Judge awards $150,000 in legal costs to ex-bureaucrat accused in $11M COVID-19 fraud

A provincial bureaucrat fired after the alleged theft of $11 million in COVID-19 reduction help has been awarded $150,000 in authorized prices by an Ontario court docket.

In a setback for Crown prosecutors, Ontario Superior Court docket Justice Peter Cavanagh present in favour of Sanjay Madan, who faces felony and civil fees within the alleged fraud, and his household.

The civil Crown, which efficiently froze $28 million of the household’s property in Canada and India, had been attempting to stop the Madans from utilizing their unfrozen funds, earmarked for his or her authorized defence, to file counterclaims in opposition to the federal government.

“I don't settle for the submission by the Madan defendants that the Crown, by searching for the reduction it did, supposed to ‘starve’ the Madan defendants into submission or that the reduction sought was ‘calculated to solid a chill upon the solicitor-client relationship,’” Cavanagh dominated Friday.

However the decide discovered the household’s lawyer was “right that the exact type of accounting sought by the Crown was considerably of a shifting goal” and awarded prices to pay for added authorized bills.

“Prices of the Crown’s movement and the Madan defendants’ movement are fastened within the quantity of $150,000 payable by the Crown to the Madan defendants,” he concluded.

Defence lawyer Christopher Du Vernet mentioned Tuesday “the federal government’s movement was a horrible waste of public funds and beneficial court docket time.”

“It ought to by no means have been introduced. The federal government is detached to the price of the meritless litigation it continues to pursue,” mentioned Du Vernet.

“Vital price awards akin to this are important to curtail the Crown’s continued misuse of public assets. The taxpayers deserve higher than costly, fruitless frolics like this,” he mentioned.

In civil court docket filings, the province alleges “some or all of” Madan, his partner, Shalini, their grownup sons Chinmaya and Ujjawal, and affiliate Vidhan Singh perpetrated “an enormous fraud” to divert COVID-19 funds to quite a few financial institution accounts at branches of TD Financial institution, the Financial institution of Montreal, the Royal Financial institution of Canada, Tangerine and India’s ICICI Financial institution.

Shalini, Chinmaya and Ujjawal have denied any wrongdoing. Singh additionally insists he did nothing unlawful. The federal government’s allegations haven't been confirmed in court docket.

Madan was fired within the fall of 2020 because the $176,608-a-year laptop chief on the Ministry of Schooling’s Assist for Households initiative.

That program gave Ontario mother and father $200 per baby beneath age 12 and $250 per baby and youth beneath 21 with particular wants to assist with on-line education bills early within the pandemic.

Final January, in civil court docket testimony that will not be used within the felony case if it violates Constitution-protected rights in opposition to self-incrimination, Madan admitted he “relaxed” laptop safety safeguards on the “free-flowing program” so further payouts may very well be made to the identical financial institution accounts.

“I assumed there could also be a chance to take the funds out … it seemed like simple cash for me,” he testified.

Shalini was terminated within the fall of 2020 from her $132,513-a-year Ministry of Authorities and Shopper Providers IT supervisor job.

Separate felony proceedings are beneath method.

Madan is charged with two counts of fraud and two counts of breach of belief. He and Shalini are additionally charged with possession of stolen property and laundering the proceeds of crime.

Singh is charged with cash laundering, fraud, and possession of stolen property.

Manish Gambhir, a Brampton laptop specialist whose identify has not surfaced within the civil case, is charged with possession of an identification doc associated — or presupposed to relate — to a different particular person, and with possession of stolen property.

A publication ban protects the main points of the felony case.

Within the civil matter, Crown legal professionals allege Madan was the “ringleader” of a classy scheme that allegedly pilfered $30 million over the last decade previous the pandemic.

That allegation bolstered the federal government’s efforts to freeze Madan household property, together with $12.4 million in Indian financial institution accounts, an $8 million Waterloo condominium complicated, a seven-bedroom home in North York valued at $2.57 million, and 6 Toronto condominiums value greater than $3 million.

“It’s not simply the fraud with respect to the Assist for Households program, but additionally kickbacks with respect to the engagement of fee-for-services consultants,” the province’s lawyer Christopher Wayland instructed civil court docket final summer season.

Wayland mentioned Madan and Singh ran a consulting enterprise that employed authorities laptop contractors and paid “secret commissions” to favoured distributors.

In paperwork filed Dec. 22, the Crown lawyer blasted the household’s declare the federal government was “negligent” as a result of its personal staff are charged within the alleged fraud.

“It quantities to a plea of ... ‘Ha, ha, your personal fault, I idiot you,’ which shouldn't be countenanced,” Wayland’s court docket submission mentioned.

“In essence, he's suggesting that, if he can show that the Crown was actually gullible, he ought to be capable of hold a number of the cash he stole. That pleading is an affront to justice,” the federal government lawyer mentioned.

“His plea is tantamount to saying, ‘I'll have robbed your financial institution, however you actually ought to have had higher safety guards’ or, ‘sure, I hacked into your laptop, however you actually ought to have invested extra in anti-spyware — so you might be largely the writer of your personal misfortune.’”