RCMP Indictment Hits PM’s Office

A shocking RCMP investigation just dropped a bombshell of corruption right in Justin Trudeau ‘s inner circle.

Turns out Trudeau’s own personal consultant, Clara Visser, is facing criminal fraud charges for ripping off taxpayers while billing multiple government departments.

This indictment exposes the depth of corruption rotting Trudeau’s scandal-ridden government to its core. Even the PM’s closest confidants are shamelessly betraying public trust.

Conservative MP Michael Barrett grilled Trudeau, demanding to know, “How many fraudsters pocketed some of the $20 plus billion shelled out to Liberal-friendly consultants?”

With Trudeau’s buddies cashing in big time and security clearances now revoked for certain contractors, this fraud iceberg sure looks titanic.

One thing’s for sure – the RCMP’s fraud charges against Trudeau’s own advisor completely demolish any pretense of ethics in his government. The corruption reaches right to the top in Trudeau’s circle.

Trudeau Advisor Faces Fraud Charges

In a shocking development that further taints Justin Trudeau’s scandal-plagued government, the RCMP have charged one of the Prime Minister’s own consultants, Clara Visser, with fraud for overbilling the Canadian government to the tune of a whopping $250,000. 

This massive fraud is just the latest ethical lapse under Trudeau’s watch, and raises serious questions about the rampant corruption, mismanagement and lack of oversight infecting the Liberal government. 

According to the RCMP, the investigation began in 2021 when Public Services and Procurement Canada detected irregular billing practices from Visser, who had contracts across 8 different government departments and Crown corporations. 

Evidence showed Visser brazenly submitted bogus timesheets overbilling the government by at least a quarter million dollars over an 18 month period from 2020 to 2021.

After PSPC referred the case to the RCMP, investigators obtained direct confirmation from prime contractors and through examination of the falsified timesheets that Visser had indeed committed major fraud against the Canadian taxpayer. 

For her part in the $250,000 scam, Visser now faces criminal charges for fraud over $5000 under the Criminal Code. 

Visser’s court date is coming up in early September, where she’ll have to answer for swindling Canadians out of their hard-earned tax dollars. Meanwhile, Trudeau stood by as his own consultant stole taxpayers’ money right under his nose.

Yet even with this massive fraud scandal rocking his government, Trudeau still had the audacity to grandstand about democracy at the recent NATO summit.

Conservative MP Michael Barrett didn’t hold back, slamming the latest corruption scandal under Trudeau’s watch. “Trudeau’s broken contracting system let this crook take taxpayers for $250,000. Trudeau spent over $20 billion on consultants last year – how much has gone to fraudsters?”

Barrett’s got a point. With the Liberal government’s growing dependence on pricey consultants, many with ties to the party, how much more graft and fraud has gone undetected?

The recent PBO report highlights the Trudeau government’s out-of-control spending on consultants, which has shot up to over $21 billion annually – a 16% jump in just the past year. And this is all while the Liberals promised to cut back on consultant spending. Yet another broken promise from the scandal-ridden Trudeau government.

The $670,000 the government shelled out to consultants to figure out how to cut back on consultant spending perfectly sums up the ridiculous hypocrisy and financial mismanagement that’s become the norm under Trudeau.

The fact that the Liberals are paying big bucks to consultants to tell them how to stop using so many consultants is the perfect example of Trudeau’s spend-happy administration.

On top of that, the PBO pointed out that the annual consulting bill of $21.6 billion is only going to get bigger with more supplemental spending requests. It’s like the Liberals can’t stop themselves from outsourcing work to consultants, many of whom have ties to the party, while ignoring their duty to responsibly manage taxpayer money.

Back in March, Procurement Minister Jean-Yves Duclos admitted that a review found fraudulent billing schemes had been going on from 2018 to 2022. The Visser case looks like just the tip of the iceberg when it comes to consulting fraud and abuse under Trudeau.

Duclos conceded that security clearances have been revoked for certain contractors, though full transparency is still sorely lacking on how deep this problem truly goes.

The Visser case also raises questions about the Liberals’ pandemic response, when unprecedented spending occurred rapidly with weakened oversight. The Liberals must now answer whether more fraud took place under the smokescreen of COVID, especially among consultant contracts doled out so freely at the time.

Guillaume Bertrand, a spokesperson for Procurement Minister Jean-Yves Duclos, openly said in a statement, pointing fingers at Trudeau, “protecting taxpayer money is crucial to ensure responsible and transparent governance. Anyone who has taken advantage of our swift COVID response, or anyone who has committed fraudulent billings, should face consequences.”

Canadians deserve to know exactly how much public money was wasted on shady consultants and contractors who took advantage of weakened pandemic controls and Trudeau’s messed-up contracting system. Anything less means this government has lost all credibility in managing deficits and protecting the public purse.

The $250,000 fraud case we know about was caught by chance. How many other cases of overbilling, padded expenses, phantom work, and other consultant scams have gone unnoticed?

How many unethical consultants got rich off Trudeau’s careless spending? Have there been more audits on consulting contracts during COVID to catch more fraud?

Conservatives Blast Trudeau’s Crooked Consultants

This scandal also makes you wonder about the people Trudeau surrounds himself with. That his own personal consultant is charged with scamming Canadian taxpayers out of a quarter million dollars really makes you question his judgment.

It also begs the question – how much of that $20 billion spent on consultants found its way back to the Liberal Party coffers in the form of shady donations and kickbacks? Did Trudeau’s consultants pad their bills in order to funnel money to the Liberal reelection fund? Canadians deserve to know if our tax dollars ended up funding Trudeau’s campaign through shady consultants pulling off blatant fraud.

It also casts a long shadow over the PMO, since as Trudeau’s hand-picked advisor, Visser had an inside track to influence federal policies and priorities. 

Canadians must consider how much ill-gotten gains may have infected Trudeau’s inner circle, given that his top consultant has been exposed as a brazen fraudster.

And Visser is hardly the first top Liberal exposed for misconduct – recall the WE charity scandal, the SNC Lavalin affair, ArriveCAN app scandal and the list goes on endlessly.

The shady dealings run deep in Trudeau’s government. If you need proof, just look at the criminal charges against his personal consultant, Clara Visser.

This growing scandal has the Conservatives demanding Trudeau cut Visser’s lucrative contract and claw back every cent paid to her. They argue, quite rightly, that taxpayers shouldn’t have to cover the costs for a consultant accused of defrauding Canadians.

With a government that’s spending money like there’s no tomorrow, getting back the quarter million swindled by Visser is the bare minimum the Liberals could do to show some fiscal responsibility. But expecting this government to be responsible with public money might be a bit too much to hope for.

Trudeau can’t keep dodging the blame for the mess in his government. The buck stops with him, and he owes Canadians some answers for all the ethical screw-ups and corruption under his watch. We deserve the truth.

With an RCMP-charged fraudster in his inner circle, conflicts of interest everywhere, and policies up for grabs to the highest bidder, Trudeau’s government is rotten to the core. Indictments have even hit the upper levels of the PMO, leaving no doubt that corruption has seeped into Trudeau’s office.

Canadians need to ask – what else is Trudeau hiding? How many more cases of fraud and misconduct are being swept under the rug? Without transparency and a proper independent investigation, we might never know the full extent of the sleaze going on under Trudeau’s watch.

One thing is clear though – Trudeau’s credibility is shot. The latest criminal charges against senior PMO advisor Clara Visser just make it even more obvious that this government is corrupt to its core. Canada deserves way better than this.