PROVIDENCE — Metropolis Council prospect Gerard Catala has been accused of a slew of campaign finance violations and might now facial area prosecution.
On Thursday, the state’s Board of Elections declared that an audit carried out by its Marketing campaign Finance Division uncovered the violations and referred the scenario to the attorney general’s office for “consideration and feasible prosecution.”
“The Board is dependable for implementing Rhode Island marketing campaign finance guidelines, and will just take whatever actions permissible less than legislation to assure compliance by candidates and committees,” the board reported in a statement.
A summary of the audit, which addresses January 2018 via June 2021, states that Catala took additional than $7,000 from his campaign’s lender account more than the class of 132 transactions but did not disclose these transactions on his marketing campaign finance reports, and all those debits haven’t proved to be campaign-connected.
The board also located that much more than $6,000 in deposits had been not disclosed on campaign finance studies, and the supply of approximately $4,000 could not be recognized.
Far more than $4,000 well worth of campaign investing came from Catala’s private resources — a different violation of campaign finance law, the board explained.
Additionally, the board said that in 2018, Catala failed to file four marketing campaign finance studies, and from 2019 into 2021, seven stories falsely reported no contributions or spending. According to the board, three years’ value of copies of his campaign lender account statements from 2018 to 2020 have been also not submitted.
In another instance, a $50 examine labeled “donation” was put into a private account, the board described.
Catala, who is working for the Ward 9 seat now held by Councilwoman Carmen Castillo, did not straight away reply to a request for remark. On the other hand, the board’s report contained his response to the findings:
“Catala indicated his hold off in submitting his campaign finance stories for 2018 was owing to his need to submit full and precise campaign finance stories that would not will need to be afterwards amended. Catala further indicated his 2018 campaign marketing start incorporated goods these as doorway hangers, bumper stickers, palm playing cards, business enterprise cards, button stickers and a lot more, which charge about $2,000.00, were paid from his personal cash and not from money obtainable in his campaign account. Similarly, his campaign headquarters, which price tag around $2,000.00, was compensated from his own account and not from cash out there in his campaign account. Catala claimed that, to the greatest of his memory, his campaign was 100% self-financed all over the entire 2018 campaign and that he did not get his 1st contribution till November 1, which was deposited on November 5.”