City of Ottawa makes $558,000 fraudulent transaction, treasurer says
The city of Ottawa and Ottawa police are investigating after the city made a fraudulent $558,000 payment after being "impacted by an illegal action perpetrated" against a city partner.
City Treasurer Wendy Stephanson says staff became aware of a possible irregularity related to a payment made by the city on Monday.
"Upon further investigation by city staff, it was confirmed that the city was impacted by an illegal action perpetrated against a partnering agency," Stephanson said in a memo to council.
"On confirming the fraudulent transaction, staff immediately reported the incident to the city's financial institution, the Ottawa Police and the Auditor General."
Stephanson says the city is working with Ottawa police and its bank to recover the funds, and staff have launched a comprehensive internal investigation.
"The city will continue to cooperate with the police in their investigation into the incident, and with the financial institution to secure and recover any of the funds fraudulently obtained," Stephanson said.
"Staff can confirm that no personal information was compromised or shared by the city of Ottawa."
Stephanson says no further information will be released due to the active police investigation.
In 2019, the city of Ottawa was scammed out of approximately $130,000 in an email scam. The auditor general said the former city treasurer was the victim of a "whaling scam", receiving an email from an address she thought belonged to city manager Steve Kanellakos.
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
'He's in our hearts': Family and friends still seek answers one year after Nathan Wise’s disappearance
It’s been a year since Nathan Wise went missing and his family is no closer to finding out what happened to him.
'My family doctor just fired me': Ontario patients frustrated with de-rostering
Dozens of Ontarians are expressing frustration in the province’s health-care system after their family doctors either dropped them as patients or threatened to after they sought urgent care elsewhere.
Ottawa pizzeria places among top 20 deep-dish pizzas in the world at international competition
An Ottawa pizzeria is being recognized as one of the top 20 deep-dish pizzas in the world.
Canada Post cracks down on Nunavut loophole to get free Amazon Prime shipping
Amazon's paid subscription service provides free delivery for online shopping across Canada except for remote locations, the company said in an email. While customers in Iqaluit qualify for the offer, all other communities in Nunavut are excluded.
Wildfire near Fort McMurray more than triples overnight, several evacuation alerts remain in place
The fire burning near Fort McMurray grew from 25 hectares to 5,500 hectares over the weekend.
Putin replaces Russian defence minister in rare cabinet shakeup
Russia’s President Vladimir Putin began a Cabinet shakeup on Sunday, proposing the replacement of Sergei Shoigu as defence minister as he begins his fifth term in office.
Man fatally 'slashed in the neck' in downtown Toronto, suspect outstanding
Police are searching for a male suspect after a man was “slashed in neck” on Sunday morning in downtown Toronto and died.
WATCH Dashcam video shows terrifying near-miss on two-lane northern Ontario highway
There were some scary moments for several people on a northern Ontario highway caught on video Thursday after a chain reaction following a truck fire.
Edibles, armchairs and adapters: Here are the recalls for this week
Health Canada announced various product recalls this week, including electric adapters, armchairs, cannabis edibles and vehicle components.