each and the two charities that were to get 10 percent should receive about $59,000 each.
But the inventory Kelly submitted to the court may not be correct. If the $145,000 Kelly removed from Thibeault’s bank account is returned to the estate, then the heirs are due more money still. In that case, the nine people who have already received $25,000 should each get about $7,250 more. The three charities that were to receive five percent should get about $32,500 each and the two charities that were to get 10 percent should receive about $65,000 each.
But those are ballpark calculations and do not reflect a court-affirmed calculation of the true value of the estate, nor do those figures account for ever-increasing legal bills that may be paid from the estate.
One of the heirs, Edward Brunt of Halifax, has died while the estate remains unresolved, at least one other heir is in poor health and a third heir, Thibeault’s sister Patricia Richardson, is nearly 100 years old.
Some heirs negotiate
In May of 2010, some of the Thibeault’s heirs—her family and the Halifax-area friends—contacted Halifax lawyer Lloyd Robbins and asked him to look into the probate file. Robbins had been Thibeault’s long-time lawyer, representing her on property matters and overseeing the writing and filing of her will. The nine family members and Halifax-area friends ended up hiring Robbins later that year.
If they feel the estate is being mishandled, beneficiaries to an estate have the right to petition the court to remove the executor, but the Thibeault heirs took a different approach: They had Robbins begin negotiations with Peter Kelly and Kelly’s lawyer, Harry Thompson.
The timing of the hiring of Robbins was fortuitous. Banks are legally required to maintain past account information for six years. Had another year passed, records of the April 2005 cheques from Mary Thibeault’s bank account to Peter Kelly and Craig Kelly, the May cheque for $30,000 to Peter Kelly and the August 2005 transfer of $121,587.13 out of the account may have been destroyed.
But because Robbins was retained when he was, the heirs were able to learn of those payments, and could question the removal of $145,000 from Thibeault’s personal bank account. They thought that money should be part of the estate.
The heirs also had concerns about the disposition of Thibeault’s trailer in Florida— Kelly had said that the trailer had been sold for back taxes and so there were no proceeds from the sale. But if the trailer was lost to the estate because of indifference or incompetence on Kelly’s part, it was arguably a loss of value to Thibeault’s estate, and therefore ultimately to the heirs.
Contacted by The Coast, Venetian Mobile Home Park owner Dorothy Clarke says that after Thibeault died, Kelly never came back to the mobile home park, and did not return repeated phone calls and letters to address the situation. Clarke says she paid the licensing fee on the trailer for several years in order to stay in compliance with state law. Having paid the licensing fee, and having missed out on a few years of rent payments, Clarke finally went through the abandoned property process and sold the trailer to another park resident.
The trailer aside, the nine heirs who had retained Robbins wanted the $145,000 returned to the estate; Kelly removed as executor; someone else named executor and the estate properly resolved as it should have been many years before.
But Kelly took an aggressive counter-position. He would only return the $145,000 and step down as executor on the conditions that: the heirs sign a confidentiality agreement; the mobile home issue be ignored and all Kelly’s lawyer fees be paid by the estate, as rendered by the lawyer, without question or challenge by the beneficiaries.
There does not appear to be any requirement that interest will be paid on the $145,000.
The heirs were put in a difficult position. They could make public the issue of $145,000 being removed from Thibeault’s personal account, but at risk of losing that money forever or facing a prolonged court battle, which would rack up additional lawyer fees. If they were unsuccessful in a court battle with Kelly, the heirs would not get the additional money, and the charities may not get anything at all.
According to people familiar with the negotiations, that’s where things now stand. Kelly is agreeing to the $145,000 being held in escrow until the heirs sign the confidentiality agreement. After both sides meet the terms of the agreement, the money will be returned to the estate and Kelly will step down as executor.
While this agreement may be satisfactory to some of the heirs, they have no authority to bargain in the names of heirs who have not been notified that they are named in the will—that is, the charities, which to this day have not received any payment whatsoever from the estate.
Under the terms of the agreement, the potential value of the estate will be decreased, because the value of the lost trailer will be ignored and because increasing, and unquestionable, lawyer bills will be paid by the estate. The charities have agreed to neither item, but will receive less money because of the agreement.
The probate process is designed to provide full public accountability of an estate, and to ensure that the wishes of the deceased, as expressed in the will, are carried out. The executor is a trustee of the estate—entrusted to carry out those responsibilities with reasonable speed and with strict adherence to the Probate Act and will.
But because lawyers are haggling over $145,000 that Kelly removed from Thibeault’s personal bank account, the estate remains open, seven years after she died. Peter Kelly has betrayed Mary Thibeault’s trust.
For additional information on this story. Click here.
Tim Bousquet is the news editor at The Coast. Follow him on Twitter @tim_bousquet.
Related Stories
What happens next with the Thibeault estate case?
Peter Kelly misses filing deadline for next week’s court hearing
Missing pieces in the Thibeault estate
New problems for Peter Kelly from Thibeault estate
Peter Kelly and other Thibeault heirs come to agreement
Judge approves settlement between Thibeault heirs and Peter Kelly
Kudos for The Coast
Coast scores another award nomination
Coast up for Canada’s biggest journalism prize
Peter Kelly lets loose with his wildest fantasies
Minority rules
This article appears in Feb 16-22, 2012.
