Government ex-employee sentenced for betrayal of trust

September 5, 2024 TruthUSA

The RCMP has reported that a former public servant who exploited his position at Innovation, Science and Economic Development Canada (ISED) to benefit his own company has been sentenced for breach of trust.

According to the RCMP, between 2016 and 2018, Marc Primeau misused his role at ISED to direct the agency to make purchases worth $231,663.48 from Access Security Logistix (ASL), a company that he owned entirely. On August 29, he was given a 24-month conditional sentence for breaching trust as per Section 122 of the Criminal Code.

“Given his position at ISED, Mr. Primeau was responsible for ensuring the correct receipt of goods from ASL to ISED, all while hiding his connection to ASL,” stated the RCMP in a press release on September 4.

Primeau admitted guilt to breaching trust and had other charges dropped. He has reimbursed $90,000 to ISED, representing the estimated total illegal profits he obtained.

In a statement of agreed facts, Primeau confessed to awarding 72 sole-source contracts to ASL and successfully competing for six purchase orders. Through his ISED position, Primeau oversaw the transfer of goods from the company to ISED while keeping his relationship with the company concealed.

The misconduct came to light after ISED’s internal accounting and record-keeping practices were revised. Primeau was terminated from his position at the agency in February 2019, and the matter was forwarded to the RCMP for investigation.

In June, RCMP Commissioner Michael Duheme stated to MPs on the public accounts committee that there are at least six ongoing investigations into irregularities in federal procurement. Duheme mentioned that some of these investigations could involve corruption, but he could not provide more specific details.

The RCMP also confirmed in October 2023 that they were investigating three companies involved in the ArriveCan app: GC Strategies, Dalian Enterprises, and Coradix. An audit by the auditor general revealed that the development costs of the app amounted to $59.5 million, with record-keeping being so inadequate that the total cost could not be accurately determined.

In February, Dalian CEO David Yeo was suspended from his position as a public service employee at the Department of National Defence (DND) during an investigation into the awarding of his multimillion-dollar contract to work on ArriveCan while employed at DND.

In April, the RCMP raided the residence of GC Strategies managing partner Kristian Firth as part of an investigation into fraud allegations from Botler AI, a technology company not involved in ArriveCan but contracted for a separate project through GC Strategies.

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