Operators of bankrupt Ottawa snow removal company facing fraud charges
Posted Jan 28, 2019 05:30:00 PM.
This article is more than 5 years old.
A pair of people operating Ottawa Diamond Construction Inc. are facing charges related to the company's 2015 bankruptcy.
The Integrated Bankruptcy Enforcement Unit, made up of the Royal Canadian Mounted Police and the Office of the Superintendent of Bankruptcy, have charged the two after property was removed from the business and more than $375,000 was misappropriated from the bank account of the snow removal company just a few weeks before assigning themselves into personal and corporate bankruptcy.
It is also alleged that, if not for the near total depletion of its bank account, the now bankrupt company was not insolvent at all.
By forcing the bankruptcy of Ottawa Diamond Construction Inc., police say Johnson and St. Louis wilfully circumvented the company's legitimate creditor priority, resulting in a substantial loss to its suppliers and the public purse.
Roch St. Louis, 57, of Casselman, and his former spouse Claire Johnson, 54, of Kanata, are scheduled to appear at the Ontario Court of Justice in Ottawa, on January 29.
They are jointly charged with:
– Fraudulent Removal of Bankrupt's Property contrary to s. 198(1)(f) of the Bankruptcy & Insolvency Act
Should members of the public have any information related to bankruptcy fraud schemes they are urged to contact either the Ontario RCMP at 1-800-387-0020, the Office of the Superintendent of Bankruptcy at 1-877-376-9902 or anonymously through Crime Stoppers at 1-800-222-8477.
