Most of the money in City of Saskatoon fraud case has been 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,” City Manager Jeff Jorgenson said Monday.

Jorgenson adds the city is 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 No. 1 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 added the company will continue to work closely with the City of Saskatoon and the police as the investigation continues.