Released on March 25, 2003
Acting Director of Public Prosecutions for Saskatchewan, Murray Brown, Q.C. today announced that the RCMP investigation of some members of the board of directors and senior management of the Saskatchewan Indian Gaming Authority (SIGA) is concluded. Public Prosecutions conducted a review of the file and determined that there was no basis for a criminal prosecution.
Brown said that the review supported the findings of the RCMP investigation, which confirmed that there was financial mismanagement, as outlined in reports of both the Provincial Auditor and the special audit requested by the Saskatchewan Liquor and Gaming Authority in June 2000.
The investigation looked at two areas. The first was whether SIGA had been defrauded by the actions of its former CEO, or any other official or staff person. The investigation disclosed that Dutch Lerat did nothing to misrepresent or conceal his spending from the Board of Directors or SIGA employees, nor was there any evidence of other criminal misconduct.
The second area of inquiry was whether the province had been defrauded by the actions of persons working for or connected with SIGA. In this respect the investigation disclosed no evidence that anyone in the organization did anything to divert money from the government of
Saskatchewan.
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For More Information, Contact:
Debi McEwen Justice Regina Phone: (306)787-6043 Email: dmcewen@justice.gov.sk.ca |