Jeff Sallot, Globe and Mail
A Mountie criminal investigator said yesterday he uncovered evidence suggesting RCMP Deputy Commissioner Barbara George “improperly transferred” almost $600,000 from the force’s insurance fund to a pension account as part of a cover-up.
The investigator, Staff Sergeant Mike Frizzell, also testified he was pulled off the case when the probe got too close to the top of the RCMP chain of command and evidence began to implicate Deputy Commissioner George.
“There was absolutely no question in my mind . . . that I was being removed from the investigation because of Ms. George and the money that had been taken out of the insurance plans,” he said.
Deputy Commissioner George, who was the head of human resources at the RCMP, denied any wrongdoing with pension or insurance funds.
Moreover, she said Staff Sgt. Frizzell was transferred off the case after complaints that he was “harassing” RCMP employees with an aggressive interviewing style.
The two Mounties contradicted each other during sworn testimony at the House public accounts committee, a situation that so stunned the MPs they demanded both return for further questioning.
Deputy Commissioner George, who was suspended from duty after a previous appearance before the committee, was rebuked by MPs, who said her testimony has been evasive and incomplete.
At one point, Conservative MP Pierre Poilievre told her, “I’m not going to tolerate any ragging of the puck.” Mr. Poilievre is a senior Conservative on the committee and his impatience reflects a growing belief in the Conservative caucus that a judicial commission of inquiry is needed to get the truth.
The committee is trying to find out whether senior Mounties, including Deputy Commissioner George and former commissioner Giuliano Zaccardelli, tried to cover up improprieties in the administration of the RCMP pension fund.
Staff Sgt. Frizzell told the committee that he began to suspect an elaborate shell game was being played by people in the human-resources branch.
Money was “drained” from the life-insurance account to cover shortfalls in the pension fund, Staff Sgt. Frizzell said.
(Auditor-General Sheila Fraser reported last November that the RCMP improperly charged at least $3.4-million to the pension fund, but later paid it back.
She also said an estimated $1.3-million was charged to the pension and insurance plans “to pay for commissions or products that provided little or no value, and for excessive payments to employees’ friends and family members hired as temporary staff.
The pension plan has been reimbursed or credited $270,280 of those unnecessary or wasteful expenditures.”)
Staff Sgt. Frizzell, who was assigned to help investigate the pension-fund case, said the investigative team uncovered serious evidence of nepotism and wrongdoing in some of the fund’s contracts for administrative services.
In one instance, a contractor charged $400 a day for administrative services that were performed by the spouse of an RCMP employee. The spouse received only $100, and the contractor pocketed the rest, the Mountie said.
Staff Sgt. Frizzell said the pension investigation took an unexpected turn when documents were uncovered suggesting insurance funds were being diverted with Deputy Commissioner George’s approval.
But he was ordered off the case before he had a chance to follow the trail, he said.
She said she had nothing to do with the winding down of the pension-fund investigation, or the issuing of a “cease and desist order” to Staff Sgt. Frizzell directing him to return to other duties.
In an interview last night, she said she learned the reason for the order — that the sergeant was supposedly harassing human-resources employees — after the fact.
She did not rule out the possibility that she might have seen documents related to transferring insurance funds to the pension fund.
She did not recall this, but she said she relied on advice from another senior Mountie with expertise in insurance and financial matters that there was nothing untoward with the life-insurance funds.
She apologized that she couldn’t be more precise, but said that since her suspension she has not had access to her files and other RCMP records to refresh her memory.
She was suspended after Liberal MP Borys Wrzesnewsyj accused her of perjury during committee testimony March 28.
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