City of Surrey, B.C., says it lost $2.5 million in 'irregular transactions'

The City of Surrey says it filed a civil lawsuit against a former employee, looking to recover $2.5 million worth of ``irregular transactions.'' A statement from city manager Rob Costanzo Thursday says the lawsuit was filed last year after staff identified problems dating back to 2017 involving dormant development-deposit accounts.

Costanzo says staff first spotted irregularities in early 2024 and the city conducted an internal review, engaged external forensic specialists, and reported the situation to the RCMP.

He says police are conducting a criminal investigation and the city has enhanced its processes to prevent something like that from happening again.

Costanzo says no current city employee is named in the civil action and no additional staff have been implicated.

He says privacy legislation prevents the city from commenting on individual employment matters, ``including those concerning relatives of the former employee.''

``Residents can be assured that decisive steps have been taken to protect public funds and to recover the full amount on their behalf. Because the matter is before the courts, the city is unable to comment further at this time,'' he says