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Okanagan hockey fraudster files appeal

Michael Elphicke was sentenced on July 18 and has filed an appeal
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Michael Elphicke has field an appeal after being sentenced less than a month ago on charges related to defrauding hockey parents. Western News file photo

Less than a month after being sentenced to house arrest and ordered to pay $117,000 in restitution, the man convicted of defrauding hockey parents has put forward an appeal.

Michael Elphicke was sentenced on July 18 at the Penticton law courts to house arrest for two years less a day, three years probation and order to pay restitution after being convicted of operation of an unauthorized lottery scheme and fraud over $5,000. He filed the appeal on Aug. 10.

Related: Okanagan hockey fraudster found guilty on all counts

Elphicke was part of a Okanagan Elite Hockey Association which promised parents and players a European trip of a lifetime. Parents paid fees, as well as raised funds through raffles in the fall and early winter of 2011. By mid-January 2012, some parents began asking for financial statements and it was discovered the OEHA had only about $13,000 of the upwards of $180,000 that was believed to be in the account to pay for the trip.

Elphicke is basing the appeal on the delays until time to trial, that the judge took into account actions of co-accused Loren Reagan that were then attributed to Elphicke’s role in OEHA and certain parts of testimony not being allowed during the judge-alone trial.

Related: Hockey trip fraudster receives house arrest

Reagan, who was scheduled to stand trial alongside Elphicke, did not show and a warrant was put out for his arrest. Police eventually took him into custody in Calgary in early March. He is still awaiting trial.

To report a typo, email: editor@pentictonwesternnews.com.

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Kristi Patton | Editor
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