Lawyers for Ron Stewart slammed Auditor General Sheila Fraser Wednesday, saying their client has been a victim of "inflammatory public pronouncements" and  "unfair public pillorying."

In a statement, David W. Scott and Peter K. Doody said Fraser's inquiry and report about Stewart — who has been accused of misspending while he was ombudsman for federal prison inmates — was "fundamentally unfair."

Ron Stewart in his office in Ottawa, Nov. 29, 1977, after being named the new correctional investigator for the solicitor-general of Canada. He retired in 2003.
(Fred Chartrand/Canadian Press)

They said Stewart was only made aware of the audit three years after he left office in 2003 and was not offered "a meaningful opportunity to defend himself."

They criticized Fraser for her "inflammatory public pronouncements and press conferences" that they say make it impossible for Stewart to provide a meaningful public response.

"Parliament did not intend to facilitate a process of unfair public pillorying of individuals when it created the office of the Auditor General of Canada," they said.

Stewart's lawyers comments come as the RCMP confirmed it was "looking into" the auditor general's report.

The RCMP has received the file on Stewart, a former Canadian Football League star, Cpl. J.J. Hainey of the RCMP's federal investigation section in Ottawa told CBC News Online.

In her report released Tuesday, Fraser alleged Stewart often skipped work and collected $325,000 in improper or questionable salary, vacation pay and expenses during a six-year period of his 26 years with the service.

"All I can really say is we are looking into alleged irregularities reported by the auditor general," Hainey said. "It's not something that I can share with you at this time. As you know, the report came out yesterday [Tuesday].

"Every case is different. We are looking into the matter. We can't elaborate on how many people we will have on this. At a later date, if we are in a position to release information, we will."

The report alleged Stewart, who retired from the Office of the Correctional Investigator (OCI) in 2003, repeatedly failed to attend staff meetings, was frequently unavailable to aides and otherwise shirked his duties.

Stewart played with the now-defunct Ottawa Rough Riders.

Fraser also found that as ombudsman, Stewart charged the government for hospitality and travel apparently unrelated to his work, including five trips to cities hosting Grey Cup games, and was awarded hefty bonuses disguised as overtime pay.

The report alleges that between 1998 and 2003, Stewart missed work on 319 days, but billed for them. He also was reimbursed $8,000 for two computers the auditor general said he didn't know how to use, but were used by family members at his home.

Fraser said Tuesday the file had been referred to the RCMP.

As the RCMP reviews the report's findings, the federal government plans to try to recover any money improperly paid to Stewart.
 
Public Safety Minster Stockwell Day said Tuesday he asked Howard Sapers, the current prison ombudsman, to explore "all avenues possible" to recoup any improper payments made by the federal government to Stewart. The ombudsman's office conducts its business at arm's length from Day.
  
"Everything that can be done will be done," Day said.

With files from the Canadian Press