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Friday, March 29, 2024
Former NOTL Hydro VP charged in $425,000 fraud

Niagara-on-the-Lake Hydro's former vice-president of operations has been charged with fraud after more than $425,000 was stolen from the utility.

Detectives from the Niagara Regional Police Service central fraud unit arrested Kazi Marouf, 67, of Fort Erie, on Tuesday. 

Marouf, who was fired in September, faces one count of fraud over $5,000 and was released from custody pending a court appearance on March 22.

NOTL Hydro CEO Tim Curtis said that 94 per cent of the missing money – more than $400,000 – has been repaid.

Investigators said the fraud occurred between March 2019 and July 2020.

As previously reported by The Lake Report, the scheme involved phony invoices issued and paid over that 18-month period.

The fraud was discovered by an employee in the finance department who was processing a payment.

After the employee brought the discrepancy to the attention of senior management, the utility began an internal investigation and subsequently hired a Toronto forensic accounting firm to look into the case.

Hydro officials emphasized that the fraud would have no effect on the utility's financial status or customers' bills.

 

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