The Royal Newfoundland Constabulary has laid additional fraud charges against a woman following an investigation into missing funds from a non-profit organization based in Mount Pearl. Valerie Barter, a 50-year-old resident of Conception Bay South, is accused of defrauding Violence Prevention Avalon East of more than $135,000 during her time as the organization’s executive director.
Police investigators allege the fraud took place between April 2021 and December 2023. The organization’s board discovered financial irregularities in late 2023, leading to the immediate removal of Barter from her position. The board has since cooperated with law enforcement, auditors, and grant funders.
The Royal Newfoundland Constabulary Economic Crime Unit officially launched an investigation in December 2023 after receiving a report from the organization. Following that inquiry, Barter was arrested on related charges in December 2024. The latest charges against her include fraud over $5,000, forgery, uttering a forged document, using a forged document, false pretense, mischief relating to computer data, and breach of trust.
Barter, who currently works as a project manager with the Bell Island Support Network, remains subject to the judicial process. Her lawyer, Robert Hoskins, has stated that his client is presumed innocent and that the defence will review the allegations and evidence as the case proceeds.
