The city of Ottawa has recovered $355,000 of the $558,000 lost in a fraudulent transaction involving the Salvation Army Ottawa Booth Center earlier this month.
Last week, City Treasurer Wendy Stephanson told councilors that the cash went missing on April 111 when the city was “impacted by an illegal action perpetrated against a partnering agency.”
Staff immediately reported the fraudulent transaction to the city’s financial institution, Ottawa police and the auditor general.
In a memo to council on Friday, Stephanson said the city’s lawyers filed a statement of claim in the Superior Court of Justice this week. The city also filed a request for an emergency order authorizing TD Bank and any other financial institutions where the stolen funds were deposited to freeze the accounts, authorize banks to disclose all information required to trace the stolen funds and pay the stolen funds back.
Stephanson says the order was issued on Wednesday, permitting the tracing of the funds to a number of financial institutions.
“Today, staff have been notified by the City’s Bank that $355,000 of the $558,000 is in the process of being returned to the city’s account and staff anticipate further recovery in the near future,” Stephanson told council.
Staff also confirmed the partner agency affected by the illegal action was the Salvation Army Ottawa Booth Centre. Stephanson says the Salvation Army continues to cooperate with the city and police as part of the police investigation.