UPAC raids of related contracts awarded by the CSDM

The Unite permanente anticorruption (UPAC) conducted searches at nine locations in the Montreal area, Laval and Lanaudière Wednesday in connection with suspected false invoices to the Commission scolaire de Montreal (CSDM).

According to the spokesman of UPAC, Anne-Frédérick Laurence, several private companies have made false invoices in the construction and renovation contracts between the CSDM. The school board would be the victim of the alleged facts, and the school board is not involved in the alleged scheme, has she explained. The contracts in question were concluded between 2012 and 2014.

“This false invoicing was done in public contracts awarded by the CSDM, so at the expense of the school board,” she added.

UPAC did not want to move forward on the type of false invoices which took place, but says, false billing, you can hear the double billing, billing or billing for services not rendered. “We must wait to see what the analysis of the evidence will tell us what happened,” suggests Ms. Laurence.

No arrests have been made. Since this is an ongoing investigation, the UPAQ refuses to reveal how many companies are under investigation nor the amounts of alleged wrongdoing contracts, but said that they are investigators from Revenue Quebec that lead investigation.

The CSDM said it fully cooperated with the investigation and that investigators had visited the school board Wednesday morning and assured that no search had taken place on its premises.