Former Winnipeg crane company CFO arrested, charged with millions in fraud

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This article was published 24/01/2019 (2163 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

After seizing jewellery, luxury goods and vehicles from a home in East St. Paul, Winnipeg police arrested the former chief financial officer of a 115-year-old Winnipeg company that faced bankruptcy.

On Thursday, police charged Peter Ramdath, 42, the former controller and CFO for R. Litz & Sons Company Ltd., with fraud, theft, falsification of books and documents, money laundering and possessing property obtained by crime.

The Winnipeg Police Service said he used his position at the crane company to convert company funds to his own benefit using several different deceptive strategies. He remained in custody Friday.

A lengthy investigation by its financial crimes unit revealed the company suffered a loss in excess of $4 million between 2012 and 2017, Winnipeg police said.

Ramdath was CFO for Litz from Jan. 23, 2008, until he resigned Oct. 2, 2017.

In 2017, the Free Press reported Litz was suing Ramdath for $3.1 million, alleging he misappropriated company funds to line his own pockets over a three-year period. The company filed a statement of claim in Manitoba Court of Queen’s Bench alleging Ramdath had entered into a series of unauthorized transactions without the knowledge or consent of his employer.

According to the court document, from March 1, 2014, to Feb. 28, 2015, Ramdath allegedly directed payments from the company’s Canadian operating account with HSBC Canada to pay accounts, advance funds or make purchases for his own personal benefit, adding up to $976,308. From Feb. 1, 2015, to July 31, 2017, Ramdath directed payment’s from his employer’s operating account with Canadian Western Bank to benefit himself that added up to $2,133,378, the statement of claim says.

In an affidavit filed Oct. 30, 2017 — during the crane company’s bankruptcy proceedings — Litz general manager Patrick Szypowski described some of the luxury items Ramdath, whose salary was $85,000 a year, had acquired.

A personal property registry search listed a McLaren MP4 sports car with a street value of $205,000, a 2017 Maserati Levante S, a 2008 Aston Martin Vantage, and a 2013 Cadillac Escalade SUV, the affidavit said. Ramdath’s lavish 2014 wedding was featured on social media, with the couple describing themselves as “known by family and friends for their extravagant tastes.”

The Winnipeg company, which also struggled with the economic downturn that hit Alberta and Saskatchewan in 2015, is still in business.

A majority of creditors voted in December 2017 to accept a proposal made by the company under the Bankruptcy and Insolvency Act. It was approved by a Court of Queen’s Bench justice in February 2018.

However, Ramdath asked the Manitoba Court of Appeal to hear his appeal against the proposal, which includes recouping money he allegedly scammed to help repay Litz’s creditors. In July, the court denied his request.

“The company continues to operate, subject to the terms of the proposal — which provides, amongst other terms, for payments to unsecured creditors over a 48-month period,” Litz lawyer Catherine Howden said in an email.

Litz Crane & Rigging was founded in 1904, and serves the construction and heavy machinery-moving industry with offices in Winnipeg, Brandon, Thompson and Saskatoon.

carol.sanders@freepress.mb.ca