One of the two people accused of committing fraud while heading up an adoption agency has pleaded guilty to one count of fraud over $5,000.
Richard Hayhow entered his plea Friday afternoon in a Kitchener courtroom.
Hayhow was the general manager of Cambridge-based Imagine Adoption, which went bankrupt in 2009, for more than two years.
Prosecutors have alleged that he – and his ex-wife, Imagine Adoption executive director Susan Hayhow – used $420,000 of the agency’s money to finance home renovations and other personal expenses.
A jury trial was held earlier this year for both Hayhows, but a mistrial was declared after eight days and a new trial ordered.
Court documents show that Rick Hayhow charged nearly $87,000 worth of personal expenses to a corporate credit card.
He later reimbursed the agency for about $15,000 of those expenses.
Susan Hayhow was not present during Friday’s proceedings. Her case remains before the courts, separate from her ex-husband’s plea.
When Imagine Adoption suddenly declared bankruptcy, hundreds of families were in the midst of adoption processes through the agency – some of which never continued.
Tony Maas’ family was one of those affected.
He says he’s encouraged to see someone take responsibility for the issues at Imagine Adoption, but still hopes for more closure to come from the outstanding court proceedings.
“Somewhere along the way, they lost the grounding that this is actually someone else’s money,” he said Friday.
Rick Hayhow will be sentenced in 2015.
