223 employees dismissed for allegedly defrauding TTC benefits plan
Posted March 15, 2018 8:30 am.
Last Updated March 15, 2018 8:42 am.
This article is more than 5 years old.
More than 200 employees are no longer with the TTC after a fraud investigation involving the transit’s benefits plan.
In a release issued by the TTC on Wednesday, it says an investigation began in 2014 after a tip to the “integrity line.”
The tip claimed that receipts were being provided to employees by Healthy Fit, a health care products and service provider, but no product or service was obtained, or receipt amounts were inflated.
According to the TTC, Healthy Fit and the TTC employee making improper claims would then share the money paid out by Manulife Financial.
Adam Smith, the proprietor of Healthy Fit, was found guilty of two counts of fraud over $5,000 and was sentenced to two years in prison.
The TTC says 10 transit employees were charged with fraud.
Of the 10, four pleaded guilty and received a conditional discharge, one year probation, and community service. More than $82,000 in restitution has been collected by the TTC from these employees.
Six other former TTC employees remain before the courts.
The TTC says 223 employees (1.5 per cent of the workforce) have been dismissed, or resigned or retired to avoid dismissal, for defrauding the benefits plan.
The transit provider says since the investigation began it has seen a reduction in benefits claims costs of more than $7 million.
The TTC is also suing Manulife Financial, Smith and Healthy Fit for up to $5 million.
It alleges Manulife Financial did not have appropriate fraud management controls in place and didn’t have systems in place to detect and analyze unusual trends or patterns that might indicate fraud or abuse.
The TTC’s internal investigation continues.
