The Paul Champagne DND Fraud Superthread

[bossi]

I know we say "innocent until proven guilty", but ... this certainly doesn't look good:

Multi-millionaire bureaucrat probed
Former Defence employee denies wrongdoing on subcontracts
Andrew McIntosh, National Post
Monday, July 05, 2004

Photo credit: Jean Levac, CanWest News Service
Paul Champagne's sprawling home in a new subdivision in Ottawa includes tennis courts, a pool and a separate fitness centre.

OTTAWA - On June 25, 2001, a tiny computer systems company called RMC Systems Inc. issued a cheque for $95,524.79 to Paul Champagne, an affable mid-level Canadian military bureaucrat in Ottawa.

Mr. Champagne, who had invoiced the company for that sum three weeks earlier, cashed his cheque on June 29 after endorsing it. The single payment gave the civilian contracts manager a sum almost twice the $58,000 he normally earned at National Defence headquarters each year.

Three years later, this previously unknown payment and hundreds like it are now being examined by RCMP detectives and federal auditors as part of a sweeping investigation into how $146-million was allegedly siphoned out of National Defence over a 10-year period using a simple yet ingenious phony invoice scheme.

The RCMP and auditors are specifically investigating whether up to $70-million of that money went to Mr. Champagne as the invoicing irregularities went undetected for years, according to documents and sources familiar with the probe.

The Canadian military fired Mr. Champagne in September, 2003.

National Defence officials alleged the bureaucrat was responsible for "serious billing irregularities" involving military computer subcontracts awarded through Compaq Canada and, later, Hewlett-Packard Canada, which bought Compaq.

They asked police and forensic auditors to investigate.

Mr. Champagne has denied wrongdoing, insisting he became a multi-millionaire thanks to stock market investments and luck at Las Vegas gaming tables.

During the period now under investigation, Mr. Champagne amassed more than $20-million worth of investments and residential real estate in Canada, Florida and the Caribbean, including a $2-million beachfront mansion in the Turks and Caicos.

His home in Ottawa, now worth more than $1.4-million, is in an exclusive gated community and has tennis courts, a gym and a pool. His third, three-car garage home in Hudson, Fla., sits on a lush golf course development and also has a pool. He also launched a company, Green Gables Custom Homes Ltd.

Mr. Champagne did not return repeated phone calls seeking comment for this story.

Additional requests seeking his comment were made verbally and in writing to Sally Heather Burks, his Ottawa lawyer. Those requests also went unanswered.

The National Post has learned that in mid-March federal auditors and RCMP detectives were given boxes of invoices and cancelled cheques detailing the millions of dollars in payments to Mr. Champagne from RMC Systems.

RMC, based in Carp, Ont., is owned by Michael Roots.

The payments totalled almost $70-million, according to a lawyer with knowledge of the invoicing probe and Allan O'Brien, a lawyer for RMC.

A copy of the aforementioned $95,524.79 cheque cashed by Mr. Champagne in June, 2001 -- obtained by the National Post -- shows RMC paid him the $95,524.79 for "consulting" work on a Canadian military computer subcontract.

The cheque was deposited into a Bank of Nova Scotia account at a branch on Hazeldean Road in Kanata, Ont., the document shows.

Exactly why Mr. Champagne accepted the $95,524.79 remains unclear.

Bureaucrats are forbidden from taking money from government contractors.

Like many documents, though, the RMC cheques payable to Mr. Champagne and the bureaucrat's own invoices to the company tell only part of the story.

At a secret March 11 meeting, Mr. Roots alleged to federal lawyers and auditors that he was duped by Mr. Champagne to facilitate what officials now suspect is the largest, most brazen fraud a Canadian bureaucrat has ever committed.

At the meeting was Allan Lenczner, a Toronto litigator hired by the federal government to help recover its losses, two Justice Department lawyers and military auditor Phillip Dempster. Mr. O'Brien joined the group.

Mr. Roots alleged to federal officials that Mr. Champagne posed as a well-connected computer consultant with military and industry contacts who needed help to handle billing and collection services for lucrative military subcontracts.

RMC would handle all billings and collections for Mr. Champagne and get a 15% cut. When Mr. Roots pressed Mr. Champagne for details, he allegedly told them the subcontracts involved a secret military project and gave no details.

