Former DND bureaucrat guilty of fraud

Posted on July 24, 2007
Filed Under Government |

Canada’s Department of National Defense hit the news Monday as accused Paul Champagne pleaded guilty to fraud and breach of trust. During his term as bureaucrat, a course of nearly a decade, Champagne had funneled more than $100 million into his controlled bank accounts.

Champagne’s scheme was complicated, and it built over time. He supposedly saved the DND lots of money by reorganizing the department’s computer maintenance system. He eventually built enough goodwill and trust to manage the order of goods and services (that were never delivered). Champagne owned multi-million dollar homes, spent millions on private jets, vacations, and luxury autos - all on his $60,000 salary.

“I am accepting responsibility for my actions,” Champagne confessed Monday. I am more worried about why this wasn’t detected earlier. It is now much to late to retrieve the lost money. Who knows where Champagne has his money invested. This tough task can only be nearly accomplished if we Canadians give this issue more importance - after all this was our money. More importantly, we need to be assured that these socially irresponsible won’t occur in the future - especially within our government departments.

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