Richmond councillor 'dumbfounded' by alleged misuse of city hall gift card program

CBC News

· Posted: May 21, 2025 11:00 AM EDT | Last Updated: May 21

A metropolis councillor successful Richmond, B.C., is calling for a much thorough audit of city finances amid a constabulary probe into alleged misuse of a gift paper program.

In a connection connected May 15, the City of Richmond said it purchased astir $446,000 worthy of acquisition cards from 2022 to 2024 arsenic portion of an worker designation programme — but recovered successful a caller reappraisal that astir $295,000 of them were unaccounted for.

Richmond RCMP said their superior crimes conception has opened an probe into the acquisition paper case, which was archetypal reported by Global News.

The metropolis said "an individual's employment with the City has concluded" pursuing a personnel investigation.

It besides said it nary longer uses acquisition cards and would beryllium conducting a forensic audit of the past 3 years of finances.

Richmond Coun. Kash Heed introduced a question Tuesday to grow the audit to see the past decade, and have the findings presented to assembly afterwards. The motion was approved unanimously.

He besides co-signed an unfastened missive to B.C. Premier David Eby that says the state needs to either reinstate a circumstantial bureau to oversee municipal spending oregon grow the auditor general's mandate to screen it.

Heed spoke with CBC's On The Coast host Gloria Macarenko connected Tuesday afternoon.

This interrogation has been edited for magnitude and clarity. 

So what bash we cognize astir these acquisition cards?

What we don't cognize is the troubling facet of this — how we could fto astir $300,000 worthy of unaccounted transactions instrumentality spot successful the City of Richmond.... So that is precise troubling. And we conscionable cognize this from 3 years of data. 

The acquisition paper programme has been successful beingness for implicit a decade. As a effect of that, I deliberation we person to excavation further into this peculiar occupation to place wherever this went disconnected the rails, wherefore determination is specified a discrepancy [in] the accounted-for and the unaccounted amount.

Why does the metropolis clasp this overmuch wealth successful acquisition cards?

I'm dumbfounded. I've ne'er experienced this successful [my] career. When I speech to different councillors passim the Lower Mainland, they don't person a peculiar programme similar this.

We person to retrieve acquisition cards are really treated arsenic monetary cash.... So erstwhile we person reconciliation, for example, for currency items that are purchased wrong section government, that is each looked aft and it's each caught by the auditors to marque definite there's integrity down it. 

These cards were utilized arsenic portion of an worker designation program. Do you deliberation this is the astir due mode to connection recognition?

Absolutely not. It's proven itself that it's not the due way. We cannot power it. We can't adjacent relationship for it. 

So this is thing that has been halted present successful Richmond, but the crushed wherefore this went disconnected the rails and the crushed wherefore we're incapable to reconcile it has to beryllium looked at, has to beryllium explored. 

I'm not definite … whether this is simply a deficiency successful our oversight oregon that determination is existent fraudulent enactment taking place, and until we bash the level of forensic audit that's required to find what went wrong, we volition ne'er know. 

We bash yearly audits outsourced by a peculiar company, they were incapable to prime up connected this. We person interior auditors that enactment wrong the City of Richmond, they were incapable to prime up connected this. We've got to delve into this.

What bash you marque of the determination to instrumentality with KPMG for the forensic audit since they besides audited the city's fiscal statements? 

I think, based connected whether there's a wide struggle oregon the anticipation oregon the cognition of a conflict, they should person outsourced it to different institution that has the quality to bash these types of forensic audits.

KPMG is the auditor, they've been the fiscal auditor for the City of Richmond for decades now. And present we're bringing that aforesaid institution successful to bash the forensic audit. It is precise telling. 

According to media reports, 1 worker successful Richmond has already been fired. What much bash you deliberation needs to beryllium done for accountability? 

My fearfulness is, bash we person a deeper occupation wrong our fiscal accounting of the payer dollar successful Richmond? And I deliberation if we tin genuinely recognize what occurred here, possibly we tin commencement looking into different areas to spot and guarantee the close modular operating procedures and auditing systems are successful place.