Mr. Roots alleged to federal officials that neither he nor RMC employees knew Mr. Champagne was a federal bureaucrat Mr. Roots said he only learned the "consultant" was really a bureaucrat in September, 2003, after having dealt with him for a decade.

That was when the National Post revealed the dismissal of Mr. Champagne by National Defence and the launch of an RCMP probe.

Mr. Roots "suddenly felt his world crashing around him," suffered unthinkable embarrassment and has since closed down RMC, Mr. O'Brien said.

"The only solace he could take out of the whole matter was that there were individuals and corporations that were much more sophisticated than he that were also taken," Mr. O'Brien said. "Assuming everyone is telling the truth, everyone has been duped. It is astounding National Defence did not detect this for years. It is astounding that this took place at all," he added.

The series of events that follow were described by a confidential source familiar with details of the federal investigation into Mr. Champagne's activities and who is familiar with the statement given to federal officials by Mr. Roots.

They were also confirmed on the record by Mr. O'Brien, who agreed to be interviewed on behalf of the businessman.

Mr. Roots said his dealings with Mr. Champagne began in 1992 or 1993, when Mr. Champagne allegedly approached Mr. Roots.

Mr. Roots knew Mr. Champagne as an industry contact who had worked as a manager at Ottawa military systems firm DY-4 Systems.

Mr. Roots believed Mr. Champagne had become a consultant with "high-level military contacts" and contacts "with major DND contractors."

Mr. Champagne allegedly told Mr. Roots he was expecting computer system subcontracts soon from prime contractors, including Compaq.

He asked for help. Mr. Champagne said he wanted to be the hands-on guy getting deals. He wanted no paperwork, just profits, Mr. O'Brien said.

Mr. Champagne allegedly made Mr. Roots an offer."I'll get the subcontracts from Compaq," he reportedly said. "You and RMC will handle all of the subcontract invoicing, account collections and bookkeeping, using RMC as the vehicle," he continued. Mr. Champagne allegedly promised to supply RMC information needed to prepare invoices to send to Compaq and collect payments. In exchange, Mr. Champagne would pay RMC 15% of each contract.

Mr. Champagne would bill RMC, which would add its fees and itself bill Compaq.

Asked about the subcontracts, Mr. Champagne was vague. The men struck a deal and, Mr. Roots contends, that's when Mr. Champagne's alleged deception began.

Mr. Champagne soon kept his promise.

Millions of dollars in subcontracts began to flow to tiny RMC -- or so it appeared.

RMC kept its end of the bargain too, sending out invoices and collecting payments.

A series of invoices and the cheque obtained by the Post included extremely vague language and baffling military acronyms:

On May 30, 2001, RMC prepared an invoice to itself from Mr. Champagne, at his request, for "professional services." It was for $95,524.79.

At the top, it carried: "CIC &LCMM (401921) CCDI." Services provided by Mr. Champagne and his people supposedly included "professional services performed within the framework of Customized Integration Consulting and Life Cycle Material Maintenance."

Also done was "Systems Management Consulting." No detail about who did the work, where it was done or when appeared on Mr. Champagne's invoice.

It carried his home address of 141 Kerry Hill Crescent in Dunrobin, his mansion outside Ottawa.

RMC added its charges and invoiced Compaq.

RMC's invoice offered more detail, billing for 320 hours of computer maintenance service work and "customized integration as per statement of work" at a rate of $155 per hour.

Another $55,430 was for "parts and equipment required on project."

The total: $112,382.10. It mentioned the same SOPC17 cited by Mr. Champagne's invoice, but nowhere was Mr. Champagne's name. Again, no mention of where the work was done, when or by whom. Ditto for the parts.

The invoice went to Compaq, which billed DND.

DND paid Compaq's bill.

Then, Compaq paid RMC's bill and, by June 25, 2001, RMC paid Mr. Champagne's bill and sent him his $95,524.79 cheque.

- - -

Such "deals" allegedly continued for a decade.

RMC accountants did basic year-end audits. There were also GST audits.

RMC staff asked Mr. Champagne for documents showing the work he described was done, Mr. O'Brien said. Mr. Champagne allegedly replied: "The documents and back-up data are there if necessary, but you don't have the security clearances to see it. This is top secret."

Mr. Roots came from a family where security clearances were the norm. He has relatives in the intelligence world.