Incredible read and investigative work.
Politicians, lawyers, judges. they all share the same circle. It’s pretty hard to go after your friends when you share the same pot.
Okay, now I’m not a lawyer or police officer or anything like that, but how is this not illegal? Shouldn’t the HRM Police look into this, to determine if a criminal act (fraud? theft?) has taken place?
This is incredible investigative work and a very comprehensive look at the situation. It always amazes me how things can get lost in the bowels of our Canadian legislation. The heirs are indeed in a difficult position. I am glad the coast has stepped out bravely to bring this matter to light. What can citizens do to help bring Kelly to appropriate justice?
Seems to me that it should be made law that an executor can not be named in a will as an inheritor. Then this situation couldn’t occur. Good work on the article.
Congrats goes to the Coast, Tim Bousquet and his team, now this an article that holds it own, its to the point, all information has been put forward in an amazing timeline. All put as simple as possible for people to read and UNDERSTAND, now we await the the aftermath, I cannot wait to hear what BS excuses Peter Kelly and his trusted Laywers are going to come up with. The way I see it, they should both expect to have a court date in the near future for breaking the law, if anyone have the guts to end this ridiculous circus.
Wow – I remember when The Coast first began in Halifax as a great indie rag. Oh how you have grown. This is an incredible piece of journalism. Brava.
Wow…. the Coast is much more then entertainment.. this is NEWS!
Shame on you Mr. Kelly… I say Mr, not MAYOR, as I suspect those days are numbered..
I am sure when the national press gets hold of this, the shit will hit the fan in a serious manner. At the very least the CBC and Chronicle Herald should be embarrased for not reporting this in any serious way. I will be ashamed when the country at large learns how we as citizens of Halifax have been taken in and bamboozled by this old timey Snake Oil salesman. No More Halifax. This man should be in court, not running our fair city. He betrayed Ms Thibeault and her estate as he has betrayed all of us many times. Get Kelly OUT!
Great article! This is what investigative journalism is all about: digging, digging, and digging to get to the real story. Well done Tim!
This is award worthy!
Good job on bringing this to light. I look forward to the follow up
…. and this is only what we are aware of. WOW …. just WOW!
I find this very disturbing to say the least. Mayor Peter Kelly needs to be accountable for the money and to the heirs as well as the legal system in which we all are accountable to. This goes to show that just because someone is supposed to do the right thing, doesn’t always make it true. Shame on you Mayor Kelly.
Nail. Coffin
The handwriting on those cheques is very suspicious. Thibeault’s signature on the ones Peter Kelly cashed decline so much, it’s quite possible she was very close to the end when she signed them. The slant to the left in Kelly’s writing indicates withholding something, and the severity of the slant is pretty obvious on the cheque for ten thousand dollar “expenses”. Also, the cheque cashed by Craig is written in different handwriting than Kelly’s, so I think the kid either stole a pre-signed cheque or Kelly had him fill it out.
Funny how everyone jumps up and takes notice when it is a person who is known.. just because he is mayor.. if it was someone who was being crooked, like say.. an RCMP officer who forged a will and stole everything from his mother’s estate.. no one would blink an eye.. Lawyers pretend to do things, charge you thousands of dollars, then admit they wouldn’t do anything because they can’t go after an RCMP officer.. and then send you a bill for almost five thousand dollars… He’s just the mayor, no more crooked than the guys who are making us obey the law. No one will touch him, this will get buried too. When we are the person being screwed, no journalists will come forward to help.. no one will. Maybe if I was someone important.. hmmm..
Fantastic work, Tim Bousquet and The Coast! It’s incredible that Kelly has survived as mayor following numerous other indications of sketchy doings, but this takes the cake. I look forward to the high pitched weaseling that is bound to follow, and also to seeing Kelly out on his arse.
Wow great work if possible id love to see him get taken down a peg on national tv
While this is a great investigative piece and I applaud Tim’s efforts to uncover as much dirt as he has, I have to question the ‘newsworthiness’ of this. I mean, who doesn’t have an asshole aunt or uncle in their family tree that the whole family is embarrassed of? This is no better than the witch hunt to get rid of a president for no reason other than getting a blow job from an intern. If you want to expose the mayor for being incompetent in office, do it based on his track record in office, a task we all know should not take half as much effort to expose as this has, excepting of course FOI hurdles etc. This is certainly entertaining though, have you considered writing for Frank Magazine on the side?
I would like to take this opportunity to congratulate Tim Bosquet once again for his reporting of the FACTS and being objective. All of his articles are fact based and objective and refreshing to read. It greatly saddens me to see yet another senior being taken advantage of and that the heirs of this once hard working citizen, not receiving what this lady wanted to leave behind for them. Shame on you Peter Kelly. Once again your true colours have come to light.
Once again Tim Bosquet has proven himself as reliable and unbiased in his reporting of the FACTS. Shame on you Mr. Kelly for taking advantage of someones trust. Again. Shame on you for not distributing the gifts left behind to the heirs from this once hard working citizen. Sadly this is yet another blatant example of someone taking advantage of elderly or disadvantaged persons. You sir are a disgrace, and I hope appropriate action is taken against you.
Not one bit surprised, always thought he was a crook, now he proves it. Anyone else pulling this act would be jailed.
