STAGE 12: FRAUD SQUAD III
A month after being terminated, I tried to contact the Fraud Squad by mail. Fraud Squad 3
In late January 1997, while I was working in New Brunswick, the Fraud Squad called my lawyer, Mr. Richard Darrah. They told him that they wouldn’t be investigating any further because "there wasn’t enough stuff in it", whatever that meant. Most likely, it meant not enough money, since we suspected all along the money scammed was low.
My lawyer said "that’s it with the Fraud Squad". No way we could get anything more from them; apparently they are a law unto themselves. The Fraud Squad even returned my last registered letter, unopened. They weren’t interested, probably for local reasons: too much work; crime too small; headaches too large. Pity. A suitable piece of paper from the Fraud Squad would have resolved Hydro-gate quickly and quietly.
At this stage, the messages I/we had picked up from the Fraud Squad were:
the case is there;
the sum is too small;
the Fraud Squad wasn’t interested, for whatever reason; and they recommended
taking it to the Globe & Mail.
On July 28th, 1997, Maclean’s (the Canadian answer to Time magazine) published a multi-page article written by Paul Palango. The report was about why the Mounties couldn’t get their men, and the reason was budget cuts, cuts and cuts. Now the threshold for laying charges was $1 million, not the $100,000 or so when Hydro-gate started. The Maclean’s article fitted the Hydro-gate situation very well, and could almost have been written for it. The Mounties may not be able to get their men, but they sure knew how to play games (for which the police generally are well known).
Next stop, the Globe & Mail.