A Richmond political slate has been fined $5,400 by Elections BC after accepting a $10,800 donation from one person in the 2022 municipal election.
According to Elections BC, nine cheques made out to the Richmond Community Coalition Association’s (RCC) school district campaign were attributed to nine individuals. However, when Elections BC did an audit, they concluded the money actually came from one bank account, that of Yuan Li.
The RCC financial agent Scott Jaroszuk told Elections BC the money was donated at a fundraising campaign event in July 2022. Li had brought nine friends “who had no means to contribute at the time,” was the explanation given by Jaroszuk, according to Elections BC.
The money was eventually returned and recorded as “prohibited contributions,” according to an enforcement notice from Elections BC.
Jaroszuk was not at the fundraising event.
The cheques were accepted and deposited by someone who was not authorized in writing by the Jaroszuk to accept donations, the notice states, which goes against the Local Elections Financing Act (LEFA), therefore resulting in an enforcement by Elections BC.
Two RCC trustee candidates were elected to the Richmond Board of Education – Alice Wong and Rod Belleza.
Elections BC notes the maximum fine would be $21,6000, double the amount of the prohibited contribution.
"Accepting prohibited contributions gives an elector organization an advantage in that they did not need to seek contributions from an eligible source, saving them time during a busy campaign," the Elections BC enforcement notice reads.
However, in assessing the penalty, Elections BC noted RCC cooperated with the investigation and returned the money. Furthermore, they have not been previously fined under the LEFA.
The total per-person legal contribution during the 2022 municipal election was $1,250.
RCC raised almost $46,000 to elect trustees in Richmond, according to their financial disclosure forms.
Richmond city Coun. Chak Au ran and was elected to city council under the RCC banner. He is currently running in the federal election as a Conservative candidate in the Richmond Centre-Marpole riding.
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