Former Calgary councillor accused of lying on travel expenses guilty of fraud

CALGARY — While serving as Calgary city councillor, Joe Magliocca claimed he was hosting and meeting with politicians across the country — including a Quebec cabinet minister, Ontario’s NDP leader and the mayor of Halifax.

But they testified they had never met him.

On Monday, a judge found Magliocca, now a former councillor, guilty of fraud for lying about his travel expense claims while representing the city between October 2017 and December 2019.

“At best, the contact he’s had with many of these people was simply the exchange or obtaining a business card. For many, there’s no indication of any contact whatsoever,” Justice Gord Wong told court.

“Out of thin air the accused provided names of those he claimed to have hosted.”

Magliocca, 59, was investigated and later charged after he claimed he was hosting and meeting with various politicians at the 2019 Federation of Canadian Municipalities conference in Quebec City. Suspicions were raised when Magliocca’s spending was double that of other Calgary councillors.

The alleged meetings included Magliocca hosting several individuals for drinks, and chicken-and-rib dinners in Halifax in 2018 during the conference and a visit to a Quebec City cigar bar for spiced rum drinks and cigars in 2019.

Wong said he doesn’t believe the erroneous claims were simple mistakes but rather that Magliocca deliberately “simply picked a name from out of the blue and submitted a false claim that he had hosted them.”

“The only reasonable inference available here is that the accused knowingly provided false information and expense claims and he knew he stood to benefit from that at the city’s expense,” Wong said.

Wong found Magliocca not guilty of a second charge of breach of trust, saying there wasn’t enough evidence to support it.

Magliocca, the former councillor for Ward 2 in the city’s northwest, was charged days before the 2021 municipal election, in which he lost his seat.

A sentencing hearing has been scheduled for May 22.

Magliocca frowned at the guilty verdict. He later declined to give an interview but his lawyer said he was disappointed.

“This was not a decision we were expecting despite the fact Mr. Magliocca was found not guilty of the breach charge,” Aryan Sadat told reporters outside of court.

“We will be appealing this decision.”

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Jan. 27, 2025.

Bill Graveland, The Canadian Press