Fraud cases lead to losses for Saskatchewan government, SaskTel

Two fraud cases resulted in losses for Saskatchewan Crown corporations, according to reports tabled Tuesday.

One case involved a SaskTel employee taking six devices through fraud, while the larger of the two losses involved a fraudulent change in banking information.

According to the loss reports, SaskBuilds and Procurement, along with the Ministry of Parks, Culture and Sport and the Commercial Revolving Fund, lost a total of $34,556.11 when a person impersonating a supplier falsely changed banking information in May or June of this year.

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“As a result, some payments were redirected to inappropriate bank accounts,” the loss report read.

The fraudulent change in banking details was reported to police, the report noted, and $20,948.69 has so far been recovered.

SaskTel employee fired after committing fraud

In a separate case, a SaskTel employee was fired after “making two fraudulent attempts on the same day to acquire SaskTel devices.”

The result was the loss of six devices valued at $6,223.25, according to a loss report for Crown Investments Corporation, which was tabled on Tuesday. The report did not specify the types of devices that were lost.

“SaskTel has not recovered any of the devices obtained by this individual nor has it collected any of the outstanding balance on the affected wireless account,” the report read.

The employee was fired, the report noted, and the matter was reported to police.

While details of the fraud were not specified in the report, the corrective measures taken indicate that it related to setting up a false corporate account.