The latest landmark document from the Mass Casualty Commission examines Gabriel Wortman’s suspicious banking activity, improper billing practices and an ultimately foiled scheme to defraud a federal immigration program. “The evidence described below suggests that the perpetrator collected money and other assets through a number of illegal or dubious means,” the committee notes. “While there are no definitive answers as to the sources of all his income, there is a clear pattern of misunderstanding.”

Living beyond reported income

As part of its investigation into the shooting, the RCMP commissioned a report from federal financial investigators to review the finances of the gunman and those of his community wife Lisa Banfield. The financial review report said that between 2012 and 2019 the gunman reported an average annual income of $39,916 from his business, Atlantic Denture Clinic. The commission’s report said disposable income reached $29,036. But the Department of Community Services said the gunman’s clinic received $434,406 between 2015 and 2020 in provincial funds to provide services to clients receiving Employment Support and Income Assistance, as well as those on the Disability Support Program. “The perpetrator obviously supported his income,” the committee’s lawyer Ronke Akinyemi said on Tuesday. The review noted that in addition to his salary, an additional $232,907 was deposited into his personal accounts and another $96,753 into the joint account he had with Banfield during that time. Dwayne King, the commission’s chief financial investigator, said the gunman’s spending habits and lifestyle exceeded his reported income. For example, from December 2017 to May 2020 the perpetrator spent almost $20,000 on PayPal and just over $23,000 on the GCSurplus website. — about 87 percent of his reported disposable income. King also noted a discrepancy in how much Banfield was spending compared to her reported average annual salary of $15,288. In an interview with the committee, Banfield said the gunman “wasn’t claiming what he was actually making” from his dental clinic. He described how he would collect cash from patients and, at the end of the day, take it to the residence the couple shared above the clinic. Banfield also said she would cash checks from patients made out to the gunman and give him the money. He said the gunman told patients to do checks on him versus the clinic. According to the report, the couple filed their taxes as “single,” despite living together for 19 years. Banfield told a Commission lawyer that she did not know why this was happening. Tax returns were prepared by an accountant, not an accountant. The former is not required to report to the Financial Transactions Analysis and Reporting Center of Canada (FINTRAC). Lisa Banfield, the common-law wife of Gabriel Wortman, testifies at the Nova Scotia Mass Casualty Commission’s inquiry into the 2020 murders in Halifax on Friday, July 15, 2022. In an interview with the commission, Banfield said the gunman “was not claiming what he really made” from his denture clinic. (The Canadian Press/Andrew Vaughan) The commission said there was also evidence to suggest the gunman was claiming personal purchases on the CIBC Visa card as business expenses.

Investigation reveals improper pricing

In 2005 the Nova Scotia Board of Dental Licensing launched an investigation into the perpetrator for improper billing and to follow up on allegations that he was aggressive with patients. Board records show the gunman had a practice of billing the insurance provider the full amount of the fee, but only billing the patient for the portion covered by their insurance, resulting in a deductible for the patient. Two insurance companies told the board they believe the practice could be considered fraudulent. The gunman said he did not realize the practice was wrong and signed a settlement agreement in 2007 with the board.

Cash found on the property

When police combed the burned-out grounds of the gunman’s cottage after the mass shooting, they found a metal container buried underground. In it: eight bundles of cash totaling $705,000. Banfield said she believed some of that money came from the estate of his friend, Tom Evans. Evans’ will was not probated and no information is available on the value or contents of his estate. While the gunman said the New Brunswick lawyer had no real assets, the commission said several witnesses later told RCMP he benefited financially from being the sole beneficiary of Evans’ estate. The gunman had a history of hiding money around his properties, Banfield said, and it was “normal” for him to have large wads of cash. During a search of Gabriel Wortman’s Portapique cottage, RCMP discovered this metal ammunition container hidden underground under the deck, which contained cash. The money was in bundles of $100 bills that came to $705,000. (Mass Casualty Commission) One of the bundles of $100 bills found in a metal ammunition box hidden underground under the gunman’s cottage in Portapique. The total amount of cash found was $705,000. (Mass Accident Commission) As previously reported, the perpetrator withdrew $475,000 from a CIBC account in March 2020. Banfield said he buried that money in a bag at the cottage. A senior director of corporate security at CIBC said the request was unusual and he was concerned, but that the money was “clean” meaning it raised no red flags. “How he brought it on and obviously there were no flags, nothing was out of the ordinary, no flags were raised, nothing was set off,” Joe Morgando told the commission in an interview. He said other customers, like the gunman, were worried that the onset of the pandemic would cause the banks to collapse.

