Todd Cowan, the former mayor of Woolwich Township, has been charged with fraud and breach of trust, OPP said Friday.
Cowan admitted last fall to billing nearly $2,800 worth of mileage and conference expenses to both the township and the Region of Waterloo.
In an interview with CTV News at the time, Cowan said the double-billing was “an error on (his) behalf” and called himself “not the greatest bookkeeper in the world.”
Although the amounts in question were paid back, Waterloo Regional Police began investigating the matter
In October 2014, they turned the case over to the OPP anti-rackets branch in October 2014 out of what they called a desire for “public confidence, transparency and impartiality.”
Cowan, who is scheduled to appear in court March 3, was elected mayor in 2010 and finished a distant fourth when he sought re-election in 2014.
The winner of that election was Sandy Shantz, who told CTV News she had nothing to say on behalf of the township.
“We have no comment, other than that the matter’s in the court system,” she said Friday.
Cowan did not respond to a request for comment before this story was published.