His father worked on the Apollo and space shuttle projects, work that required a "top secret" clearance.

Mr. Roots did not think Mr. Champagne's reply was odd.

"As curious as he might be, he understood he wasn't entitled to know about the work being done," Mr. O'Brien said.

Unlike RMC, Compaq/HP staffers actually knew Mr. Champagne worked for National Defence. They, too, questioned the RMC deals.

Mr. Champagne allegedly told Compaq/HP officials there would be extra subcontract work awarded to RMC via the Compaq/HP prime contract.

He urged Compaq/HP officials not to worry; these deals would increase, not reduce, their billings, he explained.

Mr. Champagne allegedly told Compaq/HP to mark up RMC invoices -- adding its own 29% fee for processing RMC bills -- and resend them to DND for payment.

When Compaq or HP officials asked about RMC work, he allegedly replied: "The documents are available if needed; otherwise the work is top secret." Nobody at RMC in outlying Carp talked to anybody at Compaq or HP in Quebec.

"He was obviously very clever. He knew if he chose the right parties and kept them apart, he could run a very successful scheme," Mr. O'Brien said. "It never dawns on anyone that no services were ever being provided. It was too incredible to even think about it," he added.

"As far as Michael Roots was concerned, Paul Champagne was a highly successful, highly dedicated and ethical family man. He had a lovely house. He was a very affable and dynamic individual," Mr. O'Brien said.

- - -

After payments from RMC started arriving, Paul Champagne started spending.

In June, 1995, he and his wife spent $202,000 to purchase a home in Hudson, Fla. Located at 9309 Tournament Drive, it is in a golf course development 50 kilometres north of Tampa. The stucco-style home, on a 10,149-square-foot lot, has a three-car garage and a pool. In Ottawa, he and his wife spent $540,492 buying lots in a new country subdivision in Dunrobin between 1994 and 1997. Their sprawling, gated home now includes added buildings for tennis courts, a separate physical fitness centre and pool. Property assessors say it's worth $1.4-million.

The Champagnes have mortgaged it to the hilt, first securing a $900,000 mortgage in August, 2001.

Even as Mr. Champagne was under RCMP investigation, Scotiabank lent him another $500,000, again using the home as collateral on March 4.

Mr. Champagne also quietly became an early stage investor in several high-tech companies in Ottawa at the height of the technology boom. In a filing with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission on March 4, 2004, Mr. Champagne disclosed that he owns 3,463,625 shares in an Ottawa-based company called Workstream Inc. That's an 11.9% stake.

Workstream shares trade on the Nasdaq; at Friday's closing prices, his stake is worth over U.S. $8.7-million.

- - -

It is unclear how or when the alleged invoicing scheme started to unravel.

Military industry sources suggest a 2001 audit found irregularities, but nobody wanted to dig deeper. DND will not release the audit but does not deny rumours.

Last March, David Pratt, the then-defence minister, said, "The RCMP is looking into this matter. There are a lot of details here that will be forthcoming."

DND and the RCMP have said little since.

HP Canada launched its own probe. Heads rolled.

Said a lawyer familiar with the case: "Why did nobody at HP ask 'Why are we making $4-5-million a year for doing nothing?"

HP Canada spokesman Rob Ireland replied: "It was a unique situation. No other Canadian client could credibly declare subcontract work top secret and get away with it. None."

In May, the government recovered $146-million from HP Canada after federal lawyers threatened to sue because of the billing irregularities.

Mr. Roots' documents bolstered the government's case.

But Mr. Roots will never forget how his world allegedly became unglued.

In August or early September of 2003, Mr. Champagne allegedly called. His "subcontracts" with National Defence had "come to an end," he announced.

Mr. Roots suspected Mr. Champagne had "a falling out" with his contacts.

Mr. O'Brien says Mr. Roots and Mr. Champagne have not spoken since then or after the scandal exploded in Parliament on March 10.

Mr. Roots called Mr. Champagne a few times for an explanation but was given none.

Apart from his dismissal, Mr. Champagne has remained unscathed.

Canada has no extradition treaty with the Turks and Caicos, but a deal could be reached to have Mr. Champagne returned to Canada if required.

RMC has no plans to sue Mr. Champagne, Mr. O'Brien said.

But HP Canada has vowed to sue unnamed subcontractors and individuals, saying the Canadian government has agreed to help.

