The Shotgun Blog
« Tensions In Malta | Main | Canada saved by global warming! »
Monday, January 24, 2005
Biggest Fraud Case In Sask History
CBC;
The probe into a breach of policy at Saskatchewan's social services department has become an RCMP investigation of what may be, if proven, the biggest fraud ever perpetrated on the province.
(Note to CBC: See Spudco).
While no charges have been laid, police raided Evelyn Hynes' office, seized files and a computer. Government sources admit nearly a million dollars is unaccounted for.Hynes was convicted of defrauding a bank in Newfoundland in the 1980s for more than $600,000. Working as an assistant loans manager, she made up phony clients and bogus loans over six years. She was sentenced to two years in jail but was later pardoned.
After getting out of jail and becoming a social worker she moved to Saskatoon, rising through the ranks of the provincial government to become a middle-level manager. But government officials didn't check Hynes's criminal record when they hired her in 1989. At that time, she had not been pardoned.
Eh... would someone please ask how the pardon came about?
Both Ms. Hynes and her husband, Grant Matheson were employed in the same office with the Benefits and Audit Program and left on the same day. Both were on salary at over $80,000 a year. Escorted from their offices in December, the department has been under a "no talk" order ever since. Quote from a source: "DCRE usually eat their own rather than prosecute them."
As so often happens in these cases, the irony positively drips. Hynes also enjoyed a second paying position, teaching classes at the University of Saskatchewan in poverty. Former President of the Saskatchewan Social Workers Association, her work on "Social Work Ethics and Income Security" was adopted by that association. (Someone may want to be checking over the books there as well.)
Considering that social assistance recipients in Saskatchewan have even the most trivial overpayment of funds corrected by docking from their future disbursements, regardless of the hardship it may cause - it will be interesting to see what the NDP government does with Ms. Hynes pension plan.
The NDP's claimed drop in welfare caseloads would do an Enron accountant proud - by creating new program names, they shuffle clients into new check-recieiving categories that bypass the field worker and go directly through SaskTel.
One such example is the Saskatchewan employment supplement, a support system for the working poor. Once under the umbrella of the welfare system, recipients now report income to a call center on a monthly basis, via 1-800 number, and recieve their income top-up. To apply for welfare in Saskatchewan you dial a 1 800 number, apply for a "transitional employment allowance" - meaning you just want some money until you can find a job - and the government will simply cut you a check.
There is no social services interview or other system in place to prevent abuse, as it's considered too costly to do so.
Apparently, the same applies to Department of Community Resources and Employment managers.
Posted by Kate McMillan on January 24, 2005 in Canadian Provincial Politics | Permalink
TrackBack
TrackBack URL for this entry:
http://www.typepad.com/services/trackback/6a00d834515b5d69e200d8346f574669e2
Listed below are links to weblogs that reference Biggest Fraud Case In Sask History:
Comments
"To apply for welfare in Saskatchewan you dial a 1 800 number, apply for a "transitional employment allowance" - meaning you just want some money until you can find a job - and the government will simply cut you a check."
Please tell me you're joking and that this isn't for real.
Posted by: Sean | 2005-01-24 3:39:09 PM
Am speechless.............
Posted by: circe | 2005-01-24 3:47:34 PM
You can apply for a pardon 7 years after your conviction. I don't know when her conviction dates was but it is conceivable that she could have been pardoned by the time she was hired in Sask.
Posted by: The Meatriarchy | 2005-01-24 3:51:08 PM
I actually have quite a bit more than that...
Topic for an up-coming blog post, once I get the go ahead from my source.
Posted by: Kate | 2005-01-24 4:00:51 PM
they did not work in the same office
Posted by: unnamed source | 2005-01-25 12:12:43 PM
Actually, many of your comments are incorrect. As for "simply calling a 1-800 number and the government will cut you a cheque" - WRONG. Persons who call this number are deemed employable or not. If you are found to be employable, then you are required to attend job-searching workshops in order to recieve your cheque. In addition, the support is only for a 3 month period of time - after that, the individual better have a job lined up.
s for pardons, the waiting period is between three and five years, NOT SEVEN - dependent upon whether or not it is a summary or indictable offence. Come on people, this info is not hard to find - get your facts straight.
Posted by: Bill | 2005-01-26 5:51:03 PM
test
Posted by: jim smith | 2005-04-06 11:51:57 PM
What do you think of the 4 year sentence Evelyn Hynes got for the million dollar theft?
Posted by: Carol Crocker | 2006-07-15 3:07:49 PM
Wasn't Grant Devine demonized by the Saskatchewan lefties for not seeing about a $100,000 fraud perpetrated by one of his civil servants and corrupting cabinet ministers?
Maybe some of you combine pilots can help me out on the details of how the current fraud compares to the alleged sins of Devine.
Posted by: Set you free | 2006-07-15 3:24:03 PM
The comments to this entry are closed.