Dear Piikani,
As you are almost certainly aware, last month RCMP laid fraud charges against Grant Shade, an RCMP officer stationed here at Piikani and his wife Katrina Shade who was an employee of PRDL.
These charges came about after an extensive third party forensic audit requested by PRDL. The audit revealed that funds had been misappropriated. PRDL and Nation staff reported this to the RCMP, after which charges were laid.
Needless to say, I am very disappointed that PRDL and Piikani have been victimized. However, I want to commend staff who discovered the irregularities and the auditors who worked to find their source. The situation could have been much worse was it not for their diligence and reporting.
I cannot provide many more details about the exact nature of the misappropriations, since this issue will soon be before the courts and I do not want to interfere with that process. However, when it becomes possible to share more details, I will be happy to do that.
Lessons have been learned from this situation. Council will discuss ways to ensure nothing like this can happen again in any of our business or administrative units. We are committed to the highest standards of accountability.
Thank you for reading. More information will be forthcoming.
Chief Troy Knowlton