What a scumbag!
I am not particularly amazed by the actions of Mr. Kelly as a result of the numerous times he has claimed to be unaware of funding differentiations thereby resulting is his never owning up to any resonsibility for his actions. I am however astonished that Mr. Kelly is still in office and not facing the courts and prison time for this latest event. He claimed the other day in the papers that he was saving 850,000 a day as a result of the transit strike and that there is no reason to settle the strike as a result. Again and again Mr. Kelly is being placed at the center of funding issues and he doesn’t seem to care how his actions affect the very people who put him into office in the first place. My deepest condolences go out to Mrs. Mary Thibeault’s Family and friends I truly hope they make Mr. Kelly pay for what he has done…we all know the devil has no soul
Funny I do not see Harold MacKay’s name as a beneficiary, so how come Kelly gave him $400 grand?
Why aren’t the police looking into this….and I don’t mean HRM police….the rcmp would suffice…
Nice job. 🙂
BYE BYE PETER…If the CAO Butts and council don’t ask little pete to step down immediately then I think THEY should take the walk of shame with him.
Wow—your reporter did a lot of good old-fashioned digging for this important story. Kudos!
I guess we now know why peter is feeling bad for the disabled. To bad he didn’t think about the visually impared before and give the CNIB the money due to them ( no need for capitals or titles , they represent respect and little petey don’t deserve one ounce)
Forgive me, but isn’t this stealing? Shouldn’t a person be charged with theft and be in jail for this?
http://www.thecoast.ca/RealityBites/archiv…
Old news?
Wow and Wow again- I do not think that someone who has mishandled this type of thing should be the mayor. Maybe more then mishandling? Time will tell. I wonder what kind of tap dancing will be done around this one? Good thing this is all public knowledge- not heresay.
What is disturbing to me the non-reaction (so far, a girl can dream) of the mainstream media and NS politicians – why is this story not being reported by CTV and CBC news?
And how/why is this guy still in office? Why are criminal charges of fraud not being investigated? Seems like those in power in NS politics are a tight-knit group who like it keep it “in the family”. This guy is a blubbering, spineless, underhanded buffoon who is kissing all the right arses and is still in power. Nova Scotia may be small, but we are not stupid and we know when we are getting fleeced! Let’s get this guy out of office!!
CBC won’t even let me post the link to their comment page… and ATV/CTV, well thats New Brunswick news anyway… THE COAST is our only news media
I posted this to my facebook wall with a quick summary. The reaction from people who would, in their normal life, never come within a mile of The Coast is priceless.
Tim did such a thorough job, what, exactly, do you expect other news services to do? Cut and paste an item from their competition (don’t get me started on radio news ‘reporters’ doing news reports while reading the herald. Seriously. They can ask him about it, I guess, but what does that get them besides a ‘no comment’?
What do we expect other news services to do? REPORT THE NEWS! If there is a natural disaster does one new station ‘claim’ the story and no others report it? It’s not plagarizing if you are quoting the source. Also, crazy out-there notion that news services would do their own investigation?!
They get their stories off of ‘The Wire’. This story ‘broke’ for lack of a better word (and yes I realize that the original story is a year old) less than 12 hours ago. How many man hours do you think Tim invested in this?
Look at our local papers. I’d like to see a story on where King’s journalism students end up because it sure isn’t around here.
The author of this article has done us all a favour. My only wish is that every NS citizen gets a chance to see this article and of course the best way to do this is to report it via the news.
Why isn’t there a petition going around and being sent to city council, demanding Peter Kelly resigns as mayor? I know there’s an election this year, but a lot more damage can be done in 8 months
Mr. Cranky. I would expect the mainstream media to report the news. This isn’t some private matter or some messy family disupte as you said earlier. As an executor, Kelly has accepted a public position and he has a legal duty which he has failed to perform. He has also filed incorrect documents with the court. The matter of the missing $165,000 is very important. If he’s making “unauthorized loans” and has possibly committed, dare I say, fraud or theft, that speaks to his character. That is relevant information for people who have to vote on whether to trust Kelly with authority over public funds. This is also very different than the circus that regularly occurs in the US around politicians sex life. This is a matter of public trust.
The Coast is also not publishing the same old story over and over. The Coast has run this several times and every time there are new details. This is the most detailed account yet and it really lays bare how Kelly took money from the estate, moved it into his own pocket, got caught and has since been trying to get himself out of the jam. Only thing I find myself missing is any comment by Tim on Kelly’s earlier claim that the land out in Bedford that Thibeault owned was going to become a park. Would be nice to see what happened to that assertion. Still this is news! Bravo to the Coast for doing such an indepth investigative piece. Very few still do this kind of reporting and, it would seem, that even fewer still have the courage to report it.
I can’t believe that the courts allowed this kind of behavior from Mr. Kelly. I have been through the Probate court when my brother-in-law passed away and it is an involved process but it blows my mind that Kelly is getting away with this blatant mishandling of this woman’s estate. Anyone else would be in jail or at least not in a position to handle public funds. If this story is, in fact, true I am both ashamed and appalled at the gall of Peter Kelly. I can’t believe that he can show his face in public. Of course this now rends moot his proposed agreement to keep it all “quiet” with the remaining beneficiaries. They should throw him to the wolves and I certainly hope the public responds when the election comes around!!!
