Image Credit: Cliff MacArthur/provincialcourt.bc.ca
January 27, 2023 - 1:15 PM
A Métis non-profit is trying to get nearly $50,000 back from a former employee accused of embezzling grants for youth housing.
Lii Michif Otipemisiwak claims a former manager at its Kamloops supportive housing site directed $37,500 of grant funding to her own bank account before she was fired. Then she was given a $12,000 severance package she wasn't entitled to, according to a civil claim filed in Kamloops Supreme Court.
The non-profit is looking to the court to grant an order she repay all of it, along with interest and punitive damages, according to court documents filed Jan. 25.
The claim against former youth housing manager Seanna Proulx was first launched in March 2022. She still hasn't responded to the claims.
READ MORE: Former Kamloops Metis youth housing manager sued for embezzling grant funds
The non-profit fired Proulx without cause on Jan. 26, 2022, awarding her a severance package, according to court documents.
That was before the non-profit realized she had the funder send money to her own bank account. The employer found emails to the funder, Canadian Roots Exchange, on her work laptop once it was returned Feb. 4.
The non-profit now can't get funding for its supportive housing site, Kikékyelc, from Canadian Roots Exchange because it can't complete a required financial report, according to court documents. The non-profit is using its own money instead.
Court documents claim RCMP are investigating Proulx after the non-profit made a report, which would be separate from the ongoing civil claim.
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Proulx hasn't been criminally charged and the claims against her haven't been proven in court.
This isn't the first time she's misappropriated funds, however. Proulx is a former lawyer who was disbarred for professional misconduct in 2020.
Formerly known as Seanna McKinley, the Law Society of B.C. found she misappropriated more than $300,000 that was held in trust for her clients. She was disbarred in February 2020.
The non-profit's civil claim against Proulx is scheduled to be heard in Kamloops later this month.
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