{"id":862346,"date":"2025-07-13T23:13:37","date_gmt":"2025-07-14T04:13:37","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/2025\/07\/13\/former-city-of-surrey-finance-clerk-suspected-of-defrauding-city-of-2-5-million\/"},"modified":"2025-07-13T23:13:37","modified_gmt":"2025-07-14T04:13:37","slug":"former-city-of-surrey-finance-clerk-suspected-of-defrauding-city-of-2-5-million","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/2025\/07\/13\/former-city-of-surrey-finance-clerk-suspected-of-defrauding-city-of-2-5-million\/","title":{"rendered":"Former City of Surrey finance clerk suspected of defrauding city of $2.5 million"},"content":{"rendered":"
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British Columbia<\/span><\/a>\u00b7<\/span>CBC Investigates<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

Surrey police and RCMP financial crimes officers are investigating allegations that a former City of Surrey finance clerk defrauded the city of more than $2.5 million by cutting hundreds of cheques to accounts associated with herself and her boutique cake baking business.<\/p>\n

Search warrant claims former clerk known for gambling directed more than 180 city cheques to herself<\/h2>\n
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Jason Proctor<\/a><\/span> \u00b7 <\/span>CBC News<\/p>\n

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\"Fingers<\/p>

A former finance clerk at the City of Surrey is being investigated for allegedly changing names and addresses in the city’s payment system to defraud the city of $2.5 million. (AFP\/Getty Images)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
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Surrey police and RCMP financial crimes officers are investigating allegations that a former City of Surrey finance clerk defrauded the city of more than $2.5 million by cutting hundreds of cheques to accounts associated with herself and her boutique cake baking business.<\/p>\n

According to a search warrant obtained by the CBC, the woman\u00a0\u2014 who the\u00a0CBC is not naming as she has not been charged\u00a0\u2014\u00a0quit her job in the finance department in January 2024 after she was questioned about what appeared to be a forged signature\u00a0on some paperwork.<\/p>\n

That irregularity allegedly led to the\u00a0discovery of\u00a0183 fraudulent cheques written out to the woman’s former legal name, her mother and her side business \u2014 drawing on funds kept in accounts that had been dormant for years.<\/p>\n

‘Committing\u00a0fraud since 2017’<\/h2>\n

The court documents say the city’s chief financial officer called RCMP last January “to report that his staff within the finance department had\u00a0uncovered a fraud.”<\/p>\n

A warrant issued in March to search the woman’s work computer claims Surrey city CFO Kam Grewal told police the woman “had been committing\u00a0fraud since 2017, by exploiting her position and had defrauded\u00a0the city of more than $2 million.”<\/p>\n

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\"A<\/p>

Surrey, B.C.’s city hall as seen at dusk. A former finance clerk with the city is suspected of defrauding the city of $2.5 million, according to a search warrant obtained by the CBC. (City of Surrey)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n

The woman did not respond to messages left Wednesday and Thursday on a cell phone associated with her business, which identifies her\u00a0by name. The business appears to have folded and its website has been taken down.<\/p>\n

The court documents give an overview of the civic deposit process the woman is suspected of manipulating to reward herself.<\/p>\n

“The City collects deposits from developers, construction companies and individuals. The deposits are then returned to them once they complete their projects and\/or meet certain conditions set by the City,” the search warrant says.<\/p>\n

“The City collects thousands of deposits every year and some deposits\u00a0have been with the city for over 20 to 40 years, as projects can be delayed, abandoned or the company has some other issues.”<\/p>\n

Grewal allegedly told police the woman “had access to the City databases that had allowed her to see the details about deposits and allowed her to change the names of the payee for the cheques to be issued.”<\/p>\n

‘Cheques that she was not expecting’<\/h2>\n

According to the search warrant, the woman was initially suspended without pay and told to leave the office immediately on Jan. 25, 2024, after being confronted about the forgery.<\/p>\n

The following day, when the suspect would normally have gone to the accounts payable department to pick up cheques written as legitimate deposit returns, a clerk from the engineering department was sent in her place.<\/p>\n

