The West Island of Montreal CIUSSS spent $312 520 $ in attorneys’ fees for litigation involving one of its executives whom it suspected of having embezzled more than 400 000 $ of public funds.
After more than 18 months of delays, the establishment finally responded to a request for access to information from the Bureau of investigation.
We learn that the CIUSSS paid $88,319 in legal fees against one of its former executives, Magdi Kamel, who worked at St. Mary’s Hospital Center.
The establishment accused Kamel, among other things, of having “fraudulently been reimbursed for personal expenses not related to the activities [de l’hôpital]».
Photo d’archives, Ben Pelosse
Kamel was director at St. Mary’s Hospital Center in Montreal.
The CIUSSS also paid $225,000 to prevent the public from being informed of the details of the alleged fraud. He fought all the way to the Supreme Court so that the Bureau of Investigation did not get his hands on a forensic report detailing the scheme put in place by Kamel.
Unjustified expenses
The former executive allegedly embezzled a total of $416,000 between 2009 and 2015. He even had certain purchases delivered to his residence or that of his spouse.
In 2016, after discovering the pot of roses, the CIUSSS de l’Ouest-de-l’Île went to court to force Magdi Kamel to reimburse approximately $512,000. In particular, he obtained a seizure before judgment on his luxurious house in Kirkland, which was then on sale for $879,000.
Photo d’archives
The house he owned at the time, in Kirkland, was seized by the CIUSSS de l’Ouest-de-l’Île-de-Montréal.
At the time, Magdi Kamel was the assistant director and supply coordinator at the CIUSSS. He resigned a few months before the start of legal proceedings against him.
However, all the steps were taken behind closed doors, that is to say that they were inaccessible to the public and to journalists.
The Bureau of Investigation had to take several months to obtain the information presented to the court and reveal the details of what Kamel was accused of. In the meantime, the establishment and its ex-executive have agreed in an out-of-court settlement.
They challenged in court the request to make public the report of the forensic accounting firm PwC which detailed the schemes used by Kamel.
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Report kept secret
After four years of litigation, it was finally the Supreme Court that rejected the request in a split decision of four judges against three. The majority judges considered that lawyers must in particular remain in control of the documents filed in the file.
The other magistrates, including the Chief Justice, viewed the dissemination of the report favorably and maintained that the question of the publicity of the proceedings should have been taken into consideration.
The forensic report will therefore remain secret forever.
In 2017, the hospital claimed to have informed the Permanent Anti-Corruption Unit (UPAC) about the case. To date, no charges have been brought against Magdi Kamel.