The former chief administrative officer of Gilbert Plains Municipality has been officially charged in connection with allegations of fraud following a two-year investigation.
On Jan. 16, as part of a joint investigation involving the Dauphin RCMP detachment and Manitoba RCMP Cyber and Financial Crime Unit (CFCU), Amber Fisher, 40, was arrested and charged with fraud over $5,000, theft over $5,000 and use of proceeds knowing it was obtained by the commission of an offence.
The investigation began following a complaint in 2022 that Fisher had defrauded the municipality of upwards of $500,000 while employed there.
Reeve Jim Manchur said the municipality has been anticipating this day for some time.
“We initiated this process over two years ago, so we had hoped it would happen sooner than it did, but we’re glad that we’re at this point,” Manchur said.
The investigation involved numerous witness statements, along with the obtaining and review of extensive financial records and other reports.
“Any time you have an investigation of this duration that reaches the charge stage it’s a major milestone. However, the work is not complete,” said Const. Ricky Perkins of the Manitoba RCMP CFCU.
“We realize for the people affected, a lengthy investigation can feel as if there is no progress being made. In reality, there are many investigative steps taking place behind the scenes, and we’ll continue to work with the Dauphin RCMP Detachment until it’s conclusion.”
However the municipality has not been idle while they have been waiting for the investigation to process.
One step they have taken, Manchur said, was to sue Fisher in an attempt to recoup their losses.
“We’re still in the process of that. That’s another, kind of, frustrating thing, it takes time so we’re hoping that will move forward as time goes by,” he said.
He added the municipality has also been working closely with it’s insurance company in an effort to minimize its losses.
“I would say that of the $500,000 plus that we lost, $400,000 did come back from insurance, but we still have other funds to recover in terms of legal fees and interest and those sorts of things,” Manchur said.
“Ultimately, we’d sure like to recover all our funds and go back to business as normal.”
But it will not be business as it once was.
“We’ve really tightened up everything on our financial side. We revamped our whole administration staff and all our financial controls are really, really tight now. So I really don’t think this could happen again, certainly in our municipality,” Manchur said.
Those changes include eliminating the ability to etransfer from municipal accounts without dual authorization and requiring council approval on all financial reports. There have also been increased controls put in place to ensure bank statements are reconciled on a regular basis, as well as requirements for regular and up-to-date audits.
“You wouldn’t believe the stress and the frustration that this did cause for us on council over the past few years and, you know, it’s hard to believe that we’d be the victim of it, but that’s what we ended up with. I think a lot of ratepayers aren’t totally happy with how it happened, but in the end we have to continue to be vigilant and go from there,” Manchur said.
“We appreciate the efforts of the RCMP. We were in contact with them through the whole process and they did a great job.”
Fisher was released from custody with conditions and will appear in Dauphin Provincial Court on Mar. 18.