Mr. O'Brien is uncertain what HP can do.

"RMC was duped. It's pretty hard for HP to argue that they can be legitimately duped, but that we [RMC and Roots] cannot," he said.

 

[Military Brat]

Shoot the fucker.

 

[Jarnhamar]

Good call military brat.
Someone performs fraud and your reaction is to shoot him.

It's stupid comments like that which make adults laugh at you and soldiers cross their fingers hoping you lose interest in the army and wander somewhere else.

I think you owe army.ca about $10 for that one.

 

[excoelis]

I know what this guy did was deplorable.........but man, you gotta take pause and reflect on the ingenuity and COJONES on buddy!!!

Makes me wonder just how isolated this incident is???

HP/Compaq, RMC, etc all talk about how they where duped, but the military seems to want to just keeeeep waaaaaalking.......that's right......keep walking.........no...... don't turn that rock over FNG...............dooohhhhhhh!!!

 

[Military Brat]

It's no laughing matter...especially for a cash-strapped force. Imagine all the equipment that 70 million dollars could buy. Look at all the soldiers who have died on missions in the past 10 years this has been going on...I hold this scumbag partially responsible.

But let's keep this on topic and not turn it into a piss contest.

 

[ags281]

Mr. Champagne has denied wrongdoing, insisting he became a multi-millionaire thanks to stock market investments and luck at Las Vegas gaming tables.

Of course he did. Everybody knows how easy it is to win millions in Las Vegas. To quote Super Troopers, "I'll believe that when me shit turns purple and smells like rainbow sherbert."

 

[Bruce Monkhouse]

I agree with Excoelis, are we supposed to swallow the fact that so many invoices and so much money and NOBODY had a clue.?
Well there's two choices, total incompetency in the accounting department or Paul Martin was doing THOSE books also. :-X

 

[casing]

...gotta take pause and reflect on the ingenuity and COJONES on buddy!!!

Makes me wonder just how isolated this incident is???

I disagree with this observation. I believe that such scams are quite commonplace.   What this guy did does not take a great deal of ingenuity.   And cojones? It doesn't take brass balls to do something stupid.   If he used his brains a little more he would never have gotten caught.   Dumb criminals get caught.   Smart ones, less so.   I don't believe that this incident is as isolated as people would like to believe.

Even the legal scams are commonplace. By legal, I mean the process of invoices being routed through a number of companies, each one in turn adding on their slice of the pie (see quote above about not doing anything for that $4-$5 million). I think this is deplorable behaviour in the corporate world and it really fries my ass.   Company-A bills company-D via company-B, which in turn invoices via company-C.   So company-D gets the actual bill from company-C for services (if they were in fact really provided) by company-A of, say, $1000 but ends up paying $2000. Sounds like the 'ol $30K for a hammer deal.  

DND should cut out the middle-men (all 50 levels of them!) and have their customers bill directly.   Would cut down on expenses and make the paper trail much more clear.  I know this is easier said than done, but some effort toward that goal would be nice to see.

 

[SuperG]

Hmmm,

Where to start...

I hope this guy gets what's coming to him with interest. As a government employee you fall under Treasury Board Regulations. One of which is you can not receive compensation/kick backs.

As for winning in Vegas that would be easy enough to check out as he would have had to pay tax on his winning in the US and declare it on his income tax. I believe the auditors will have a good old time going over his books.
:threat:

Hopes he gets their bill after they claw back everything.

 

[nULL]

http://sympaticomsn.ctv.ca/servlet/ArticleNews/story/CTVNews/1092272960225_36?hub=Canada


Paul Champagne, an Ottawa man who claims his wealth comes from the stock market, is being sued by the federal government and Hewlett-Packard.

They allege the former Department of National Defence employee stole over $100 million of taxpayers' money and they want to recover some of it.

Champagne didn't answer the door bell Wednesday at his Ottawa estate or return calls from CTV News at his Turks and Caicos Islands estate.   But previously he denied any wrongdoing.

"When this came out and there's no substantiation, they said, 'someone's a crook so let's go after the rich guy.' You feel like a scapegoat," he said in a telephone interview with CTV News broadcast March 13.

But the fact remains that Champagne's signature appears on cheques he personally received from military computer sub-contractors. CTV saw one such cheque that was for $95,000.