If all this is true than it would make sense to draw a connection between our Mayor the person and our Mayor the elected official. Trust and money are two very powerful motivators in both worlds. Not to mention the attempted coverup which immediately reminds me of the concert scandal. The CH wouldn’t touch this with a ten-foot poll. Keep digging Tim!
Just more financial bullshit by Mr Kelly.
Anyone else who wen tagain the city charter or disobeyed the courts would have been in front of a judge by now !
Must be nice to have carte blance in this Province… or a get out of jail free card in your wallet.
Where can all of us tax payers get one of those ?
Excellent well-researched piece of work! Congratulations. I certainly hope your revelations spur the police to undertake the long-overdue investigation into this matter.
Mr. Kelly you seem to be keeping a low profile today ?? no appearance on the CTV evening news tonight or no radio interviews today. I must say i have missed your daily rant ” we need to fiscally responsible” Maybe this same quote should reflect in your personal affairs. You are in a position of trust, accountability and based on the well documented article you did everything in your power to sweep this under the rug. CTV and the Herald have had a very limited comments if this was an average Joe it would be all over the news funny that old boys mentality still exists
And why did one of the heirs have to write to Probate Court to have this looked into? The court should have been on top of it long before it got to this point. Perhaps they need to be shown how to use a Yahoo calendar? If there were no individual heirs but money only going to charities would anyone have ever known after the documents were destroyed by the banks (six years) and Probate Court not getting off their asses to investigate the exceptionally long delay in filing documents and closing probate? Sounds a lot like an ‘old boys’ club to me.
I have no idea what or if the mayor is guilty of anything, but one thing I do know is that Tim Bousquet is a hack with some anti Kelly agenda. I think I’ll reserve judgement and wait for all the facts to come out. “Peter Kelly has betrayed Mary Thibeaults trust.”? Very unbiased journalism you hack, I’m no fan of the mayor and hope we get change, but I’m even less of a fan of hack journalism. Hack!
It just blows my mind how these elected officials all seem to be the same, just crooks, like most businesses too. Greedy scum of the earth. You have to wonder how he can even face the public, its a special breed to be a politician.
Just like a former Premier a while back who had to go to court over accusations of rape etc., And of course another scum of society, lawyers who seem to sleep good at night getting guilty people off.
When the trials were going on, a certain lady who worked her whole career in the courts, told me that when she was young, the mounties told her not to ever be in a room alone with the Premier, for he is a pervert and rapist. How do they get away with it, when certain Police officers were warning her of him years ago when she was young.
I know life is short, and I don’t know why we are here, but I sure hope there is some justice for all the bad people out there, who prey on honest, weak, and trustworthy people.
Including that petifile ring called the Catholic Church. Religion, what a joke that is.
If this is what the Mayor does as the Executor of an estate you can bet your bottom dollar that he, the CAO and council are costing taxpayers lots of money as they can’t even follow their own policies or the charter for the city. He pulled a sneaky one with going into camera on transit issue without making a motion. I guess he handles personal affairs the same way he does with our tax dollars.
Not only should Peter Kelly be removed from being mayor, he should also be going to jail!
tl;dr
The Coast rivals Chronicle Herald’s Marilla Stephenson in their obsessive hatred for Peter Kelly. If he discovered the cure to cancer both the Coast and Stephenson would be railing against him for putting cancer researchers out of work.
http://www.petitiononlinecanada.com/petiti… Sign the petition and share.
dam good reporting/as i learned in russian politics /if you hit an old turd with astick it still smells like shit/ no wonder why tax payers in dartmouth/bedford/sackville have been saying for years they have been getting screwed by hrm council/ dont take my word alone/have a coffee with gloria / wake the f-ck up people of hrm. god help you (he wont) if you re elect this turd again. don vickery
What really pisses me off about this kind of blatant criminal activity is the kind of wrist slapping punishment that is levied against people of public status that purpotrate what I believe are some of the most heinous of theft crimes.
If it is found out to be true that Kelly tried to swindle Thibeaults’s estate, he should be sent to fucking prison. Just like I would be if I defrauded any one of you out of 160k.
Instead (and I blame this on our pathetic apologetic Monarchical Canadian wimpery), people say “well that’s it! I’m not voting for him next time!”.
Fuck that, send the prick to jail.
Why do we let politicians betray the greatest of trusts by stealing from the public purse and then punish them with early retirement? It is absolutely patheticWhat really pisses me off about this kind of blatant criminal activity is the kind of wrist slapping punishment that is levied against people of public status that purpotrate what I believe are some of the most heinous of theft crimes.
If it is found out to be true that Kelly tried to swindle Thibeaults’s estate, he should be sent to fucking prison. Just like I would be if I defrauded any one of you out of 160k.
Instead (and I blame this on our pathetic apologetic Monarchical Canadian wimpery), people say “well that’s it! I’m not voting for him next time!”.
Fuck that, send the prick to jail.
Why do we let politicians betray the greatest of trusts by stealing from the public purse and then punish them with early retirement? It is absolutely pathetic.
