Man freed after hammer killing now charged in $66K nonprofit fraud

Police have charged two men with embezzling funds from a Calgary non-profit. One of the accused is a British Columbia man who was previously charged with manslaughter.

Source: Wikimedia Commons

Police have charged two men with embezzling funds from a Calgary non-profit. One of the accused is a British Columbia man who was previously charged with manslaughter and released early after killing someone with a hammer.

Investigators have charged Nathan Michael Mizera, 41, and Joshua Tyler Bredo, 40, with one count each of fraud, alleging they stole over $66,000 from a local community non-profit.

According to authorities, in 2022, the two men approached the long-time directors of the Bowness Ratepayers Scout and Guide Hall Association, located at 8551 Bowness Road N.W., promising to rebrand the hall and offer it as a community gathering and event space.

“Eager to pass on the day-to-day operations and excited about the prospect of expanding the community hall for their community, the two directors agreed,” police said in a news release on Thursday.

Investigators allege the two men then assumed the positions of managing the daily operations, with one man appointing himself as the general manager without an election or consent from the board.

In April 2024, board members became concerned with the maintenance and deterioration of the hall and the transparency of financial documents, leading to the discovery of a significant amount of missing funds.

Board members then contacted police to conduct an investigation.

Following an investigation, authorities believe that between 2022 and 2024, the two men embezzled more than $66,000.

The two men allegedly pulled off the scheme by hosting events using organization funds without paying attributed fees, falsifying documents to obtain financial control, creating false receipts for services never rendered, and then fabricating email addresses to deposit the funds into their personal bank accounts.

On Tuesday, the two men were arrested and charged in relation to the missing funds.

These latest charges are far from Bredo’s first run-in with the law.

Born and raised in Prince George, Joshua Tyler Bredo had a dark past even before his manslaughter charge.

Bredo first appeared in the public eye in October 2001 as the local spokesperson for the Young Liberals of Canada.

In October 2007, Bredo, then using the name Baba, pledged $10,000 of his own money to start a foundation in Prince George in the name of fallen soldier Cpl. Matthew McCully.

Ten months later, the McCullys came forward to say Bredo left them with surprise bills of about $2,300 they had to pay themselves after a theatre performance was held and a gala dinner was planned, then cancelled with only days' notice.

According to an agreed statement of facts, in June 2011, Bredo met another victim while working as an assistant manager at a 7-Eleven on Douglas Street—with his next incident having far deadlier consequences.

Later that same summer, Bredo attacked the victim—20-year-old Daniel Levesque, who worked as an employee for Bredo—with a hammer, hitting him in the head with the weapon three times, leading to Levesque’s death.

Bredo was originally charged with murder but pleaded guilty to manslaughter in 2017. The judge handed the killer a nine-year sentence, but he received seven years' credit for the time he'd spent in custody and was released from prison in 2018.

Bredo was also charged with first-degree murder, unlawful confinement, and sexual assault in another 2013 case. His trial for that offense started in January 2015 but ultimately ended in a mistrial.

Granted early parole following a nine-year sentence in relation to the death of Levesque, Bredo was released from Ford Mountain Correctional Centre on October 6, 2018.

Levesque’s family was not notified of Bredo’s release until more than a month later.

Bredo's next court date is set for August 6.