The RCMP is investigating fraud, breach of trust and money laundering in connection with Alberta’s health care procurement controversy, according to a letter filed in court that reveals for the first time the potential criminal activity police are examining.
The Mounties confirmed in early 2025 that they launched an investigation into the province’s health care purchasing practices, and earlier this year executed searches as part of their inquiry, but the RCMP have otherwise remained silent on the offences they’re considering.
The letter, dated Oct. 15 and addressed to several parties involved in a civil dispute in Alberta connected with the procurement affair, provides a rare glimpse into the probe. It is signed by Tom Andreopoulos, a Crown prosecutor with the Complex Prosecutions Bureau at Ontario’s Ministry of the Attorney-General.
“Our office is responsible for the provision of advisory support and the prosecution of any charges that may arise from the ongoing Royal Canadian Mounted Police criminal investigation into fraud, breach of trust, and money laundering arising out of procurement processes and practices at Alberta Health and Alberta Health Services,” Mr. Andreopoulos says in his letter.
The letter copies two other Ontario Crown prosecutors assisting with the probe, Niall Gilks and Alana Rodrigo.
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Both the RCMP and Ontario’s Ministry of the Attorney-General declined to comment, citing the ongoing investigation.
The prosecutor’s letter is addressed to lawyers for the government of Alberta, provincial health agency Alberta Health Services and Athana Mentzelopoulos, the agency’s former chief executive.
Ms. Mentzelopoulos sued the government and the health authority in February, 2025 for wrongful dismissal, setting off a political firestorm when she alleged that she faced pressure from government officials to drop an internal investigation into her agency’s contracting processes and ties between private businesses and senior Alberta government officials.
The government says it fired Ms. Mentzelopoulos because she failed to execute its vision for the health care system.
None of the allegations have been tested in court.
The parties in Ms. Mentzelopoulos’s lawsuit have been jousting over whether records she has held – at least some of which were seized by the RCMP, according to Mr. Andreopoulos’s letter – were confidential to the government or protected under solicitor-client privilege.
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Last month, Justice Michael J. Lema ruled that most of the materials at issue were privileged or confidential and ordered Ms. Mentzelopoulos to return or destroy those records.
A lawyer for Ms. Mentzelopoulos filed the Ontario prosecutor’s letter in court after Justice Lema’s decision, arguing that it shows the intent behind her retention of records was not “ill-placed.”
Mr. Andreopoulos’s letter says the Crown is aware of the judge’s decision and will be asking the Alberta Court of King’s Bench for help in determining how to handle the privilege review of the seized materials. He also explains that Edmonton criminal lawyer Alexandra K. Seaman has been tapped as a third-party “referee” to work through those issues. Ms. Seaman did not respond to a request for comment.
The letter does not elaborate on the alleged potential offences or who is the subject of the investigation, and does not specify why Ontario Crown prosecutors are involved in the RCMP’s probe in Alberta. (Provincial justice departments sometimes appoint prosecutors from other provinces when dealing with politically sensitive cases in which a potential conflict of interest may arise.)
The Alberta Premier’s office did not acknowledge requests for comment.
The government has been embroiled in the health care procurement controversy for more than a year and a half. The investigation ordered by Ms. Mentzelopoulos focused, in part, on contracts awarded to Edmonton-based medical supplier MHCare Medical Corp., which received roughly $614-million in business from Alberta Health Services since 2020. That included $70-million for children’s pain and fever medication, only a third of which was delivered.
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The fired executive’s lawsuit alleged that Jitendra Prasad, a senior purchasing official at Alberta Health Services, had a potential conflict of interest with MHCare.
Mr. Prasad had an MHCare e-mail address just before the agency entered into a contract with the company for the children’s pain and fever medication, according to a court filing by Ms. Mentzelopoulos.
A lawyer for Mr. Prasad did not respond to a request for comment.
MHCare is owned by businessman Sam Mraiche, who The Globe and Mail has reported joined Premier Danielle Smith’s inner circle in a hotel suite in 2023 to watch the province’s election results. He has also played host to the Premier, cabinet ministers and senior political staff in private boxes for National Hockey League games.
Mr. Mraiche has repeatedly denied any wrongdoing in connection with the controversy, and he is not a party to Ms. Mentzelopoulos’s lawsuit.
In an unsigned letter addressed to the government in April, 2025, MHCare said the suggestion that the company has benefited because of Mr. Mraiche’s relationships rather than on merit is “untrue and a plainly unfair characterization.”
The Globe reported in June that Mr. Andreopoulos, a veteran prosecutor, was attached to the case, but he declined to specify his role at the time.
His involvement in the Alberta procurement probe came to light after he responded to inquiries from a consortium of media outlets – including The Globe – that applied to unseal search-warrant materials filed in court as part of the RCMP’s investigation.
In March, the Mounties executed searches at the offices of MHCare and Jaberson & Associates Inc., an accounting and tax-preparation business owned by Sam Jaber, who has acted as MHCare’s chief financial officer.
Mr. Jaber was appointed by the Premier to the board of Invest Alberta, a Crown corporation designed to attract foreign investment to the province. Shortly after the RCMP searched Mr. Jaber’s accounting firm, Invest Alberta said the businessman was taking a leave of absence from its board.
A lawyer for Mr. Jaber has previously said his client “steadfastly maintains his innocence.”
The Globe also reported in June that Alberta Health Services had been ordered to hand documents over to the RCMP as part of the police’s investigation.