By Charles Lefebvre

Former police commission member pleads guilty to stealing from Catholic school board

May 23, 2019 | 11:31 AM

MEDICINE HAT, AB — A former member of the Medicine Hat Police Commission has pleaded guilty to stealing money from the Medicine Hat Catholic Board of Education.

Rolf Traichel entered a guilty plea to one charge of possession of stolen property over $5,000 Thursday morning in Medicine Hat Provincial Court.

He was sentenced to three years in prison, following a joint submission from the prosecution and his lawyer. Traichel was taken into custody following the guilty plea and sentencing.

According to an agreed statement of facts presented at the sentencing, Traichel was employed as the director of information technology with the Medicine Hat Catholic Board of Education (MHCBE) from March 1998 to February 2017.

The statement says From September 2010 to December 2016, Traichel “submitted and approved 203 invoices from a company he incorporated and controlled, unbeknownst to the MHCBE, for duplicate services, equipment incompatible with the MHCBC systems, and unearned consultancy fees totalling $999,000, which were subsequently paid by the MHCBE and the resulting funds deposited into an account controlled by the accused.”

HERE'S WHAT TO KNOW

Summer pool hours extended and discounts applied as Big Marble Go Centre upgrades start

Apr 18, 2024

Medicine Hat company drawing in clients with witty signage

Apr 16, 2024

Medicine Hat College holding event for missing and murdered Indigenous women awareness day

Apr 16, 2024

From 2012 to 2017, Traichel served on the Medicine Hat Police Commission, and at one point was the chairman, according to the agreed statement.

Traichel was charged in August 2018.

In addition to the stolen property charge, Traichel was also charged with fraud over $5,000 and money laundering, which were dropped in exchange for the guilty plea.

Traichel was also ordered to pay back $999,000 in restitution to the Medicine Hat Catholic Board of Education.