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The RCMP announced an investigation last year after former Alberta Health Services chief executive Athana Mentzelopoulos (not pictured), who was fired by the government of Premier Danielle Smith, left, raised concerns about the health agency’s procurement practices.Jeff McIntosh/The Canadian Press
A veteran Ontario-based prosecutor is now involved in the criminal probe of alleged procurement irregularities at Alberta’s health authority.
Tom Andreopoulos confirmed in an e-mail that he is acting as a Crown counsel in the case, though he declined to elaborate on his exact role. Throughout his career, Mr. Andreopoulos has prosecuted bikers and mafiosos, and was also involved in the criminal investigation that targeted former Toronto mayor Rob Ford.
Mr. Andreopoulos has been involved in responding to efforts by a consortium of news outlets, including The Globe and Mail, to unseal search warrant documents filed as part of the police investigation. He responded to inquiries from the consortium’s lawyer. His assignment to the case is the first indication that outside legal help has been sought for the probe.
The RCMP announced an investigation last year after Athana Mentzelopoulos, the former chief executive of Alberta Health Services who was fired by the government of Premier Danielle Smith, raised concerns about her agency’s contracting processes and alleged ties between private businesses and senior Alberta government officials.
The allegations levelled by Ms. Mentzelopoulos have dogged Ms. Smith’s government for almost a year and a half. The Globe revealed Wednesday that the police had served Alberta Health Services with document production orders.
Alberta Health Services ordered to hand over documents to authorities, senior executive confirms
Provincial justice departments sometimes appoint prosecutors from other provinces when dealing with politically sensitive cases, or those in which a potential conflict of interest may arise.
For instance, Ontario’s Ministry of the Attorney-General hired British Columbia defence lawyer Richard Peck in 2009 as a special prosecutor in the case against Michael Bryant, a former Ontario attorney-general. Mr. Bryant was charged in the death of cyclist Darcy Allan Sheppard, though Mr. Peck withdrew all charges in 2010, stating there was no reasonable prospect of a conviction.
Mr. Andreopoulos has spent most of his career with the federal Public Prosecution Service of Canada, according to his LinkedIn profile. He has prosecuted cases involving the Hells Angels, drugs, conspiracy and criminal organizations, and has also worked on politically sensitive prosecutions. In 2018, he obtained a guilty plea in a case against Domenico Violi, an underboss for a Buffalo mafioso family.
He also served as a Crown attorney in 2013 for court proceedings surrounding Project Brazen 2, the investigation of then-Toronto-mayor Rob Ford.
In late 2025, he joined Ontario’s Ministry of the Attorney-General as a Crown counsel under the ministry’s Complex Prosecutions Bureau.
The RCMP confirmed they were investigating alleged procurement irregularities at Alberta Health Services in March, 2025.
2025: RCMP launch probe into Alberta health agency contracting allegations
The probe began after Ms. Mentzelopoulos was fired by Ms. Smith’s government in January, 2025. The following month, Ms. Mentzelopoulos sued the government for wrongful dismissal and alleged she had been terminated amidst an investigation launched by her office into potential conflicts of interest involving the agency’s procurement decisions.
Those allegations concerned, in part, contracts awarded to MHCare Medical Corp., a medical-supply company that has received more than $600-million in business from the agency since the beginning of the pandemic, including $70-million for a 2022 deal to import children’s medication from Turkey. Only a third of the medication was delivered, and less was ever used. Roughly half of the product was ultimately donated to other countries; the rest was destroyed.
Ms. Mentzelopoulos also raised concerns about alleged ties between MHCare’s chief executive, Sam Mraiche, and senior government officials.
The Globe reported last year that Mr. Mraiche was scheduled to play host to Ms. Smith at his home for a private dinner in August, 2022, in the lead-up to the leadership race that crowned her leader of the United Conservative Party and, by extension, premier of Alberta.
The Globe has also revealed that Mr. Mraiche attended a private hotel-room viewing party during the province’s last general election in May, 2023, that was attended by Ms. Smith’s inner circle, and that she and at least seven current or former cabinet ministers have attended Mr. Mraiche’s private box at Edmonton Oilers games.
One of the ministers who has attended Mr. Mraiche’s private hockey box is Mickey Amery, Alberta’s Justice Minister and Attorney-General. Mr. Amery has said he is a long-time friend and relative by marriage of Mr. Mraiche.
2025 Investigation: Who is Sam Mraiche? Inside Alberta’s health care controversy
The Globe reported earlier this year that Mr. Amery introduced amendments to election laws that narrowed the window during which the province’s regulator could seek sanctions for political-finance violations. This change was made in May, 2025, during a period in which Mr. Mraiche was under investigation by Elections Alberta over an alleged straw-donor scheme. Elections Alberta has said it is prohibited by law from disclosing what became of the investigation, and has not commented on what effect – if any – the government’s amendments had on its probe.
Earlier this year, Mounties executed a search warrant at the offices of MHCare. They also searched the offices of Jaberson & Associates, an accounting and tax preparation business owned by Sam Jaber, who has acted as MHCare’s chief financial officer and was appointed by Ms. Smith to the board of Invest Alberta, a Crown corporation designed to attract foreign investment to the province.
Lawyers for Mr. Mraiche and Mr. Jaber have repeatedly stated their clients did nothing wrong. Neither are party to Ms. Mentzelopoulos’s lawsuit.
Heather Jenkins, a spokesperson for Mr. Amery, did not answer The Globe’s questions about the assignment of an out-of-province Crown counsel for the criminal probe.
Instead, Ms. Jenkins referred The Globe to Munaf Mohamed, a lawyer with Bennett Jones LLP who is representing the government in its defence against Ms. Mentzelopoulos’s lawsuit – a civil matter. Mr. Mohamed declined to comment when reached by phone.