MP Del Mastro bank records turned over to Elections Canada

Conservative MP Dean Del Mastro is under investigation by Elections Canada for spending too much to get elected, court documents released Thursday confirm.

The Peterborough, Ont., MP has been the subject of three production orders since April 23, 2011, including two that required Royal Bank of Canada to release his personal banking records for the investigation into his 2008 federal election spending.

At issue is a $21,000 contract for polling and research, which Del Mastro says was for work never performed, but which the man in charge of the research company says was performed but never reported to Elections Canada.

In the court documents, the investigator for Elections Canada says he is convinced through the interviews he has conducted and the information he has obtained that the $21,000 contract with Holinshed Research Group was paid by Del Mastro from his personal bank account "in a manner that facilitated the concealing and misreporting of election expenses and contributions."

No charges have been filed and the allegations have not been tested in court.

Del Mastro reiterated his innocence Thursday evening.

"My statements for both the campaign and the association accurately reflect all of their activities," he said in an emailed statement. "They have been professionally audited and reviewed and a matter of public record for almost four years. Any expenses that I personally incurred on their behalf have been refunded."

Del Mastro has been under fire since a news report last week said Elections Canada is investigating him for exceeding federal campaign spending limits.

The punishment for breaking federal election spending laws is a maximum $5,000 fine or five-year prison sentence.

Del Mastro told CBC News Tuesday people are confused because of a quote for services that his campaign paid by mistake, which was refunded, and a less expensive invoice issued the same day by the same company. That invoice, for $1,575 ? $1,500 plus GST ? was paid and included in his campaign filings.

"The campaign never incurred a $21,000 expenditure from Holinshed research. Did not," he told CBC News.

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