Winnipeg Police department has taken Manitoba Liquor and Lotteries employee into court over allegations that the staff member has defrauded the province’s Crown agency of more than CA$275,000. According to the Crown corporation, the employee has been performing illicit activities for over the course of two years, starting from April 2017.
The local police department charged the 51-year-old Lori Ann Mann at the beginning of March this year. The woman and staff member of the province’s Crown agency has faced charges for fraud, theft, money-laundering, and data fabrication. However, for the time being, the allegations are still not proven in court.
Under the Radar Activities
According to the police authorities, the Crown corporation has reached out to their financial crime unit back in May 2019 after suspicions that one of their employees has been committing fraud. The Crown states the Casino Tours Department staff member Lori Ann Mann has been participating in illegal activities since April 2017 by taking advantage of her position.
Casino of Winnipeg offers visitor and guests tour packages to casinos and cooperates with different companies to provide buses for transportation. On Friday, the police stated that payments to the transportation providers are determined by the number of individuals a bus carries on each tour. And Ms. Mann has been taken advantage of just that.
The police have discovered invoices and digital date recordings that were deliberately forged in order to display a higher passenger count per bus tour. Additionally, evidence of falsified trips was also found, thus resulting in bigger financial obligations to the transportation companies. According to the police statement, the bus companies were not aware of the illicit overpaying and had no notion of such a scheme.
The defendant was also discovered to be an owner of a bus company that was also involved in the casino’s transportation of guests services. According to the police over 300 cases of fraud, theft, and money-laundering have been committed by the individual between April 2017 and April 2019. The Crown corporation’s staff member has defrauded the company for more than CA$275,000 for the beforementioned time period.
Fire Extinguishing Lawsuit
Previous courtroom shenanigans saw the Crown agency being involved in a lawsuit against The Pas and some of the volunteer firefighters that have taken part in Town Centre Hotel fire extinguishing in 2017. Insurers have mentioned the Crown corporation without the gaming regulator’s notion of that. The company classified the case as another example of subrogation where the insurance company tries to recover the money that it had previously paid to the insured side.
Budget Cuts
The Manitoba Liquor and Lotteries Corporation had to make amendments in order to deal with the influence of the unprecedented situation. The gaming regulator reported that it had saved a CA$1.3 million in expenses after the temporal staff layoffs. Such reduction in personnel led to a 40% change of the entirety of the company’s workforce, meaning that over 1,300 staff members have been temporarily discharged.
Source: Unger, Danton “Manitoba Liquor and Lotteries employee charged with defrauding more than $275K from corporation: police”, CTV News, March 19, 2021
