[url]https://www.theglobeandmail.com/canada/article-alberta-health-care-procurement-controversy-sam-mraiche-mhcare/[/url]
Who is Sam Mraiche?
An inside look at the health care controversy that has roiled Alberta and the businessman whose dealings with the government have come under
"Athana Mentzelopoulos, the former chief executive of Alberta Health Services, alleged in a wrongful dismissal lawsuit ([url]https://www.theglobeandmail.com/canada/alberta/article-alberta-ousted-health-services-ceo-amid-probe-into-medical-contracts/[/url]) that the government fired her for investigating ties between procurement officials at her agency and companies they had contracted. Before she’d joined as CEO, the agency’s purchasing department hadawarded Mr. Mraiche’s medical-supply company, MHCare Medical Corp., more than $600-million in business – including $70-million for children’s pain-relief medication, roughly a third of which was delivered.
Ms. Mentzelopoulos also alleged that she had been pressured by Premier Smith’sgovernment to proceed with deals for private surgical centres. Mr. Mraiche is a part owner of two of the businesses involved, which had pitched the agency on contracts worth an estimated $430-million.
In its statement of defence, the government said it dismissed Ms. Mentzelopoulos because she failed to execute its vision for the health care system. Neither parties’ allegations have been tested in court.
Alberta, like most levels of government in Canada, places rules on officials when spending taxpayers’ money to ensure it is allocated based on merit and not on personal or business relationships. Politicians and public servants are expected to disclose and avoid these conflicts of interest, whether real or perceived, and can be sanctioned for violating ethics policies. In her lawsuit, Ms. Mentzelopoulos alleged bureaucrats may have crossed these lines –and that while she was looking into this, the Smith government shut her down.
The fallout from these allegations has already reshaped Alberta’s political landscape. Peter Guthrie, then-Minister of Infrastructure, resigned from cabinet, troubled by what he said was an insufficient government response to a five-alarm fire. The province’s separatist and progressive conservative movements are feeding off the controversy, and multiple investigations, including by Alberta’s Auditor-General and the RCMP, are under way.
The Globe has nowfound the connections between Mr. Mraiche, purchasing officials and senior Alberta political figures have existed longer – and are more extensive – than what Ms. Mentzelopoulos alleged in her lawsuit.
Ms. Smith’s relationship with Mr. Mraiche, for example, preceded her time as premier, including dinner plans and a scheduled video call during her leadership campaign.
New photos obtained by The Globe show that, once elected, Ms. Smith, members of her cabinet and staff socialized with Mr. Mraiche at Edmonton Oilers games.
Her former chief of staff, Marshall Smith, hired multiple relatives of Mr. Mraiche at the same time as he was living in a home owned by one of Mr. Mraiche’s sisters.
And the health agency’s most senior purchasing official, Jitendra Prasad, helped facilitate a deal between Mr. Mraiche’s company and a COVID-19 test supplier, an agreement that later ended up in court."
Hassin Khalil Sam Mraiche, who was born in Edmonton in 1979, has left behind a paper trail that document episodesof his life.
One of the earliest public records concerning Mr. Mraiche dates back to 1998. Six days after his 19th birthday, he was convicted of using or dealing in a credit card he knew had been illegally obtained, according to Edmonton court records. He received probation and a suspended sentence, and a judge ordered him to pay the Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce $6,995 in restitution.
A few years later, when he was 21, he went bankrupt. He’d racked up more than $100,000 in debt across multiple banks and credit cards, which he’d used to gamble at casinos and on the stock market, according to bankruptcy filings. “Started gambling years ago, couldn’t stop,” he said in a sworn statement. “It became a nightmare.”
He was discharged from bankruptcy 16 months later, having paid $2,800 on a total debt of $118,000.
In 2003, Mr. Mraiche found a job as a salesman for Lincoln Technology Corp., an oil field company in the business of preventing equipment breakdowns. He soon found himself in yet another predicament: After launching a business in 2006 with one of Lincoln’s owners, the company sued the two men for $1.8-million, claiming they conspired to steal its clients. Mr. Mraiche denied the allegations and counter-sued for wrongful termination, and the company ultimately withdrew its claims against him. The public record does not show how Mr. Mraiche’s suit was resolved, if at all.
