At the end of a parliamentary session where the costs of federal government IT consultants were repeatedly criticized, the Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) announced Tuesday that criminal charges have been filed against a Gatineau consultant who worked for eight different departments and Crown corporations.
Clara Elaine Visser, 63, is charged with fraud for overcharging the government for her services.
Evidence indicates that the consultant submitted fraudulent timesheets resulting in overbilling of approximately $250,000 between 1er January 2020 and June 30, 2021.
The police force in a press release
The RCMP’s International and Sensitive Investigations team led the investigation, after being alerted by Public Services and Procurement Canada, which had started its own internal investigation in the summer of 2021.
The fraud allegedly took place during the execution of various contracts, according to the police. “The RCMP obtained statements from key contractors during the review of timesheets to confirm that the consultant had overcharged the Government of Canada under separate contracts,” the press release states.
For Superintendent Jeremie Landry, officer in charge of the investigation team, this case demonstrates the RCMP’s commitment to preventing “the misuse of taxpayers’ money.”
We hold individuals and businesses accountable for misconduct while protecting federal spending.
Catherine Poulin, Assistant Deputy Minister at Public Services and Procurement Canada, in the same press release
Mme Visser declined to answer questions from The Press when reached by phone Tuesday. On her LinkedIn page, she recently explained the high value she places on experience among information technology consultants. “It’s priceless,” she insisted.
Over the years, the consultant claims to have worked for Shared Services Canada, the House of Commons, the Canada Revenue Agency, National Defence, the Border Services Agency and… the Royal Canadian Mounted Police, which ended up catching her.
Federal government spending on IT consultants, which amounts to billions of dollars a year, has been at the heart of a series of controversies since last year.
A recent report by the Auditor General highlighted the explosion in the costs of the application. ArriveCAN developed with the help of consultants at the start of the pandemic. The first version of the app cost $80,000, but the bill eventually ballooned to nearly $60 million. MPs and union representatives later pointed the finger at the work of some firms that received large sums of money and whose business practices were called into question. Several firms saw their contracts suspended or terminated.
As part of another ongoing criminal investigation, the RCMP also conducted a search in April at the home of a manager of GC Strategies, a firm that has received more than $100 million in contracts since 2011.