As calls mount for Liberal cabinet minister Randy Boissonnault to resign over conflicting claims about his family’s Indigenous heritage, Global News has learned Edmonton police are investigating an allegation of fraud made against Boissonnault’s former company and business partner.
Michael Weber, a Florida-based lawyer who is the legal counsel for medical supply procurement company 4M Medical LLC, said he submitted a police report on July 31 regarding 4M Medical’s failed transaction with Global Health Imports.
The Edmonton Police Service (EPS) confirmed that the complaint is under investigation.
Boissonnault co-founded medical supply company Global Health Imports (GHI) with Stephen Anderson, a former hockey coach, in early 2020.
The Edmonton Centre MP said he resigned from the company after he was re-elected and appointed to cabinet in the fall of 2021. He remained a 50-per cent shareholder in the company until June, when he surrendered his stake.
Boissonnault distanced himself from the embattled medical supply company following Global News investigations that revealed GHI’s legal troubles and text messages Anderson sent in 2022 telling clients he was consulting someone named ‘Randy’ on business deals.
Boissonnault is not named in any of the lawsuits and he denies he is the person Anderson is referring to in the text messages.
Weber said in a statement to Global News he provided police with the same information that was recently filed in court.
In those filings, Weber alleges GHI and Anderson fraudulently induced him to send a $350,000 deposit for a large shipment of medical gloves that GHI never delivered. The refundable deposit 4M Medical sent in October 2022 was not returned, Weber states in court documents.
Boissonnault “has never been contacted by Edmonton Police or any other law enforcement agency regarding Global Health Imports or Mr. Anderson,” Boissonnault’s director of communications, Alice Hansen, said in an emailed statement.
In the fall of 2022, when Weber and Anderson were corresponding about the sale, Boissonnault owned 50 per cent of GHI.
The new court evidence, reported by Global News last week, included new text messages Anderson sent to Weber in September 2022 saying he was consulting ‘Randy’ about the $3.45-million deal between GHI and 4M Medical.
The minister maintains he has had nothing to do with the company since his resignation and, for weeks, has accused Anderson of using his name without his consent.
“If Mr. Anderson is using my name, without my knowledge, which I never gave him permission to do, then he should share that with the committee,” Boissonnault said at a press conference in Vaughan last week.
The new court evidence spurred the House ethics committee to re-open its study into whether Boissonnault broke federal laws by being involved in a private business while in office.
Conservative MPs have ramped up calls for Boissonnault to step down amid the new ‘Randy’ texts and Boissonnault’s conflicting claims around his family’s Indigenous ancestry.
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“Any one of these things would be a resigning offence. Why won’t he resign now?” Conservative Party Leader Pierre Poilievre said in the House of Commons on Monday.
Hansen said Boissonnault had previously referred to himself as a “non-status adopted Cree” but he has never claimed to be Indigenous.
Last week, Boissonnault apologized for not being more careful about how he characterized his family’s ancestry, adding he was still learning about it.
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said on Tuesday he still had confidence in Boissonnault, who is currently minister of employment, workforce development and official languages.
“I’m happy that he is continuing to lead on issues around jobs and employment and represent Alberta in our government,” Trudeau said at the closing press conference for the G20 summit.
Anderson, who is the chief operating officer of GHI, is facing allegations in court that he defrauded two U.S. companies out of around $850,000 in total.
Anderson denies the allegations of fraud, which remain unproven in court.
Neither Anderson nor his lawyer responded to Global News’ requests for comment by deadline.
The Ghaoui Group, a California-based company, sued GHI, Anderson, and Anderson’s other company, Global Healthcare Solutions (GHS), in May 2023.
Two months later, it was awarded a $7.3-million default judgment in that case when no defence was filed. The Ghaoui Group also received a partial judgment for around $500,000 to be paid by Anderson directly.
The case currently is under a stay order from a judge. Anderson is trying to get both judgments set aside because he said he was unaware of the lawsuit until December 2023, when he discovered his bank accounts were being garnished, according to his statements in court documents.
The Ghaoui Group is also suing Anderson and two GHI employees in a second lawsuit filed in April alleging civil fraud. All three deny the allegations.
Weber’s affidavit was filed in support of both of The Ghaoui Group’s lawsuits.
Malvina Ghaoui, principal of The Ghaoui Group, also filed a police report with Edmonton police in March regarding her company’s failed transaction with GHI.
Similar to Weber, Ghaoui’s company put down a $500,000 deposit on a large shipment of medical gloves that never arrived. That deposit, sent in September 2022, was also not returned in full, The Ghaoui Group alleged in court documents.
Edmonton police said it investigated Ghaoui’s complaint, but no arrests were made, and no charges were laid. The investigation remains suspended pending the receipt of new information.
Weber’s police report is “not sufficient to re-open this investigation,” EPS spokesperson Carolin Maran said in a statement without elaborating.
The police officer handling Ghaoui’s complaint, Const. Justin Cook, wrote to Ghaoui on April 10 telling her Anderson told him he had “paid the deposit back,” emails obtained by Global News show.
A month later, in his sworn affidavit dated May 22, Anderson told a different story.
In court documents, Anderson said that as a result of an arson fire at GHI’s Edmonton warehouse that “crippled” his business, he could only return $10,000 to The Ghaoui Group.
The EPS did not confirm nor deny Cook’s email to Ghaoui. Maran did not respond to questions regarding whether it is investigating what appears to be a false statement Anderson allegedly made to police about returning the deposit.
The EPS had previously investigated the arson fire set at GHI’s warehouse in September 2022. That investigation also remains suspended pending new information. No charges or arrests were made in that case as well.
“I can confirm that all three incident reports have been cross-referenced by investigators. The EPS cautions against drawing conclusions that police investigations have been unable to confirm,” Maran wrote in a statement.
Ghaoui said she is “deeply concerned” by the conclusion reached by EPS in her case.
“It seems that the evidence — particularly the hard evidence I presented — was not fully considered in the final assessment,” Ghaoui said in a statement.
Dan Jones, a former Edmonton police inspector and chair of justice studies at NorQuest College, told Global News police should be connecting Ghaoui and Weber’s complaints.
“Cross-referencing is one thing, but what they should be doing is looking for potential linkages,” he said.
Jones said, in general, investigating fraud is difficult, and most local police departments lack the capacity to take on every case.
However, he said he thinks the allegations made against Anderson and GHI warrant a deeper look.
Boissonnault has been called back to testify before the ethics committee for a third time alongside two GHI employees and Ghaoui. No date has been set for those hearings.
MPs did not invite Anderson back to Ottawa to testify after several members said they found him to be an unreliable witness during his July appearance.
Anderson told MPs during that hearing all nine ‘Randy’ references in text messages were the result of an “auto-correct error,” but refused to disclose who he was referring to. He also admitted to initially lying to Global News about the identity of ‘Randy.’
Anderson is expected to face a motion to be found in contempt of Parliament for refusing to answer questions and turn over documents ordered by the committee earlier this summer.