The replacement clerk “was given 2 extra cheques that she was not expecting”\u00a0\u2014 one made out to the suspect’s mother and the other to a cake baking business.<\/p>\n

WATCH | Search warrant reveals fraud allegations:<\/strong><\/em>\u00a0<\/p>\n

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Former City of Surrey employee suspected of defrauding city of $2.5 million<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

A former City of Surrey finance clerk is suspected of defrauding the city of $2.5 million. CBC\u2019s investigative reporter Jason Proctor has been following the story.
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“It was common knowledge in the office that [the woman]\u00a0also had a cake baking business on the side,” the search warrant says.<\/p>\n

“It was also well known that she was an avid gambler. [She]\u00a0would often talk about the experiences she had.”<\/p>\n

The next week, the woman sent an email to say she was resigning effective immediately. In the hours that followed, she allegedly called the engineering clerk asking her to bring the two extra cheques\u00a0“down to the reception so she could just pick them up.”<\/p>\n

The clerk\u00a0“thought this was odd,” the court document says.<\/p>\n

Tracking changes to accounts<\/h2>\n

According to the search warrant, the woman’s supervisors ultimately discovered a total of 183 cheques\u00a0for a total of $2,537,599.67 written out to the three associated accounts between 2017 and 2024.<\/p>\n

They tracked the woman’s unique user ID to see where she allegedly made changes to addresses and payees linked to\u00a0deposit account holders in order to carry out the fraud.<\/p>\n

The court documents lay\u00a0out a complicated process that starts with the assigning of a unique “D-vendor”\u00a0number to every person who leaves a deposit with the city.<\/p>\n

In one\u00a0example\u00a0cited in the search warrant, the woman’s user ID was used\u00a0to insert her former name and current address into\u00a0a D-vendor account set up for a supplier who gave the city a $9,943 deposit in 2012.<\/p>\n

In other examples, the woman’s user ID was allegedly used to withdraw money from long-dormant D-vendor accounts to ones that had just been paid out\u00a0\u2014 changing the details on those accounts to issue new cheques\u00a0to her cake business or mother.<\/p>\n

Last fall, police allegedly attempted to obtain an audio statement from the woman’s mother, who “appeared quite elderly based on her appearance and slow movements.”<\/p>\n

According to the search warrant, the woman’s mother told officers she did not want to talk to police.<\/p>\n

City response paints different picture<\/h2>\n

The city responded to the CBC’s questions about the case\u00a0Thursday afternoon after being told the CBC planned to run a story Friday morning. Rather than respond directly to the CBC’s request, the city issued a media-wide news release.<\/p>\n

The release does not refer to the search warrant’s assertion that the alleged fraud was discovered as a result of a chance mistake.<\/p>\n

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A news release issued by the city in response to the CBC’s questions claims the fraud was uncovered as a result of Surrey mayor Brenda Locke’s ‘mandate to ensure fiscally responsible government and to safeguarding every taxpayer dollar.’ (Ben Nelms\/CBC)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n

The city claims the irregularities were discovered in response to the mayor’s “mandate to ensure fiscally responsible government and to safeguarding every taxpayer dollar.”<\/p>\n

“Once the irregularities were discovered, the City immediately commenced an internal review and engaged external forensic specialists. The matter was also immediately reported to the Surrey RCMP who are conducting a criminal investigation,” the release says.<\/p>\n

“Residents can be assured that decisive steps have been taken to protect public funds and to recover the full amount on their behalf. Because the matter is before the courts, the City is unable to comment further at this time.”<\/p>\n

The city also claims to have initiated legal proceedings against the former employee in B.C. Supreme Court and says “no current city employee is named in the City’s civil action and no additional staff member has been implicated.”<\/p>\n

None of the allegations contained in the search warrant have been proven in court.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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ABOUT THE AUTHOR<\/h2>\n
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Jason Proctor is a reporter in British Columbia for CBC News and has covered the B.C. courts and the justice system extensively.<\/p>\n