OTTAWA—The RCMP is now looking into mortgages obtained by former Liberal senator Mac Harb for properties outside Ottawa he once claimed as his primary residences, new documents filed in an Ottawa courthouse suggest.

Harb, who retired in August under a cloud, is under investigation by the RCMP for possible breach of trust and fraud in relation to his travel and housing claims when he was a senator.

He had claimed as his primary residences, first, a home in Cobden, 123 km from Ottawa which he bought in 2003 and later sold in 2011, by which time he had also purchased a small home in Westmeath, Ont., northwest of Ottawa.

The RCMP has already stated it does not believe Harb lived primarily at either — the Cobden home being uninhabitable — and that he lived primarily in the national capital region, and was therefore not entitled to collect a housing allowance.

In new documents filed in an Ottawa courthouse Wednesday, the RCMP is now seeking documents from the Bank of Montreal and the Royal Bank related to several of Harb’s accounts.

In an affidavit filed to support a production order, the RCMP says “Harb was granted a mortgage on the (Cobden) property on October 12, 2007 for $177,000. Later that same day the property was sold to (Magdeline) Teo, with Harb maintaining a 0.01 per cent interest in the property. The sale price was $567,000. Harb’s $177,000 mortgage was not discharged until 2011. Obtaining a mortgage on the property and then transferring 99.99 per cent ownership of the property to Teo on the same day potentially put the bank at risk,” the affidavit states.

“Further investigation found that Harb purchased a home in Westmeath in 2010, and obtained a mortgage from RBC for $240,000. At the time, he listed 62 Durack Line Road in Cobden as a solely owned asset, when in fact he only owned 0.01 per cent of that property. This again put the bank at risk. Both of these transactions are now subject of this ongoing investigation.”

RCMP Cpl. Greg Horton, lead investigator in the senate expenses scandals, says Teo was a diplomat in Canada and is now Brunei ambassador to China. She has refused to meet or speak to investigators. The RCMP says “the relationship between Teo and Harb has not been determined by investigators” although Teo responded to written questions saying they are personal friends but do not have a business relationship.

Nor is it clear why Harb kept such a small interest in the property after selling it to her, the RCMP said.

Harb has not been criminally charged with any offence.

One of Harb’s lawyers, Paul Champ, said Wednesday he was unaware of the new production order sought by the RCMP but questioned the timing given the burgeoning Senate expenses scandal related to Conservative appointees.

Champ later said he was unable to reach Harb for comment, but added he was “unsure what crimes are being described here.”

“I don’t see how the bank was put at risk as the mortgages were always fully secured against the properties. I think the RCMP needs to brush up on their understanding of financing.”

Harb, whose expenses were challenged last spring by outside auditors Deloitte and by a Senate subcommittee, resigned in late August.

He repaid $231,649.07 to the Senate, and dropped a legal action challenging the probe into his expenses.

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He remains eligible to draw an annual pension of $123,000.

Investigators interviewed several Westmeath neighbours who didn’t believe Harb lived there. One woman said she has seen Harb more often “since the media attention.” He dropped off a bottle of wine at her door last Christmas with a note that said “sorry I missed you, Mac.”

“She returned the bottle with a note that said “no thank you,” as she does not believe that Harb actually lives at the residence and did not appreciate the gesture,” said the affidavit.

A relative of the woman who sold the house to Harb defended him, saying people don’t see him “because he arrives later in the evenings, and leaves early in the morning.”

The Deloitte audit found Harb spent most—62 per cent—of his time in Ottawa, and 21 per cent of his time in Cobden/Westmeath, where he went in the summer when the Senate wasn’t sitting.