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Scott Marshall says Dartmouth North MLA Trevor Zinck charged $10,000 in online poker bills to his credit card.
(CBC)The mother of a Halifax disabled man is frustrated and angry that Independent MLA Trevor Zinck hasn't responded to allegations that he used her son's credit card number to gamble online, leaving him out $7,600.
"Own up to it and be a man," Helena MacLeod said Monday.
"It seems like he has disappeared and that's it. We kind of thought that he would come across and say that he was going to pay Scott's credit card, but we haven't heard a word."
Scott Marshall, who has cerebral palsy, and Zinck have known one another for 20 years. Zinck acted as Marshall's paid caregiver before being elected an MLA for Dartmouth North in 2006.
Marshall, 40, said Thursday that in June 2007, he opened his credit card bill and found $10,000 in charges from an online poker site Zinck had used.
He said Zinck had borrowed small amounts of money from him before and he knew Zinck played online poker, but he had not given Zinck permission to use his card.
Zinck did pay back some of the money, but MacLeod said her son is still owed $7,600, and he can't afford to pay it.
"He gets in a very, very big panic to think that his credit is going to be down the tubes," MacLeod said.
Since CBC News broke the story about her son and Zinck last week, MacLeod said, her phone has been ringing constantly at her home near Sydney in Cape Breton.
"My husband had said that Trevor Zinck is taking over our lives. That's all we hear anymore, and we just want to get on with our lives and Scott get paid his money, and that be the end of it," she said.
MacLeod said if Zinck doesn't pay up, they will have to take the matter one step further.
"I think I will talk to Scott about getting a lawyer and go from there with it and see what happens," she said.
Zinck was ousted from the NDP caucus in March over problems with his constituency expenses. He has admitted to drinking and gambling problems.
Zinck has not responded to requests from CBC News for an interview about Marshall's allegations.
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