The Saskatchewan government was defrauded over $500,000 from the ministry of Highways..During the fourth quarter of the 2022-23 fiscal year, the ministry of Highways lost $509,380 in March, which was included in a report about public losses for ministries and Crown corporations..“Banking information was fraudulently changed by someone impersonating a supplier,” said the report..“As a result, three payments to the supplier were redirected to an inappropriate bank account.”.The ministry said the police are investigating and “pursuing recovery of the loss.”.Highway Deputy Minister Blair Wagar said that the ministry had taken measures to ensure the government's system was secure and the breach occurred in a system that was not in the government’s direct control..Wagar expressed “optimism” the police would recover the lost money and the main concern now is ensuring the government takes the necessary actions to prevent similar incidents from happening again..Based on the information gathered so far, the individual who committed the fraud was not a government worker and identifying the perpetrator might take some time..Wagar said that an individual either gained access to the vendor's system or obtained information about the vendor..Using the information obtained, the person could deceive one of the ministry's employees by pretending to be the vendor..Wagar said the government could not disclose the vendor's identity or role at this time..The government is uncertain about the exact time when the fraudster gained access to the information and it could have been several months before the fraud..The investigation is ongoing.
