Photo: Deborah Pfeiffer

The preliminary inquiry for two men facing charges in a hockey fraud case got underway in Penticton this week.

The provincial trial for Loren Reagan and Michael Elphicke was supposed to start this month, but following an application by Elphicke to bump the case to Supreme Court, it was set for an inquiry instead.

There are expected to be 14 witnesses in the inquiry, slated to go until Friday afternoon.

Patrick Fullerton is acting as Crown counsel in the hearing before judge Gregory Koturbash.

Elphicke, who is being represented by James Pennington, was in attendance. But Reagan, represented by Calgary lawyer Kim Ross, was excused.

The two men face charges of fraud over $5,000, theft over $5,000 and unauthorized management of a lottery scheme linked to a hockey trip to Europe that never happened.

The alleged offences took place in July 2011 in Penticton.

The two men have been in a legal battle linked to the hockey trip, while Reagan is also facing accusations over a failed hockey dorm project.

The company that was to arrange financing for the dorm filed that lawsuit. In early 2013, notices of civil claims were filed by companies involved in work at the project site, next to the South Okanagan Events Centre.

A group of minor hockey parents also filed a lawsuit against the association for misusing more than $100,000 that was to fund a Europe trip for minor hockey players. The trip ended up being cancelled.

Elphicke said outside the courtroom that he had been waiting for this day for at least two years and was disappointed that Reagan was not there.

He said that both lawyers seemed prepared.