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Who is Sam Mraiche?
An inside look at the health care controversy that has roiled Alberta and the businessman whose dealings with the government have come under
"Athana Mentzelopoulos, the former chief executive of Alberta Health Services, alleged in a wrongful dismissal lawsuit ([url]https://www.theglobeandmail.com/canada/alberta/article-alberta-ousted-health-services-ceo-amid-probe-into-medical-contracts/[/url]) that the government fired her for investigating ties between procurement officials at her agency and companies they had contracted. Before she’d joined as CEO, the agency’s purchasing department hadawarded Mr. Mraiche’s medical-supply company, MHCare Medical Corp., more than $600-million in business – including $70-million for children’s pain-relief medication, roughly a third of which was delivered.
Ms. Mentzelopoulos also alleged that she had been pressured by Premier Smith’sgovernment to proceed with deals for private surgical centres. Mr. Mraiche is a part owner of two of the businesses involved, which had pitched the agency on contracts worth an estimated $430-million.
In its statement of defence, the government said it dismissed Ms. Mentzelopoulos because she failed to execute its vision for the health care system. Neither parties’ allegations have been tested in court.
Alberta, like most levels of government in Canada, places rules on officials when spending taxpayers’ money to ensure it is allocated based on merit and not on personal or business relationships. Politicians and public servants are expected to disclose and avoid these conflicts of interest, whether real or perceived, and can be sanctioned for violating ethics policies. In her lawsuit, Ms. Mentzelopoulos alleged bureaucrats may have crossed these lines –and that while she was looking into this, the Smith government shut her down.
The fallout from these allegations has already reshaped Alberta’s political landscape. Peter Guthrie, then-Minister of Infrastructure, resigned from cabinet, troubled by what he said was an insufficient government response to a five-alarm fire. The province’s separatist and progressive conservative movements are feeding off the controversy, and multiple investigations, including by Alberta’s Auditor-General and the RCMP, are under way.
The Globe has nowfound the connections between Mr. Mraiche, purchasing officials and senior Alberta political figures have existed longer – and are more extensive – than what Ms. Mentzelopoulos alleged in her lawsuit.
Ms. Smith’s relationship with Mr. Mraiche, for example, preceded her time as premier, including dinner plans and a scheduled video call during her leadership campaign.
New photos obtained by The Globe show that, once elected, Ms. Smith, members of her cabinet and staff socialized with Mr. Mraiche at Edmonton Oilers games.
Her former chief of staff, Marshall Smith, hired multiple relatives of Mr. Mraiche at the same time as he was living in a home owned by one of Mr. Mraiche’s sisters.
And the health agency’s most senior purchasing official, Jitendra Prasad, helped facilitate a deal between Mr. Mraiche’s company and a COVID-19 test supplier, an agreement that later ended up in court."
Hassin Khalil Sam Mraiche, who was born in Edmonton in 1979, has left behind a paper trail that document episodesof his life.
One of the earliest public records concerning Mr. Mraiche dates back to 1998. Six days after his 19th birthday, he was convicted of using or dealing in a credit card he knew had been illegally obtained, according to Edmonton court records. He received probation and a suspended sentence, and a judge ordered him to pay the Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce $6,995 in restitution.
A few years later, when he was 21, he went bankrupt. He’d racked up more than $100,000 in debt across multiple banks and credit cards, which he’d used to gamble at casinos and on the stock market, according to bankruptcy filings. “Started gambling years ago, couldn’t stop,” he said in a sworn statement. “It became a nightmare.”
He was discharged from bankruptcy 16 months later, having paid $2,800 on a total debt of $118,000.
In 2003, Mr. Mraiche found a job as a salesman for Lincoln Technology Corp., an oil field company in the business of preventing equipment breakdowns. He soon found himself in yet another predicament: After launching a business in 2006 with one of Lincoln’s owners, the company sued the two men for $1.8-million, claiming they conspired to steal its clients. Mr. Mraiche denied the allegations and counter-sued for wrongful termination, and the company ultimately withdrew its claims against him. The public record does not show how Mr. Mraiche’s suit was resolved, if at all.
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