This article was last updated on April 16, 2022
Canada: 
Oye! Times readers Get FREE $30 to spend on Amazon, Walmart…
USA: Oye! Times readers Get FREE $30 to spend on Amazon, Walmart…Charges of fraud and income tax evasion expected this week against professor with connections to PEI Department Tourism
Mild ripples of scandal permeated the spring 2011 Legislature sitting when MLA Jim Bagnall went public with fraud allegations against Sean Hennessey, a UPEI business professor.
RCMP have not confirmed this week that charges will be laid against Mr. Hennessey, after a year-long investigation. After the allegations were made in the Legislature, Dr. Roberta MacDonald who held the UPEI Dean of Business position since 2002 stepped down. MacDonald is Hennessey’s wife.
Former UPEI President Wade McLaughlin was criticized at the time for not investigating and disciplining Hennessey before his retirement in June 2011.
Several sources have told NJN the RCMP are getting ready to move on Hennessey.
The charges expected this week include income tax fraud, theft over $5000 for cashing cheques issued to the UPEI Tourism Research at UPEI by PEI Deputy Minister of Tourism Melissa MacEachern.
The cheques were deposited into Hennessey’s private company which he has registered with the almost identical name the Tourism Research Centre.
Hennessey operated the TRC apparently from his office at UPEI, using UPEI and ACOA resources to conduct research which he then, according to the allegations, billed for services rendered to the Province of PEI.
When NJN Network investigated this story last year, we found the registration for Tourism Research Centre made in the name of 100889 P.E.I. Inc, at 65 Prince Charles Drive, Charlottetown, Prince Edward Island.
Mr. Hennessey is listed in 411 as living at 65 Prince Charles Drive.
As the documents show, Hennessey was the sole shareholder and director of 100889 P.E.I. Inc.
MacEachern, a former colleague of Hennessey’s at UPEI, approved the invoices for payment.
The money, it is alleged, went to Hennessey and not the UPEI Tourism Research Centre.
The PEI Auditor General made statements about mis-handling of Tourism contracts in his last annual report. He did not name the participants and a Freedom of Information request was denied. The Privacy Commissioner ruled today the Department of Tourism was wrong in handling the request.
CBC reported – “Bagnall said in the legislature, “Instead of paying the university you’ve been paying Sean Hennessey. So how can you justify that?” Bagnall asked Tourism Minister Robert Vessey. “How many duplicate cheques have you made?”
“Bagnall also pointed out the connection between Hennessey and the current deputy minister of tourism, Melissa MacEachern. “Your deputy is the one that oversees this. She’s the one that worked for Sean Hennessey. She’s the one that was at the university and worked for TRC,” he said. “She knows the system and yet your deputy is OKing cheques to be written to individuals like Mr. Hennessey, her former boss?” CBC
Six months later, Premier Ghiz removed MacEachern and replaced her with David MacKenzie, recently CEO of the Confederation Centre, after the fall 2011 election.
PEI Corporations registry tracing Sean Hennessey to Tourism Research Centre through a numbered company
Despite her proximity to the scandal MacEachern was appointed Deputy Minister of Innovation and Advanced Learning.
Pundits put this down to Premier Ghiz penchant for sticking by his friends despite their apparent unsavory activity. None of the Ghiz appointees who were involved in the PNP scandal were ever fired.
Deputy Minister of Innovation Brooke MacMillan was caught in a conflict of interest over applying for and receiving PNP funds. He was appointed to the position of CEO of the PEI Liquor Commission. He returned the money but kept his lucrative political appointment.
Canadians outside of Prince Edward Island are not used to intransigence on the part of a government when scandals are uncovered.
Hennessey was not place on probation or suspension during the RCMP investigation. Despite the notoriety, and his name and photograph still appear on the UPEI list of Current Faculty.
This may be in part due to the non-investigative journalism practiced on PEI. Patronage is so prevalent on PEI that it is accepted as status quo. Same game different players. As they say, “it’s not our money anyway.”
Hennessey’s scheme was uncovered by Paul Lewis, a former employee of the real UPEI Tourism Research Centre when Hennessey and his wife took an extended vacation.
Left in charge, Lewis received cheques that had not been invoiced by the TRC at UPEI. He questioned UPEI accounting staff and the Department of Tourism without getting answers that satisfied his curiosity.
According to Lewis, when he questioned Hennessey on his return, Hennessey fired him. Lewis, who is suing UPEI for wrongful dismissal, sent a full disclosure to Canada Revenue.
There are also allegations the players in this story received up to 12 PNP units.
None of these allegations has been proven in court.
By Stephen Pate, NJN Network
See Eastern Graphic – Government spent our money but DON’T ASK WHERE
This is only a glimpse of the problems that have plagued this school under previous prescomment_IDent who ruled in an abusive, oppressive, manner with many violations of human rights. Not to be outdone by continuing this sort of story and more violations of human rights, bullying, harassment, abuse of students who would be threatened by a thug university lawyer. Not to be outdone by the prescomment_IDent of UPEI who had complaints of sexual harassment placed against him by 2 employees a few months ago. At the time the 2 employees were placing sexual harassment complaints against the prescomment_IDent; the prescomment_IDent of UPEI, the premier, this guy, Hennessey and his wife were in Egypt (homeland of prescomment_IDent) and Turkey and other countries. They return to face charges and complaints. Nothing new for PEI and UPEI
UPEI was a place that was quite corrupt. There were several females who had to go to human rights to stop the abuse. The worse case was when Murphy invited this one student into mediation just to silence her, abuse her, harass her, for months. He had a hcomment_IDden client who would abuse this female victim once she was silenced. Murphy asked for a non-legal mediator where he launched legal attacks on her. Very unfair and biased human rights mediation process. Seems like the old prescomment_IDent days, abusive days, where both Murphy and prescomment_IDent were abusive men with power who harmed students. Once the contract was signed, the hcomment_IDden client came out from under the rocks, and harassed this female. For HRC and a university to be involved in such horrific behviour is bad. The hcomment_IDden client had given an award to a prof, and there had been complaints made about this prof so the university dcomment_ID what it does best…cover-up; cover-up, cover-up, destroy students. Murphy never followed the contract and she says she is constantly threatened by Murphy–kuddos to a university who will threaten their students, especially ones who werre harassed and abused.. But, not surprising behavior from Murphy- he is sleazy…gives lawyers a bad name.