"He was telling people the contracts were all top secret military work so no one really knew what was going on except Paul Champagne," said investigative journalist Andrew McIntosh of the National Post.

In court documents, the government and Hewlett-Packard allege that over a 10-year period, Champagne stole over $100 million using a phony invoice scheme.

"We're stunned too," said Maj.-Gen. Terry Hearn of DND, adding the military is hoping to recover the missing money.

"We're responsible for the money of the public and we take it very seriously," he said.

For its part, Hewlett-Packard, which had the overall computer maintenance contract, said it was duped into believing the invoices were legitimate.

"It's probably the only customer that could ever say you don't have the right to know or audit that information or have access to that information for reasons of national security," said Rob Ireland, a company spokesman.

Gordon O'Connor, a former general and now the defence critic for the Conservative Party, says there are wide-ranging problems in the department's audit system.

"I find it outrageous that $150 million has been paid out by the Defence Department for no service and this is over 10 years it brings into question the whole checks and balances within the department," he said.

Besides the lawsuit, the RCMP is conducting a criminal investigation. Sources say the Mounties have been seen in the Turks and Caicos Islands in the Caribbean. Measures are being taken to try and freeze Champagne's assets there.

------

Wasn't that the cost for all of the new G-wagon's? What a prick! I hope they get the money back.

 

[pbi]

Yeah, and what's more, as a result of this thief's actions, lots of us had to take an exciting, fun-filled crash course in Financial Accountability so we could be allowed to sign the financial documents (travel orders, travel clams, etc) we've been signing for the last few years. I hope they roast him and get every penny back. Cheers.

 

[Bruce Monkhouse]

Sure, I mean he can always make more on those great investments/gambling  situations, can't he? :

 

[ark]

Ex-DND employee being sued over billing scandal
CTV.ca News Staff

Paul Champagne, an Ottawa man who claims his wealth comes from the stock market, is being sued by the federal government and Hewlett-Packard.

They allege the former Department of National Defence employee stole over $100 million of taxpayers' money and they want to recover some of it.

Champagne didn't answer the door bell Wednesday at his Ottawa estate or return calls from CTV News at his Turks and Caicos Islands estate.  But previously he denied any wrongdoing.

"When this came out and there's no substantiation, they said, 'someone's a crook so let's go after the rich guy.' You feel like a scapegoat," he said in a telephone interview with CTV News broadcast March 13.

But the fact remains that Champagne's signature appears on cheques he personally received from military computer sub-contractors. CTV saw one such cheque that was for $95,000.

"He was telling people the contracts were all top secret military work so no one really knew what was going on except Paul Champagne," said investigative journalist Andrew McIntosh of the National Post.

In court documents, the government and Hewlett-Packard allege that over a 10-year period, Champagne stole over $100 million using a phony invoice scheme.

"We're stunned too," said Maj.-Gen. Terry Hearn of DND, adding the military is hoping to recover the missing money.

"We're responsible for the money of the public and we take it very seriously," he said.

For its part, Hewlett-Packard, which had the overall computer maintenance contract, said it was duped into believing the invoices were legitimate.

"It's probably the only customer that could ever say you don't have the right to know or audit that information or have access to that information for reasons of national security," said Rob Ireland, a company spokesman.

Gordon O'Connor, a former general and now the defence critic for the Conservative Party, says there are wide-ranging problems in the department's audit system.

"I find it outrageous that $150 million has been paid out by the Defence Department for no service and this is over 10 years it brings into question the whole checks and balances within the department," he said.

Besides the lawsuit, the RCMP is conducting a criminal investigation. Sources say the Mounties have been seen in the Turks and Caicos Islands in the Caribbean. Measures are being taken to try and freeze Champagne's assets there.

http://sympaticomsn.ctv.ca/servlet/ArticleNews/story/CTVNews/1092272960225_36?hub=Canada


and another article

Man implicated in DND scandal claims innocence
CTV.ca News Staff

A former Department of National Defence employee is rejecting claims -- from his winter home in the Turks and Caicos Islands -- he's behind a $160 million scandal.

"When this came out and there's no substantiation, they said, 'someone's a crook so let's go after the rich guy.' You feel like a scapegoat," Paul Champagne said in an exclusive telephone interview with CTV.

