The cost of the investigation into former mayor John Les, senior city bureaucrat Grant Sanborn and land deveopment deals at Chilliwack city hall was $172,643.41, according to the criminal justice branch of the B.C. attorney general.

The total for the legal bill paid by the B.C. government to special prosecutor Robin McFee was released through a Freedom of Information request made by the Globe and Mail.

Criminal justice branch spokesperson Neil MacKenzie did not provide a breakdown for the costs, which were for McFee's fees and expenses.

As part of McFee's investigation of city hall, the Vancouver lawyer examined "voluminous" amounts of evidence from the RCMP that included more than 80 land deals.

Neither McFee nor Les commented on the cost of the bill. As a comparison, the Globe reported that previous FOI requests revealed the province paid $132,272 for an opinion on whether Air India bomb maker Inderjit Singh Reyat’s lawyer and his children should face fraud charges for putting family members on the legal team’s payroll, and $293,466.75 to consider polygamy charges against Winston Blackmore.

Les became the subject of an RCMP investigation in 2007 for allegedly benefitting from deals when he was mayor. McFee concluded that city staff looked at provincial regulations and city bylaws as "guidelines only" and that a pro-development philosophy pervaded at city hall.

However, he concluded the "available evidence does not meet the threshold of a substantial likelihood that Mr. Les would be convicted of the offence of breach of trust by a public officer."

McFee did approve three charges of breach of trust by a public officer against Sanborn who was the city's former director of development and approving officer.

The three charges were announced June 25. Before Sanborn's first court appearance on July 27, Sanborn was also charged with two more counts: fraud and using a forged document from his time as a land development consultant after he left city hall.

These charges relate to Chilliwack farmer Butch Goertzen. One charge of fraud alleges that between Sept. 26, 2006 and May 18, 2007 Sanborn defrauded his clients, the Goertzens, of $1,763. The second charge is that on or about Feb. 20, 2007 Sanborn "did use or deal with a document letter dated Oct. 24, 2006 apparently from the provincial Agricultural Land Commission as if it were genuine knowing the said document to be forged."

Two of the three breach of trust charges Sanborn faces are connected to Les's Rosebank development and the third relates to a project built by prominent city developer and former township alderman Eldon Unger.

Sanborn's latest court appearance was Thursday where the three legal parties involved agreed to Oct. 1 at 9:30 a.m. for an arraignment hearing on all five charges.

phenderson@chilliwacktimes.com