Charges dropped against Muskoka club executives
Last Updated: Friday, November 6, 2009 | 7:23 AM ET
The Canadian Press
Charges have been withdrawn against 11 Clublink employees charged after the deaths in Muskoka of three young Toronto men, the Bracebridge Examiner reported Thursday.
Those still facing charges of permitting drunkenness on a licensed premise include staffers at Lake Joseph Club in July 2008, Walter Moon of Gravenhurst, James Flegg of Oakville and Ian Colterjohn of Toronto, as well as ClubLink Corporation.
They are to appear in a Bracebridge court for a closed-door status hearing on March 12, the Examiner reported on its website.
Police have said alcohol and speed were definitely factors in the drowning deaths of Tyler Mulcahy, 20, Cory Mintz, 20, and Kourosh Totonchian, 19, all of Toronto.
Mulcahy's girlfriend, Nastasia Elzinga, escaped after the car broke through a guardrail and became submerged in a lake.
One officer described the crash as the worst he'd ever seen.
Mulcahy's father Tim has said the four friends paid for 31 drinks before they left the restaurant in the early evening.
Provincial prosecutor Carol Mitchell withdrew charges against ClubLink Corporation directors and officers Paul David Campbell, Patrick Brigham, Scott Davidson, Egidio Caravaggio, Charles Lorimar, Neil Osborne, Bruce Simmonds, Donald Turple, Robert Visentin, Kuldip Sahi and Jack Winberg
The Examiner said that Mitchell told the court that there was "no reasonable prospect of conviction" in the cases of the 11 employees.
A total of 34 charges were originally laid under the Liquor Licence Act against 16 individuals and ClubLink Corporation operating as Lake Joseph Club.
The investigation was conducted by the Bracebridge OPP and the Alcohol and Gaming Commission of Ontario.
The individuals who had charges withdrawn Thursday include some of ClubLink's top executives: Kuldip Sahi is ClubLink's president and CEO; Davidson is vice-president of corporate operations; Lorimar is vice-president of sales and marketing; Caravaggio is vice-president of golf operations; Visentin is chief financial officer; and Winberg is chairman of the board, the Examiner reported.
Two former golf club executives, who weren't working for the club when the men reportedly drank there, had their charges withdrawn last January.
