A Winnipeg Police Service shoulder badge is seen at the Public Information Office in Winnipeg, on September 2, 2021. (THE CANADIAN PRESS/David Lipnowski)
Winnipeg police have charged a 50-year-old former sales employee after uncovering an alleged multimillion-dollar rebate fraud spanning eight years.
According to police, the man worked for a local building product supplier and exploited the company’s rebate program between April 2016 and April 2024. Investigators say he created four fictitious homebuilding companies, complete with fake employees, and submitted about 5,500 fraudulent rebate applications worth nearly $4.2 million.
The company discovered the scheme after the man was terminated for unrelated reasons in 2023 and reported the activity to police.
Winnipeg police launched an investigation in October 2024 and linked the former employee to the alleged fraud.
On October 8, 2025, the man turned himself in to investigators. He has been charged with fraud over $5,000, forgery, and use of a forged document, and was released on an undertaking to appear in court.
