WINNIPEG, MAN. – After years of investigating fraud, forgery and money-laundering allegations related to the construction of the Winnipeg Police Service headquarters, officials with the Manitoba Prosecution Service (MPS) have announced no charges will be filed.
“After a comprehensive review of the legal issues and the foundational facts provided through the investigation, MPS has concluded that there is not sufficient evidence to approve any criminal charges as there is not a reasonable likelihood of conviction,” stated officials.
The RCMP started its investigation, Project Dalton, in October 2014. According to the province, the investigation was active for approximately two-and-a-half years. The investigation findings were passed to MPS for review at various stages. The review of materials connected to Project Dalton continued throughout most of 2019.
According to the province, the volume of the electronic disclosure was unprecedented. Investigators seized more than six terabytes of data. The data garnered 347 gigabytes of evidence including over 1,300 electronic folders and over 36,000 electronic files.
“The role of MPS is to review the results of the police investigation to determine if there is a basis to support charges,” stated officials in a press release. “This assessment was comprehensive and ongoing. It included requests to clarify aspects of the material provided as well as requests for follow-up investigation, while ensuring appropriate legal obligations were followed throughout the review.”
MPS consulted several prosecutors experienced with construction and fraud-related cases.
In 2016, based upon evidence from the Project Dalton seizures, RCMP expanded its investigation to include the construction of the new Winnipeg Mail Processing Plant. The results of this investigation were provided to MPS in late 2017 and were reviewed until mid-2019. Both investigations involved numerous transactions over several years.
Investigators analyzed the evidence and considered if charges like breach of trust, fraud exceeding $5,000, forgery of documents, uttering forged documents, keeping false books or documents, and money laundering could be laid against people or corporations involved.
MPS noted that for charges to be laid, two criteria must be met. First, there must be enough evidence to support a reasonable likelihood of conviction. The second consideration is whether charges are in the public interest, but this can only be considered if the first standard is met.
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