Charity donations of tickets to some of Toronto’s hottest sports and concert events — tickets that were supposed to go to kids from low-income families — have instead been used by a well-off Rosedale couple, their family, work colleagues and visitors from France.

The couple, Leonie Tchatat and Guy Taffo, run a government-funded agency that receives thousands of dollars worth of tickets from a Toronto charity on the condition they will be used to give low-income youth under the age of 18 a special night out.

“Low-income kids? Well, Leonie and Guy have used the tickets, and their family, and many of us in the office,” said one insider at the non-profit the couple runs, called La Passerelle I.D.E.

Toronto Raptors and Blue Jay games, Justin Timberlake and Taylor Swift concerts are among the tickets that have been misused. The charity that donated the tickets, Kids Up Front, is investigating and said no tickets have gone to La Passerelle since the Star began making inquiries in February.

“You just go and ask, are there any good tickets today?” said another insider at La Passerelle, who described to the Star a free-for-all atmosphere over the last two years at the non-profit’s office at Yonge and Carlton Sts. Seven insiders at La Passerelle — all staff, former staff or people who worked on projects for the non-profit — say the donated tickets were often in rows close to the action or in a corporate box.

La Passerelle, which has a stated mission of helping Francophone immigrants find jobs in Toronto, receives about $2 million a year in federal, provincial and municipal funding. In promotional material, the agency says, “we specialize in building bridges between forward thinking companies and talented Francophone newcomers.” The couple who run La Passerelle are originally from Cameroon, where French and English are the two official languages.

Tchatat, who founded La Passerelle 20 years ago, is the executive director. Taffo is the agency’s accountant.

Through their lawyer, Tchatat and Taffo have told the Star that when they receive tickets, they post “ticket availabilities on Facebook” and provide tickets to “children, families and person within the marginalized communities” the organization serves.

The seven insiders interviewed by the Star say they saw children in La Passerelle seats on occasion, but generally saw adults using the tickets.

In response to questions from the Star about misuse, La Passerelle’s lawyer said Tchatat, Taffo and their staff have used charity-donated tickets, including Raptors tickets, on “occasion,” but only when they would “otherwise have gone unused.” Their lawyer said the non-profit will “comply” with any “modifications of protocol” Kids Up Front considers appropriate.

Toronto is the hottest city for events in Canada, with several professional sports teams, big concerts, theatre and other events. Tickets are expensive and out of reach for many youths, including those whose families are struggling financially.

“The cost of events in Toronto are so high and such a real barrier for so many families and so much can happen when a kid gets included,” says Lindsay Oughtred, executive director of Kids Up Front, a federally-regulated charity that connects deserving children and youth with those who want to donate tickets. For many children who want to see their sports or entertainment heroes up close, it can be a “dream come true,” she said.

Each year, Kids Up Front receives about 75,000 tickets with an approximate total face value of $2.7 million. Kids Up Front signs agreements with its 350 partner agencies, including La Passerelle, asking each to stipulate that the tickets it receives will only be used by low-income children and youth under the age of 18. The agreements says that any unused tickets must be returned 24 hours before the event so that they can be offered to another agency. A guardian or parent receives a ticket to accompany children.

MLSE is the largest donor of tickets, but other venues, corporations and individuals pitch in with donations. The agencies that receive tickets are typically groups that have a specific focus on children, such as Ronald McDonald House, Big Brothers and Big Sisters, the Children’s Aid Society of Toronto and Childhood Cancer Canada Foundation.

Each partner agency determines a need for tickets, perhaps for a special event, and the agency asks Kids Up Front for tickets.

According to Kids Up Front, La Passerelle has asked for and received 782 tickets in the past two years. Those tickets — the Star has a list — have a total face value of $54,000.

The list of tickets requested and received by La Passerelle in that time includes Toronto Maple Leafs and Toronto FC games, Raptors, Blue Jays and Marlies games and tickets to Toronto’s big annual tennis event, the Rogers Cup. There are also blocks of tickets for high-profile concerts.

Here is a snapshot of some of the tickets requested and used by La Passerelle:

Forty tickets to two Justin Timberlake concerts in 2018 (total face value of $3,970), 10 tickets to a Taylor Swift concert ($1,000) and, most recently, a block of 12 tickets to the Raptors tilt against the Indiana Pacers on Jan. 6 ($2,800).