A 2010 report sparked suspicious depositions

After the mass casualty, Canada’s financial intelligence agency passed on information to the RCMP about suspicious transactions, but FINTRAC had the gunman on its radar in 2010, according to the documents. In August 2010, the gunman deposited $70,000 in cash into a TD Bank account held in the name of one of his companies, Northumberland Investments Ltd. About two weeks later, he deposited another $130,000 in cash into the same account before withdrawing the $200,000 through a bank draft payable to himself.
The cash deposits prompted TD to send a suspicious transaction report to FINTRAC. Banks are required to report suspicious transactions “if there are reasonable grounds” to suspect money laundering or terrorist financing. The Mass Casualty Commission said it was unclear where the $200,000 wad of cash came from. The commission said it contacted TD Bank, Scotiabank and CIBC — all institutions the gunman dealt with — for any evidence, but the banks said those records did not fall under record-keeping schedules. TD’s suspicious transaction report also cited a deposit of $154,000 — around the same time as the $200,000 cash deposits — into the Northumberland account from a trust account of the law firm of Alan GD Irvine. The account also received a $78,000 credit from the trust account. “FINTRAC did not appear to inform local law enforcement of this report or take any other action,” the commission wrote. Twenty-two people died on April 18 and 19, 2020. Top row from left: Gina Goulet, Dawn Gulensin, Jolene Oliver, Frank Gulensin, Sean McLeod, Alana Jenkins. Second row: John Zahl, Lisa McCully, Joey Webber, Heidi Stevenson, Heather O’Brien and Jamie Blair. Third row from top: Kristen Beaton, Lillian Campbell, Joanne Thomas, Peter Bond, Tom Bagley and Greg Blair. Bottom row: Emily Tuck, Joy Bond, Corrie Ellison and Aaron Tuck. (CBC) Because Canada’s Anti-Money Laundering and Anti-Terrorism Financing Act has strict rules regarding sensitive information, FINTRAC said it “cannot comment on any decision to refer or not [suspicious transaction report] to law enforcement.” After the shooting, PayPal Canada Co. and TD Bank submitted suspicious transaction reports to FINTRAC detailing credit card payments and purchases and cash deposits. In its explanation, PayPal said it identified an account linked to the gunman “believed to have been used to make purchases for items used to facilitate domestic terrorist activities.” On April 22, 2020 — days after the rampage ended — FINTRAC forwarded the suspicious transaction report to the RCMP saying it has “reasonable grounds to suspect” the information is “relevant to an investigation or prosecution for a money laundering offence. ” On May 1, 2020, FINTRAC said it sent more information to Mounties from PayPal and TD about the gunman buying police items, including a center console for a 2013 Ford Taurus, a front bumper ram for a Taurus sedan, siren lights, dash cam, thin blue line vinyl decal and gun rack. The gunman dressed as an RCMP officer and drove a replica police cruiser as he murdered 22 people on April 18 and 19, 2020.

Schemes to defraud the immigration program

The documents released Tuesday also describe how the gunman had begun to outline how he could defraud the Atlantic Immigration Pilot Program. The federal program, launched in 2017, is intended to fill gaps in local labor markets by allowing approved businesses to sponsor immigrants with the understanding that they would be hired for a period of one year. Those who immigrate under the program are granted permanent residence within six months. Emails between the gunman and friend Kevin von Bargen, a lawyer in Ontario, discuss that immigrants pay a fee and a year’s salary to Atlantic Denture and in return the clinic will…