Champagne worked in the computer department at National Defence, losing his job after a September 2003 audit raised questions about the way he was managing contracts to service computers.

The contract was between Hewlett-Packard and the government. Hewlett-Packard used sub-contractors who were allegedly submitting invoices for work that wasn't actually done.

Champagne said he didn't take the money.

"Up until last year I was the hero at DND for what I did," he said.

"I was the one guy who everyone came to try to use my abilities with these contracts to save the Crown some money, so that's why this is a slap in the face."

For a fellow who made about $50,000 in salary at National Defence, he's living well. Champagne's Ottawa-area estate sits on 12 acres and is worth $1.35 million.

The opposition made note of this.

"Why did anyone not get suspicious when DND employee Paul Champagne was living in a mansion with a gym and an indoor pool and tennis court on Billionaire's Row," asked Conservative MP Jay Hill.

"The RCMP is looking into this matter. There are a lot of details here that will be forthcoming ...," said Defence Minister David Pratt.

Champagne said the big money in his life came from the stock market.

"If you look at my T-4 from last year, it will say three million dollars in private business and $50,000 in DND salary."

He admits to having pushed the envelope on computer contracts over 10 years to save the government money.

"Times have changed," Champagne said. "When I came to DND, it was a little bit more the wild cowboy days ... we put the rules in place; now everything is process-driven."

If asked, Champagne said he would return to Canada and consent to an interview with the RCMP.

But neither the RCMP nor his former department have contacted him to get his side about what might have gone wrong, he said.

http://www.ctv.ca/servlet/ArticleNews/story/CTVNews/1079145831922_64/?hub=TopStories

I have a hard time believing that only one person is involved even if the work was TS. Anyway let's wait for the investigation to bring some more info.

 

[Pikache]

http://www.canada.com/national/story.html?id=16be80df-ab5e-44ce-89cf-7166c334a9f7

Canadian Press

March 8, 2005

ADVERTISEMENT
Click here to find out more!

OTTAWA -- Auditors raised red flags about problems with computer contracts at National Defence as far back as 1999 -- at least four years before any action was taken in a $146-million fraud, a newly released report shows.

But officials at Public Works, which managed the contracts, were so keen to cultivate good client relations with National Defence that they remained blind to the problems for years.

"Service delivery overshadowed control responsibilities,'' concludes the document, obtained by The Canadian Press under the Access to Information Act.

The Public Works report says managers failed to appreciate the significance of audits in 1999, 2001 and 2003 that suggested at least three computer contracts were going terribly wrong.

The investigation, concluded in December 2003, examined five computer maintenance contracts at National Defence from 1996 to 2003. The report, which was to have been posted on the Public Works website a year ago, was withheld partly because its contents first had to be shared with RCMP investigators.

The five suspect contracts, spread over 10 years, were collectively worth about $250 million. They were signed with Compaq Computer Corp., Digital Equipment Canada and Hewlett-Packard (Canada) Co., which later bought Compaq.

The contracts are at the heart of a continuing RCMP investigation into an alleged phoney invoice scheme that drained $146 million from government coffers. The Mounties were called in September 2003, when National Defence fired Paul Champagne, a civilian contracts manager, for what it called serious billing irregularities.

Champagne, a multi-millionaire, has said he did no wrong and acquired his wealth through astute investments and gambling.

Controversy in the case has focused so far on lax oversight at National Defence. But the newly released report shows that Public Works -- already deeply implicated in the sponsorship scandal -- was largely to blame for failing to heed repeated warnings from its own auditors.

Red flags were raised as far back as 1999, when Public Works investigators completed a cost audit of the Digital Equipment contract. Their report warned that they had been denied sufficient financial information to form an opinion.

Further audits in 2001 and 2003 of other computer maintenance contracts sounded similar alarms: the contractors, along with officials at National Defence, ignored repeated requests for key financial information. Once again, the auditors warned they were unable to form an opinion.

The May 2001 audit, however, did note that the contractor had made unauthorized billings, and that there was "evidence of contractual funding appropriated for other purposes.''

Public Works managers "did not understand the significance of the problems encountered during these audits and the implication of the negative audit results,'' the report says.

At the same time, senior officials in Public Works did not share information about contract problems and so were unable to understand the bigger picture of billing irregularities.