Is the city really putting money into metro transit at an alarming rate? hard to say (but I would check Kelly’s shoes, he looks taller)
This is simply astonishing. We’ve seen repeated examples of Mayor Kelly’s unbelievable incomptence and capacity for denial – but this is just disgusting. How can anyone sit on an estate for 7 years, and benefit from the proceeds? Let us just hope that the coming election will make it clear that no-one, but no-one wants to have a City Council led by this contemptible, amoral slime-ball.
Excellent investigative journalism!!!! Mr. Kelly should absolutely be suspended pending a police investigation. Thanks to the poster who included the link to the online petition.
Peter Kelly: ” I love halfiax, If Halifax were a woman I would marry her”
ONLY RIGHT YOU SHOULD, YOU BEEN SCREWING HER FOR 16 YEARS
Hey Peasants,
The rite thing to do would be to step down until an investigation is completed, call an election NOW!!!!!!!!!!!!!. It is obvious there has been hair raising transfers from one account to another. Say what??????? Kelly was entitled to 5% as executor and 5% as beneficiary, that’s it. I am assuming he is very bad at math, because 5% of 500k is not 145k!!!!!!!!! If Kelly is that loose handed with someone’s estate, I would hate to gesture how he handle our money, kick backs, expenses, pay backs. I think I’ll right a song with that as a title. I guess this is why sub-division developers in HRM can develop without building the infrastructure FIRST before the sub-divisions are developed, like they do in every other province, but we the taxpayer are caught with footing millions of dollars to build the infrastructure, fixing the mess left behind after the developer walks away with millions, while building well below standard roads. Kelly should have stayed working as a caterer. He was way out of his league. You know the voters are to blame, they kept voting him in. Our city has not progressed since Kelly and to make matters worse, we pay more in property taxes than Ontario and Alberta and don’t even have a road to travel on without pot holes and breaking our cars. I bet there was a kick back on the $400k that went to a band that never played. Well I can guarantee that Kelly can here the drums of defeat in the streets of Halifax today. The problem we have in Nova Scotia is when people elect these bums they become overnight royalty, it goes to their head and people treat them as such. THEY ARE JUST BUMS. PEOPLE LOOKING FOR A JOB FROM YOU. THEY ARE NOT HIS WORSHIP, OR HIS HONOURABLE BUM, THEY ARE JUST BUMS. THEY WIPE THEIR ASS AFTER THEY SHIT LIKE EVERYONE ELSE, THEREFORE MAKE THEM ACCOUNTABLE AND TRANSPARENT. STOP TREATING POLITICIANS AS IF THEY ARE SMARTER THAN YOU , THEY ARE JUST SLIMY-ER THAN MOST PEOPLE. Remember there is a fine line between intelligent and slimy, it is up to you to decide.
I’m just glad the Coast made a final edit on that cover picture and removed the bars from that charcoal mugshot sketch. Too bad Claire couldn’t have used a little more dark shading to make Peter look a little more sinister! Thanks for reminding me why I don’t read the Coast, it’s not worth the price.
Wow, the amount of hate on here is just frightening. Reading these comments makes it sound like Kelly has gone to all of your houses and kicked your dog to death. You people need to chill out. You don’t like Kelly, fine, vote for someone else, but he’s our mayor. If you don’t respect him, respect the office.
Must be nice to use somebodys estate as your own personal bank account with zero interest…
whats Kelly side of the story? even still… kinda hard to argue with what hes done… hes taken advantage of it, it should be paid back with interest.
Isn’t this the same story that FRANK MAGAZINE has been reporting on for quite some time now? If so, they must be smiling today.
Peter Kelly — Resign Now! Facebook Page:
https://www.facebook.com/groups/PeterKelly…
This guy is turning into a real joke. I cannot believe anything that he says. He should be removed from office immediately, charged and taken to court. Let the punishment fit the crime. Let’s see how many lies he can spin to try and get out of this crime. Great reporting job. People have a right to know when the very people they vote into office get caught with their greedy little hands in the cookie jar. This guy needs to grow a set and man up to what he did, no lies, no smoke and mirror antics … just the truth. If he is capable of telling the truth.
Having had a chance to read the whole thing, the only (unfortunately) conclusion that I can come to with the information provided is that Peter Kelly is incompetent and slimey. There is a lot of stuff hanging in the story that we will probably never know the answer to. Sad really, but the dead can’t talk. I hope his kid enjoyed his 15 large and that it was worth it, seeing your pop dragged through the coals.
Why wont someone on council make a motion to have this mayor removed until an investigation is done what a sad state of affairs for all of HRM
Gail – The council cannot vote to remove the mayor. I dread the day such a possibility would exist. Go read the HRM charter. Only the voters have the power to remove a mayor . Unless you can convince Dexter to change the charter to allow voter recall or allow a minister of municipal affiars to remove a member of council where the minister determines it is necessary for the confidence of the public.
Is there any proof that Peter Kelly wrote and then deposited the checks ?
The HRM charter should be amended to prohibit any staff member, particularly legal staff, from performing work for other staff or members of council that is not part of HRM business. In addition senior staff should all be members of a professional organisation or bonded to ensure that misconduct such as that of Wayne Anstey in the concert scandal can be disciplined by the professional body; and in the case of bonded staff, lost monies recouped.
Fantastic work Mr. Bousquet! Hope Ms. Thibeault can finally rest in peace; that the beneficiaries finally get all this over with and that Peter Kelly gets EVERYTHING he deserves. What a low life you are Peter Kelly!
