Police nab Bruce Leyte over weekend

ST. JOHN'S - A man missing and believed to be dead for more than two years appeared in provincial court in St. John's Sunday.

Bruce Ives Leyte, 57, was very much alive when he was escorted into courtroom No. 7 in St. John's Sunday morning. Sitting stoop shouldered in a leather jacket, striped shirt and jeans, Leyte said nothing, but looked considerably older than the photo of him printed in The Telegram and The Western Star Saturday.

The photo and story were based on a news release issued by a British Columbia detachment of the RCMP that suggested Leyte could be living in the Lumby/Cherryville area of that province. But police officials in this province say Leyte was arrested around 1:30 a.m. Sunday at a Frecker Drive home in St. John's.

They say a tip from the public led officers to the home, where an arrest warrant was executed against Leyte in relation to a charge of fraud over $5,000 laid in Corner Brook.
Leyte, originally from Corner Brook, was presumed dead after he went missing on Aug. 18, 2006.

A suicide note was found in his abandoned truck near the Humber River the day he went missing.

It's not known whether Leyte was ever living in British Columbia, but police officials say he was living and working in St. John's at the time of his arrest. Sunday morning in provincial court, Judge Jacqueline Jenkins, presiding via teleconference from her bench in Stephenville read the single charge of fraud over $5,000 to Leyte.

The charge is in relation to an incident on July 14, 2006. Leyte was then remanded into custody for a bail hearing Tuesday in Corner Brook, where the charge was originally laid.
In June 2006, Leyte was sentenced to pay a $60,000 fine after being found guilty of tax evasion in May 2006. Leyte, a director of J.C. Bakery Enterprises Ltd., had pleaded guilty to five charges of making false statements on its GSThe charge is in relation to an incident on July 14, 2006.

Leyte was then remanded into custody for a bail hearing Tuesday in Corner Brook, where the charge was originally laid.

In June 2006, Leyte was sentenced to pay a $60,000 fine after being found guilty of tax evasion in May 2006. Leyte, a director of J.C. Bakery Enterprises Ltd., had pleaded guilty to five charges of making false statements on its GST and HST returns in the years 2001, 2002 and 2003.

Leyte was given 60 months to pay that fine, but disappeared two months later.
Meanwhile, there had been a number of unconfirmed sightings of Leyte since his disappearance, including aboard the Marine Atlantic ferry the day after his abandoned truck was discovered and in October in St. John's.

At the time of his disappearance, the RCMP carried out search of the river and Bay of Islands area. Leyte was declared a missing person by the RCMP because a body was never found.

It's not known if the RCMP will be laying charges against Leyte in relation to his disappearance, but an investigation is ongoing.

In similar cases in the past people have been charged with public mischief, but there is no indication that would be the charge that Leyte would face.