B.C. man arrested after scam sees $500K in City of Hamilton funds sent to fake vendor

Aura Carreño Rosas · CBC News

· Posted: Jul 10, 2025 7:37 AM EDT | Last Updated: 36 minutes ago

A 32-year-old Surrey, B.C., man has been arrested and charged successful transportation with a cyber scam that prompted fractional a cardinal dollars successful metropolis funds to beryllium sent to a fake vendor, constabulary say.

An worker with CityHousing Hamilton received an email successful March 2024 that appeared morganatic with an "altered banking details for a vendor payment," according to police.

The email was received 1 period aft the metropolis was deed with a ransomeware attack in February of that twelvemonth that disrupted assorted services and outgo the metropolis millions. Police said that incident made an situation "more susceptible to quality mistake and outer manipulation."

"Believing the accusation to beryllium accurate, [a] staff subordinate processed an physics funds transportation for implicit $550,000—an magnitude acold exceeding the existent invoice — into a slope relationship astatine a fiscal instauration successful Surrey," constabulary said successful a quality merchandise Wednesday.

The metropolis realized the mistake aboriginal that month, constabulary said, aft the morganatic vendor said nary outgo was received. Police said they, alongside the city's auditor wide and an autarkic forensic accounting firm, discovered the funds were enactment into a institution relationship linked to the Surrey man, who "quickly dispersed the funds" into different accounts.

Hamilton constabulary nationalist accusation serviceman Adam Kimber told CBC Hamilton the "investigation is ongoing into different person(s) who received funds that were the proceeds of this fraud."

Police obtained a Canada-wide warrant for the apprehension of the antheral and he turned himself successful connected July 7 astatine the cardinal constabulary presumption successful Hamilton, according to Kimber, aft they made arrangements with his ineligible counsel.

According to Kimber, the antheral was charged with:

• fraud implicit $5000.
• possession of spot obtained by transgression implicit $5,000.
• and laundering the proceeds of crime.

City mislaid implicit $130K, constabulary say

Police said done ineligible enactment and successful collaboration with constabulary successful Surrey and Edmonton, they recovered $417,000.

"The metropolis sustained a fiscal nonaccomplishment of implicit $130,000, successful summation to forensic and ineligible expenses.

Chief enforcement serviceman astatine CityHousing Hamilton Adam Sweedland said successful a connection the metropolis volition proceed to "pursue [the betterment of] the outstanding funds."

He said helium can't remark connected whether determination were actions taken with regards to the employee who received the email and sent the funds. 

Sweedland said respective recommendations were made by the Office of the Auditor General to forestall a akin scam successful the future.

Actions taken to day see adding supervisory unit overseeing work, mandatory anti-fraud grooming for staff, redeeming vendor accusation safely and making definite signing officers authorize the payments, Sweedland said.

"We volition proceed to supply regular updates astir the advancement successful actioning the Auditor General's recommendations arsenic we enactment to physique of a future-ready, much resilient and businesslike organization," helium said.