In rereading the article, I have to wonder about the value of the Florida trailer & contents. These things also had value & Mr Kelly’s failure to do his duty caused their loss/forfieture to the trailer park owners.
IMO that should be valued & added to the total of the estate & Mr Kelly should be held accountable to return that value to the estate, so it can be split amoung the benificionaries as well as interest .
just wow, haven’t read far on this one, didn’t have to, just cements my opinion of politicians a little bit firmer…..creeps, the country should be run by it’s people.
This is not “new” news, it was made public years ago of what was going on with the estate and who played a role in it.
Obsessive hatred? Supporting a politician or political party unconditionally in spite of the facts is insanity. Raise the bar!
The facts as presented in this article indicate to me and to others that some people may have acted in an improper manner. Mr Kelly appears to be in violation of the probate legislation and he may be in violation of the criminal code of Canada. As well, I believe that the registrar of probate is negligent in their responsibilities to move the matter forward. As a result of the registrar of probate sitting on their hands I think the RCMP should begin and investigation.
Once again Peter Kelly shows his trustworthiness, his accountability, and his slimy nature….now he is involving his son teaching him the tricks of the trade….way to go Peter… DO we really want someone of this nature as Mayor. I think not…it’s almost an embarrassment to live in HRM
OMG….where do you begin in what to think about the creep…… creep….creep….creep……. at what point do the police get involved? and the courts? and the lawyer he has hired who is supposedly good at filing these missing documents? Now he gets a share of “admin charges”…… creep…. creep…. creep….. let’s get Kelly out of city hall and fast….. may he forever live in the shadows where he belongs. Creep…. creep… creep……
what do you expect from someone who thinks the black eyed peas are better than Rush!
While I agree that Kelly should resign, there is no chance that he will do so because he needs the job!
An excellent piece of forensic journalism on the part of Mr. Bousquet and The Coast. It’s sad to think that they needed to point out Mr. Kelly’s character flaws to us all when we should have already known of them before the last election. Perhaps if people actually vote in the municipal election this time we won’t continuously be embarrassed as a city by it’s public face!!
I find it very odd that the mainstream media has seemingly ignored this story since it broke. I expected more media attention and public outcry to pressure our mayor to resign or offer explanation at least! There wasn’t even a mention about this in All Nova Scotia that I saw and I didn’t see anything in the Herald or on TV news???? Are you guys all on vacation? Could it be true that the real journalists all work for The Coast? I hope not!!
As a side note……..I found it particularly amusing that Mr. Kelly didn’t know that banks consider cheques that are 6 months old (In some cases 3 months) to be stale dated and uncashable………that is why they were returned by the bank. Just pointing that out so nobody gets the false impression that he somehow had a change of heart and almost did the right thing.
never has the coast seemed so akin to a tabloid magazine. what happened to the prime cut news pieces my friends and i used to want to read? mr bousquet has drove over and reversed back over this dead horse so long his tires are bald.
If a licensed investment advisor were to behave as Peter Kelly did — those actions would constitute breach of fiduciary duty, misrepresentation, and fraud, with consequences of a loss of one’s license and potential criminal charges.
Peter Kelly, however, will continue to act with impunity and without fear of consequence — until the public of HRM stand up and take action. It is beyond naive to assume that council or the CAO will take action. They will view this as a private dispute, and not take any action (positive or negative).
People get the government which they deserve. HRM is going to h*ll in a hand-basket, and that will not change until Kelly is voted out of office. Wake up, people!
the city is awake. lets GET up though up and handle this in a non-divisive way. The Coast has a great reputation and i see this type of story discrediting the integrity and reputation of what used to be a very grown-up publication. Peter Kelly knows what he has coming.
What a useless article, had to stop reading halfway through. The premise of what’s going on in this situation seems to be one gigantic guess. Got any real news?
http://thechronicleherald.ca/metro/65205-q…
There, you people can relax now. It’s in a ‘real’ paper.
BTW, way to screw up the headline, herald. I wonder if kelly’s ‘people’ sabotaged the herald to make them look bad, tinfoil hatters?
Well, I dislike Peter Kelly, but I dislike Tim Bousquet WAY more. Still amazed that The Coast continues to print his sensationalist, politically-motivated drivel. Way to go.
I knew Mary and this story is very disturbing.
My parents were old friends of hers and we used to visit her frequently when I was a kid. It was written that she “didn’t suffer fools ” and I certainly saw some evidence of that in her conversations with motel guests. But that was the “Business Mary”.
The “Personal Mary” was kind and generous and I feel very sorry for her heirs who are still unable to put this issue to rest.
I’m certain that the “Business Mary” would be pretty upset with Peter Kelly’s behaviour.
