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SISO verdict

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(Update)

The jury has reached a verdict in the SISO fraud case. Both of the men on trial have been found guilty. And CHCH news has an exclusive interview with one of the men who’s now waiting to be sentenced.

Lisa Hepfner has been following this trail for us all the way and has the details.

This was the fourth week of the trial. The jury spent most of the day deliberating and came back just after 8pm with a verdict of guilty on all counts; forged documents, fraud and conspiracy for both accused former Finance Manager Robert Salama and former Executive Director Morteza Jafarpour.

The trial was full of numbers and documents and it must have been difficult for the jury. We know that SISO overbilled it’s funder, Citizenship and Immigration Canada, for payroll and benefits, by $1.2 million in one particular year. But there’s no real answer as to where that money went. And the trial didn’t make that any clearer. We also don’t know exactly how much the federal government was defrauded out of.

Salama didn’t get bail a year ago so he’s been in jail since and will stay there until he is sentenced.

Jafarpour will have until the end of the month, and we spoke to him and his wife briefly as they left court, dejected.

Morteza Jafarpour said he was shocked at the verdict:

“I think this was a difficult case for the jury. I think the case has shown I’ve done nothing for benefitting myself. Apparently, I have done something wrong for SISO grow, I disagree, but I respect the jury. I think they had a challenging time.”

Agnes Gizard, Jafarpour’s wife said:

“I think what has been helping us along the way has been our children. We have four children, and that’s going to keep me alive till the end. So we’re going to survive.
Tonight was a big surprise so…”

Morteza Jafarpour went on to say: “We didn’t expect this result. But you know what, that’s life. You move on.”

Sentencing will be September 30th, according to Jafarpour’s lawyer, Dean Paquette, who came out of the courtroom shortly after:

“You believed in your client? I did. He testified that he wasn’t guilty, the jury didn’t have a reasonable doubt about it and as a consequence he was found guilty.”

“There were some emails that needed explaining. There were witnesses that testified to evidence of his wrongdoing. They all had their issues, and questions whether or not the jury believed them, with their issues, or the defendant, in testifying, he wasn’t involved.”

Robert Salama didn’t have a lawyer. He represented himself during the trial.

Both Robert Salama and Morteza Jafarpour face jail terms, although Paquette will ask for a conditional sentence, or house arrest. Salama could get more than the year he’s spent in jail.

Paquette says it’s Jafarpour’s decision but he’s not likely to appeal the case.