Other high-profile events include 12 Maple Leafs tickets (total face value of $5,900) for a key April 2017 matchup with the Washington Capitals, just before the NHL playoffs began; 30 tickets for the Rogers Cup tennis matches in 2017 ($4,168); and 10 tickets to a WBC boxing match on May 19, 2018, with a face value of $1,195.

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After the Star brought these allegations to Kids Up Front in February, it began an investigation, which is ongoing.

“We take this very seriously,” said Lindsay Oughtred, executive director of Kids Up Front. “This is very concerning for all of us. These allegations are very disturbing.”

The Star has interviewed five staff members who worked at La Passerelle over the last two years and two people who worked on one project who said they have used the tickets along with relatives and adult visitors from France who come to Canada to take part in a week-long program for new entrepreneurs that La Passerelle offers each year. In some cases, these people provided the Star with photographic proof they attended these events. The Star has agreed to keep their identities confidential as they say they fear economic reprisals for speaking out against Tchatat, who is a prominent person in Toronto’s Francophone community.

These seven people have described how La Passerelle routinely requested large blocks of tickets for premium events that were liberally shared among office staff, their friends and family. They said they only recently became aware (during the Star’s inquiries) that the tickets were specifically for children and youth from low-income families.

Among the events these seven people say they attended, often with others and with relatives and friends of Tchatat and Taffo: Taylor Swift and Justin Timberlake concerts; TFC, Blue Jays and Raptors games; a WBC boxing match; and smaller concerts and plays. The insiders also provided the Star with information about other staff who attended events, including the musical An American in Paris. When the Star tried to interview other current or former staff about their attendance, they said they could not comment.

Tchatat and Taffo said their agency does not maintain a list of names and ages of people who attended the various events. The Star has been unable to determine how many tickets have been misused, but through detailed interviews with insiders it appears the misuse was widespread. No tickets have been sent to La Passerelle since the Star began making inquires, though the agency has requested tickets on one additional occasion.

Through their lawyer, Peter Downard, Tchatat said she used tickets for a “classical music event” and a “dance event.” Taffo went to two Raptors games, one with each of his sons, the lawyer said. Downard stressed in his emails to the Star that his clients and their staff only used tickets if nobody else wanted them.

“On occasion, when La Passerelle I.D.E. office hours are about to end and tickets for an event that evening have not been claimed, the tickets are made available to staff, since they would otherwise go unused,” Downard wrote.

Before he and his wife retained Downard for advice, Taffo told the Star that he has taken his sons to Raptors games using the donated tickets. He made these comments standing beside his Range Rover SUV and red Mini-Cooper Countryman outside the home he and Tchatat own in Rosedale, an upper-income neighbourhood in Toronto. The pair recently sold their BMW. During this brief interview, the Star told Taffo that the tickets are specifically for low-income children — not children living in high-income areas like Rosedale. The couple rents a cottage for six months in Muskoka, and have inherited property in Cameroon, according to Downard.

Taffo seemed unaware that the tickets received from Kids Up Front were only to be used by low-income children. Taffo acknowledged that he and his sons have attended Raptors events — he did not say how many — but said that is because the tickets would have gone unused.

“People who live in Rosedale, we are the ones who are giving,” Taffo said. “But if you have some tickets remaining, (Kids Up Front) won’t give (additional tickets) to you after.”

Given the high number of donated tickets Kids Up Front makes available to its many partners, the Star asked the charity about its protocols for ensuring the tickets find the proper home. Oughtred said they ask partners to send photos from time to time showing that the tickets are used by children and youth under 18. But she said it is not a perfect system.

“We are a staff of three. We cannot police every event we send people to. It is our expectation that they are going to adhere to the agreement,” Oughtred said.

Lawyer Downard said that he has “reviewed a number of photographs of persons at ticketed events which were sent to Kids Up Front by La Passerelle I.D.E. and which never resulted in any complaint by Kids Up Front.” Downard also said that he has “reviewed several emails between La Passerelle I.D.E. which clearly indicate the acceptance by Kids Up Front of the possible use of tickets by staff or volunteers.”

Downard did not share any of this information with the Star. The Star passed Downard’s comments to Kids Up Front. Oughtred said, “we are not aware of any e-mails referenced by Mr. Downard.”