Five Toronto Community Housing employees fired after fire investigation

TORONTO – Five Toronto Community Housing employees have been fired as a result of an investigation into alleged fraud.

The internal investigation turned up “evidence of wrongdoing” by the five employees in connection to an insurance claim for the community housing property at 200 Wellesley Street, severely damaged during a six-alarm fire in 2010 when a cigarette butt ignited stacks of flammable material on the 24th floor of the high-rise.

“There have been staff disciplinary actions, including the termination of five employees,” TCHC CEO Eugene Jones Jr. said in a statement Wednesday. “In addition, we have spoken with Toronto Police and will be handing over the findings to them to determine whether there are matters worthy of further investigation.”

According to The Globe and Mail, the wrongdoing stems from allegations a former community housing subsidiary, Housing Services Inc., had falsified documents to show work done in Ottawa was actually for repairs to the Wellesley Street high-rise.

About 1,200 people were displaced and 600 residents of the building were awarded $4.85 million in compenstation for lost property and injuries following the 2010 fire.

In a brief statement to the media at city hall Wednesday, Mayor Rob Ford suggested the allegations of “‘kickbacks” were merely the “tip of the iceberg” but couldn’t divulge details.

“I can’t get into too many details but from what the forensic audit said it’s very disturbing. I don’t like to use the word kickbacks but it could be the situation,” Ford told reporters Wednesday.

The TCHC issued a statement late Wednesday evening clarifying that no employees were fired based on evidence of kickbacks.