The Mayor had better speak to the press about this instead of directing them to his lawyer. If he has nothing to hide, why be so secretive? There’s no legal reason for a cover-up. Talking about public probate records doesn’t leave him open to criminal charges, unless, of course, he actually did perform criminal actions.
this man we so call a mayor of hrm and was a mayor of beford at 1 time to my family and friends is a poor excuse of a man and he should have step down last year when the pubic ask his to do so but no he didn’t and has cost the tax payers of hrm so much money why aren’t the police looking into this matter in the first place come on people of nova scotia hrm its time for him to go if anyone can tell me what this man has done good 4 anyone that lives in hrm except pay more taxes higher cost of living here people can’t aford to but food gas just live life in general thats not going to happen in hrm or nova scotia we pay the highest taxes in canada wake up see what he and the government of nova scotia has done to everyone living here and am i surprise to hear his doing what he has done to a women that has passed on hell no cause the people of hrm and nova scotia are to afriaid to speak out and put an end to this all like they do in the states thats my though on this matter they are all crooks no matter how you slice it
For Catherine and Raymond Ivany to obtain a Fudiciary accounting of the estate, they need to file for an “Order to a Statement of Assets of the Estate”…the court costs are under $200. and Peter Kelly, would face a Contempt of Court, if he failed to do so.
We would do this for Catherine and Raymond, at no charge.
Sincerely, Peter Radonicich email: Robinhoodandassociates@yahoo.ca
Why did mainstream media ignore this story for months? I mean PK looks guilty 5 times over but I find it funny when the Big men about town and media savvy folks get invloved in the mayor race as supporters that the story blows up?
Figure it out: Mainstream Media and Kelly are in cahoots!
0% – That is the odds that the RCMP will even even look at this… even if fraud was blatantly committed.
The fact is there are two justice systems today in Canada. One is for the poor and middle class who face the brass neck of the ‘war on crime’ even for trivial offenses (e.g. marijuana possession). The second is for the wealthy and politically connected – their white collar crimes are unreported, not investigated, ignored and and treated as insignificant not matter how large the scam or rip off.
Yes, get Peter Kelly out of office NOW! Don’t let him tell us he plans to f&ck up our city even more until October. Off to jail with Peter Kelly. If you or I did what he did, we’d be up sh*t creek without a paddle and looking at time in the slammer.
LIE LIE LIE
I don’t dislike Kelly. What I do dislike is the fact he can look you straight in the eye and lie. In an interview last night he blamed being mayor on his resume’ of failures. Ninety hours of week?????? bull S@#$%^&*T. look at the thousands of photo shoots ,every event in Halifax, dancing a church party’s to planting trees which all comes down to continue re-election campaigning, not enough time in the office. If he spent that much time running the city, he wouldn’t have failed in his marriage, executor of a will, sub-division planning, road maintenance, bridge debt, simply being mayor.etc: I do dislike the fact that other politicians (Savage, MacClusky) are now saying that he deserves recognition for his work. That means tax dollars spent on a he dinner with Kelly. Savage is trying to get voted for Mayor. Just what we need is another spender for mayor. Kelly is a grave robber. Blaming his failures on being mayor is his best excuse he should have taken a time management course. Hiding behind “it’s a private matter”?????? Well, child molestation, bank robbery, stealing, drunk driving are all private matters should we accept stealing from the grave a private matter. Any person with any dignity should do the right thing RESIGN!!!!!!!!!!!!!.
Thank you Tim! It is nice to see that we have a method of media that isn’t bought off and silenced.
I can’t believe this went on so long. I did review the link above where Tim did bring this to publics attention back in March.
http://www.thecoast.ca/RealityBites/archiv…
Yes he is including more details now but we should have demanded more of Peter Kelly at that time to explain this criminal behavior. It is theft over 5k …that needs to be jail time once tried and proven that these alligations are true. It would be for anyone else.
Shame on Peter for dragging his son into this mess. That is just shocking.
Savage wants to feast Kelly and honor him for his accolades’???? a modern day grave robber. Kelly claims he failed because he worked too hard, who else is he going to blame for his list of failures. Why doesn’t Savage feast our doctors , nurses and school teachers who also work long hours serving the public. They are not going to get the 75k pension for life like Kelly. Kelly got paid for serving us, we owe him nothing. Savage is trying to get support buy votes from Kelly’s camp with such kind words so he can get elected, I feel like puking in my lap. What a BUNCH OF SLIMEY SLUGS.
It’s Mayor Kelly’s business, not the worlds. Leave him alone and let him be the mayor the HRM has always needed. Noboey will ever replacehim as Mayor.
When he breaks the law it is our business! That is not personal when he is in charge of our city.
If this is the way a supposedly “honorable” public figure handles a seemingly simple estate, I wonder what the new mayor will find with the city’s finances. Although I never have been a Kelly supporter, I’m hoping for his families sake this is just a case of gross incompetence, and not a greed driven criminal undertaking. Regardless of the outcome, he is a public embarrassment and his resignation is long past due.
100 comments. (-:
yes indeed, the police need to be call in, in fact i think council needs to be investigated from kelly on down.
Guess The Fuzz doesn’t read The Coast, eh?
Peter Kelly is a toolbox.
lol…cranky you assume the fuzz are literate….lol
if they could read the laws would be enforced in this forsaken city of ours and all the bad guys including white collar in our govt would be in prison where they belong…
If the Mayor was not involved, would the RCMP be investigating any possible criminal charges?
