The Commons Public Accounts Committee heard Wednesday night more fraud rings have been uncovered in federal contracting, costing Canadian taxpayers billions in losses.A senior manager disclosed even more fraudulent dealings are expected to be exposed in the coming months. “It would be inconceivable” that more criminality will not be documented as investigations continue, testified Arianne Reza, deputy public works minister, per Blacklock’s Reporter.“We do 400,000 procurement transactions a year,” said Reza.“We have started to really analyze it using data analytics. We have since 2022 now found a total of seven cases.”All seven were referred to RCMP, said Reza.“It would be inconceivable to me not to think we are going to continue to do this type of work and continue to uncover overbilling.”“Seven in total?” asked Conservative MP Larry Brock.“That is correct,” replied Reza.“That’s for the year 2024 or does that include years from 2022?” asked Brock.“It includes everything that we found since 2022,” replied Reza.“We are constantly looking, but this is what has been found to date.”.Committee hears Freeland gave contract to old friend, Trudeau's WEF contact.Catherine Poulin, assistant deputy minister, confirmed three of the seven cases were referred to police in October.“This represents the second wave of fraudulent billing cases,” said Poulin.“Will there be further waves?” asked Brock.“Are you still examining in fine detail, from top to bottom, any other potential criminality?”“It is something that is going to be ongoing,” said Reza.“We look for the best ways to inform Canadians and parliamentarians.”.Federal documents detailing $24B in COVID contracts mysteriously vanish.Reza said cases typically involved subcontractors who falsified time sheets and inflated invoices. All attempts were underway to recover money, she said.“We have made the commitment to the Minister to look at how we can recover funds that were spent on the contracts.”Conservative MP Garnett Genuis questioned the scope of taxpayers’ losses. “How much has the government lost as a result of contracting fraud?” he asked.“We can try to come back with an answer,” replied Reza.The Department of Public Works originally put losses at $5 million.To date three of the seven contractors under RCMP investigation have been publicly named. A May 9 departmental brief identified Eagle Professional Services, IPSS Cyber Solutions and Veritaaq Technology House — all of Ottawa..Five feds fired for inside contracting.Investigations follow the discovery last March 20 of a double billing scheme involving faked timesheets submitted by subcontractors.“Fraud undermines our ability to ensure value for money on behalf of Canadians,” Public Works Minister Jean-Yves Duclos said at the time.“Departments will continue to proactively detect and investigate all suspicions of fraud.”“How concerned are you this could be a widespread problem?” asked a reporter.“This is a troubling outcome, something you never want to see,” replied Duclos.“It has impacted dozens of departments. The overbilling was made in a manner that took advantage of the fact that until recently, when everything was done on paper, it was difficult for departments to coordinate and share that information.”“Has anyone lost their job over this?” asked a reporter.“The internal investigation is ongoing,” replied Duclos.
