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“If the well couldn’t support a family, it is unlikely that Harb used it as a primary residence up to that time,” Horton wrote.

If the well couldn’t support a family, it is unlikely that Harb used it as a primary residence up to that time

In October 2007, the document alleges, Harb transferred 99.99 per cent of the ownership to Magdalene Teo, then the Brunei high commissioner to Canada. That ownership agreement, Horton wrote, lasted the four years that Harb claimed the house as his primary residence.

The RCMP have attempted to speak with Teo, now the Brunei ambassador to China, but with little success, the document says. Horton wrote that Teo “wants all questions submitted to her in writing.”

In a July 19 email to investigators, Teo wrote that Harb lived at the property after she purchased it, with the senator paying the monthly mortgage and “operating cost” as rent until the property was sold in 2011. Teo did not respond to followup questions sent by email on July 22, Horton wrote.

“Magdeline (sic) Teo has refused to speak to investigators about this situation, and states that Harb paid the mortgage for her as ‘rent’ between 2007 and 2011,” Horton wrote. “Without further details, this explanation lacks credibility.”

In 2011, Harb moved to Westmeath, about 150 kilometres from Parliament Hill. At least one neighbour defended Harb, saying the one-time Liberal senator was in the town northwest of Ottawa when the Senate wasn’t sitting, and stayed in Ottawa while on Senate business. Horton wrote that “There is some information” that Harb went to Westmeath on a “somewhat regular basis,” but alleges that the house appeared mostly to be a “secondary residence where Harb would go on weekends.”

Horton alleged that based on the Senate-ordered audit of Harb’s housing claims, “Harb’s frequency at the residence is not indicative of a primary residence.”

Harb is one of three senators being investigated by the RCMP. The RCMP is investigating Sen. Mike Duffy for possible breach of trust and frauds on the government. The Harb document suggests the RCMP is also investigating Sen. Patrick Brazeau for similar offences to Harb, but doesn’t go into detail.