Peter Kelly Needs To Step Down Right Now And A Police Investigating Should Take Place To See If Any Wrong Doing Took Place If That Was Us We Would Be Charged And Have To Pay For A Lawyer i Guess There Is A Law For The poor And 1 For The Rich And Am Very Upset The Buses Aren’t Back On The Road Look What It Is Doing To The 1s That Have To Take The Bus For There Every Day To Day Life working,Schools,Drs App Ext. Have The People In Office Are A Bunch Of Crooks Put Them all In Jail For all I Care Nova Scotia Is Gone To Hell And Its Not A Place To Live Anymore I Am Glad I Wasn’t Born Here Cause I Am getting To Hate It More And More Each Day What This Government Has Done To Us All Here In HRM And Nova Scotia
I wonder if it is such a great idea to allow Kelly to remain in power now that he is no longer seeking re-election? Especially in light of this revelation of misconduct…
Kelly, along with CAO Richard Butts (who does not reside in this city and has an air-tight contract that allows him to collect 18 months salary if he is fired “unjustly”) don’t really have a stake in this city anymore (or to begin with in Butts’ case) and could potentially make decisions that might have serious ramifications in regards to our future and the future of HRM.
None of this sits particularly well with me.
Many coments have been made without really knowing the two people involved,Mary T and Peter Kelly.This gift of money would not be questionable if it was given from a mother to a son and a grandson, and yet that is how she considered Peter.Her intensions were always to look after Peter who continued to always look after her for many many years,Mary was always very vocal about her feelings and although she spoke negatively about many of the othe heirs Peter was never one of them !The cheques signed by Mary were definately her signatures as I had seen it many times.
Being in her presence a week before her last trip to florida it was evedent that she was becoming much weaker and wanted to get things in order. She wanted to look after Peter and his son`s education before leaving. She would have signed these cheques before leaving and expecting him to cash them once her GIC came through The problem was that she died before this could happen. Many of the family members were aware of this and never questioned it as we felt Peter deserved any amount that he rec`d.I don`t know how anyone could see this as a criminal action and I am quite sure she would be now sorry that everything wasn`t sighned over to him.Things would have been much simpler!Most people ,and the media never want to hear any of the positive side only the negative. Tim never wanted to hear the good side, It never sells papers! Also , check some of your facts Tim! Mary`s relative and friend
Thanks Helen, good hear from someone with actual knowledge of the situation and not just the admitted dumpster diving that Bousquet uses for his “articles”.
Hmmm… After reading the comments of Helen Day I decided to go back over the many newspaper articles that The Coast has been providing regarding Teflon Pete. This one about the estate stands out and reeks of a person who took advantage of an old lady and her last wishes. Helen Day, you are probably one of the very few people that support Peter Kelly and after reading your comments, one of few friends he has left. That being said, what’s in it for you? Not being left anything in the estate, is Peter Kelly your only hope now to ‘get something’? You say you had a close connection with the late ‘Mary’, yet you were not in the will. If you were so close, then why weren’t you in the will? She chose to give to some close relatives and some friends but not to you? Must have had her reasons!
If ‘Mary’ signed cheques and really wanted Peter Kelly to have it as you say, why didn’t she put his name on them in her hand writing? Why weren’t the cheques cashed when she died instead until right up to before the dates on them made them no good? Looking at the bank statements and cheques through The Coast’s past articles, that point of Peter Kelly waiting for that ‘debenture coming through at the bank’ is hog wash. That debenture, according to some of the info provided, was cashed early by Peter Kelly (and likely with penalty or loss of interest) to cover Peter cashing those cheques because the date on them was fastly approaching. So, you better check the information that has documentation proving it before you start spouting about ‘good old Peter.’ Key words in your first comment ‘I was told by Peter’. Well, there is enough evidence around to profoundly prove Peter has trouble telling the truth and trouble keeping his lies straight.
I also read a letter online that is in the probate file. Peter Kelly did not offer the trailer to the beneficiaries. Peter Kelly continually lied to the beneficiaries and apparently the Court too. Peter Kelly stopped communicating with the beneficiaries. From ‘your prospective’ I assume you mean perspective, the trailer
‘would cost more for the fees than the trailer was worth.’ So, why didn’t Peter Kelly respond to the guy that wanted to buy it? He wouldn’t respond to him or to the people that owned the trailer park. Start reading the information provided and compare it to what your good friend Peter Kelly is telling you. Why was it so important to Peter Kelly that when his lawyer drafted up an agreement for the beneficiaries to sign (which they didn’t) that the beneficiaries had to agree to not bring up anything about the trailer in Florida or any information surrounding it and would have to swear to secrecy? You stated ‘Mary would give Peter post dated cheques to clear up any expenses that she incurred while living in N.S. for the summer months.’ If this were so, why did the trailer park rent go unpaid? What did Peter Kelly do with those cheques? Seems to me poor old ‘Mary’ looked after Peter’s kids and Peter whether she knew about it or not. Who is to say what went on while she was alive and Peter Kelly was ‘so helpful’.
In the beginning of an unfolding story, people are willing to give people the benefit of the doubt. Too much information has come forward and the more that comes, the worse it is regarding Peter Kelly. In your eyes, ‘Peter got a small portion of what he deserved’. Is that the same small portion of what you feel you should have got, considering your ‘close connection’? I find it hard to believe that if you were so close, you were not in the will. My mother used to tell me when I would tell her that ‘so and so said this’, she would say ‘Consider the source.’ After reading your comments, my mother’s words are ringing in my ears.