The report also suggests National Defence was partly to blame: from at least January 2000, Public Works officials repeatedly raised questions about problem contracts with National Defence officials -- including Paul Champagne. They warned about lack of reporting and excessive spending, although little was done until 2003 when the Mounties were called in.

Last May, HP Canada -- formerly Hewlett-Packard - said it would pay the Canadian government $146 million in the case. The money wasto compensate taxpayers for "a complex scheme designed to exploit both parties through contracts inherited through HP's merger withCompaq Computer Corp.,'' the company said in a release.

HP Canada added there was no evidence that its employees were involved in the scheme.

Sgt. Andre Bigras, spokesman for the RCMP, confirmed the investigation is continuing and that no charges have been laid.

A spokesman for Public Works said no department employees have been disciplined for failing to spot the problems, but training has been given to more than 900 workers to help avoid a repeat.

George Butts, head of the acquisitions branch, also said new policies, systems and software have been put in place.

The department's problems stem in part from a cultural shift in the late 1990s that emphasized customer satisfaction at the expense of close monitoring of contracts, he said.

"There was much more focus on the service satisfaction to a client,'' he said in an interview. "Let's get their contracts in place as quickly as we can . . . and then let's move on to the next one, and the next one.''

"And oftentimes, the contract management throughout two, three or four years of performance may not have had the full amount of attention that we wanted it to.''

National Defence undertook an internal review of all its high-cost contracts once the Hewlett-Packard case came to light, and discovered potential problems with more than two dozen other projects. Auditors found cases of excess profits, unauthorized work and lack of accounting records.

The department has said it is in the process of a more in-depth review of the red-flagged files.
© Canadian Press 2005

 

[George Wallace]

Update from http://www.cfra.com/headlines/index.asp?cat=1&nid=36119

Ottawa Men Charged In Alleged D.N.D Billing Scheme
Cindy Clyne
Monday, January 30, 2006 6:51 PM

The RCMP have laid charges against three men in connection with a complicated invoicing scheme that the Mounties say cost the federal government more than 100 million dollars.

The accused include Paul Champagne, a former employee with the Department of National Defence in Ottawa. Champagne has been charged with fraud, breach of trust and proceeds of crime offences.

Two other men, identified only as Peter Mellon and Ignatius Manso, have also been charged.

The RCMP Commerical crime section initiated the investigation in the fall of 2003 to probe irregularities in computer maintenance contracts between DND and Hewlett Packard.

 

[mferg]

Paul Champagne's Turks and Caicos mansion if for sale. Hewlett Packard has taken posetion of it and his stock from workstream which is 3 million shares worth $8 million. His Turks and Caicos home is listed at www.tcrealty.com for $7.7 million. Its a house on Providenciales Island called "The Summit". I dont know if he still has his Dunrobin Home or his home in Hudson Fl.

 

[RCD]

Look who was in power when this happen!
  -LIBERALS-

 

[Scoobie Newbie]

The news reported that Hewlett Packard paid back the money and is now suing the defendants to try to get some of that money from them.

 

[mferg]

Paul Champagne's Turks and Caicos mansion if for sale. Hewlett Packard has taken possession of it and his stock from workstream which is 3 million shares worth $8 million. His Turks and Caicos home is listed at www.tcrealty.com for $7.7 million. Its a house on Providenciales Island called "The Summit". I dont know if he still has his Dunrobin Home or his home in Hudson Fl.

 

[mferg]

The Ottawa Citizen noted on their Saturday Feb 4th edition that Paul Champagne (according to a Deed Search) signed his Dunrobin mansion and property over to Hewlett Packard in November 2005. The Champagnes moved to another subdivision in that area. Probably a smaller 3 bedroom home on a small lot. This didnt surprise me that The Champagnes got their Dunrobin Mansion reposessed because I've driven by it a few times in December and January and it looked like nobody was there because there were was snow up to the front door and no footprints there or tire tracks at any one of the 4 garage doors. When it snowed,  It looked like a snow plow or truck with shovel went through the gate quickly and drove in a circle plowing the snow and left.  HP is deciding what to do with the mansion, they'll probably get it listed for sale soon.

The Ottawa Citizen also noted that the Champagnes still have their house in Hudson FL.  The newspaper said this house is worth $223,000, I'n not sure if this is true or not because they bought it in 1995 for $202,000. It should be worth a lot more than that by now because real estate values have increased a great deal since.