RCMP conducts search in Chilliwack land probe

Wednesday, June 16, 2010 | 7:38 PM PT CBC News:

RCMP are looking at allegations of fraud and forgery against one of the central figures in the investigation into Chilliwack land deals that led to the resignation of B.C. solicitor general John Les in 2008. New allegations against former Chilliwack approving officer Grant Sanborn are contained in information used to obtain a warrant for investigators with the RCMP's commercial crime squad as they sought permission to search Sanborn's business office.

After Sanborn left Chilliwack city hall, he became a private consultant specializing in assisting with applications before the Agricultural Land Commission. The commission is responsible for approving parcels of farmland to be taken out of the Agricultural Land Reserve and be put to other uses, such as housing developments. According to the information, Peggy Fridriksdottir told police she paid Sanborn more than $1,600 to help her get approval to subdivide 4.45 hectares in Chilliwack in the summer of 2006. But when Fridriksdottir grew tired of frequent delays in getting her application approved, she went to city hall to check on her application and said she was told by staff that it had never been filed. "My dream was to retain where I'm living here now and live on the property, enjoy the ambiance and make money at the same time," she told CBC News. "In my eyes, I was just taken for a ride under false pretenses." When Fridriksdottir demanded a refund, she claims Sanborn tried to make her to sign a non-disclosure agreement about their business relationship."Why, if all was on board, and he was paying me back my money, well, why would I not be able to speak to somebody about it," she said. "As far as I'm concerned, you're trying to hide something."

Fridriksdottir said Sanborn ultimately paid her back, but was contacted by police who asked about Sanborn's business activities. The information used to obtain the search warrant alleges that Chilliwack farmer Butch Goertzen had a similar experience with Sanborn. The information alleged that Sanborn forged a document by cutting and pasting from other letters to convince Goertzen that the application had been filed with the Agricultural Land Commission. The allegations have not been tested in court and Sanborn faces no charges. He denied any wrongdoing when contacted by CBC. Sanborn was Chilliwack's approval officer during the period of time covered by an RCMP investigation into alleged improper land deals involving Les and other public officials.Les resigned from the provincial cabinet in March 2008 after the RCMP investigation became public but remains a Liberal MLA.