Most of $1.04M in City of Saskatoon fraud case locked down

The City of Saskatoon says it is making progress on recovering the $1.04 million it lost in a fraud scheme.

“While it is early in the investigation, we’re pleased to say most of the funds have been identified or traced and have been locked-down by court order,” said City Manger Jeff Jorgenson.

Jorgenson adds, they are continuing to chase down leads and working with the banks as well as police.

“Recovery of the remaining funds, further fortifying our controls and gathering all the facts continues to be the city’s number-one priority,” said Jorgenson.

The fraud was discovered Aug. 12. A fraudster impersonated the Chief Financial Officer of Allan Construction, Blaine Dubreuil, asking for a change of banking information.

The city went ahead with the change, and the next contract payment that was to go to Allan Construction, was instead direct deposited into the fraudster’s account.

“It’s very disconcerting that the perpetrator used my name and our company name to commit this crime,” said Dubreuil.

He adds, they will continue to work closely with the City of Saskatoon and the police as the investigation continues.