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Sam Mraiche, a medical supply entrepreneur who is at the centre of a health procurement affair now under investigation by the RCMP, allegedly played an undisclosed role in a construction project for the Tsuut’ina Nation, according to a lawsuit filed in court last week.Jeff McIntosh/The Canadian Press
A First Nation in Alberta is suing its former lawyer over alleged irregularities in the procurement of a provincially funded addiction recovery centre, saying that he worked with Edmonton businessman Sam Mraiche and a former chief to sole-source a $35-million contract for the facility.
The Tsuut’ina Nation, a Dene community with roughly 2,500 citizens located near Calgary, filed a lawsuit in the Alberta Court of King’s Bench last week against former general counsel Terry Braun alleging negligence, breaches of contract and fiduciary duties, and other wrongdoing in connection with the construction project.
Tsuut’ina says its recovery centre, which was being built by contractor Melewka Homes Ltd., has been marred by “red flags,” including circumvented procurement processes, overpayments and duplicated invoices. It also alleges that former nation chief Roy Whitney and his family stood to benefit personally from the project.
The nation also alleges that Mr. Mraiche, a medical-supply executive and entrepreneur, played an undisclosed role in its construction project. For nearly a year and a half, Mr. Mraiche has been at the centre of a separate health care procurement affair that has shaken Alberta politics and prompted investigations by the RCMP and the province’s auditor-general.
According to the nation’s statement of claim, Mr. Braun directed that Tsuut’ina’s correspondence be sent to Mr. Mraiche during the project’s early days, and an entity connected to Mr. Mraiche allegedly paid nearly $50,000 to “support community initiatives” in the First Nation.
Neither Mr. Mraiche, Mr. Whitney nor Melewka Homes are named as defendants in the lawsuit, and they did not respond to a request for comment from The Globe and Mail.
Mr. Braun, who has not yet filed a statement of defence, did not respond to a request for comment. The allegations have not been tested in court.
Mr. Mraiche first came to widespread public attention as a result of a wrongful dismissal lawsuit filed in early 2025 by Athana Mentzelopoulos, the former chief executive officer of Alberta Health Services, who was fired by Premier Danielle Smith’s government. Ms. Mentzelopoulos’s lawsuit raised concerns about her agency’s contracting processes and alleged ties between senior Alberta government officials and private businesses, including some owned by Mr. Mraiche. He has repeatedly denied any wrongdoing in connection to the controversy.
The Tsuut’ina lawsuit marks yet another complication for Ms. Smith’s signature addiction treatment initiative. The province has earmarked up to $350-million for the construction of 11 recovery centres, several of which are on Indigenous land. The government has previously said that once they are operational, the centres will be able to offer care to more than 2,000 people each year.
Three Indigenous communities selected to receive provincial funding for a recovery facility – Tsuut’ina, the Enoch Cree Nation and the Métis Nation of Alberta – each hired Melewka Homes to build their recovery centres. Since then, however, the construction company has become tangled in a court dispute with a former business partner and other parties, including Mr. Mraiche. The projects, which are at various stages of completion, are now mired in at least a dozen legal proceedings as builders, including Melewka Homes and its subcontractors, have allegedly gone unpaid.
Citing the continuing litigation, spokespersons for Tsuut’ina and the province’s Ministry of Mental Health and Addiction declined to comment.
Planning for the Tsuut’ina Nation’s recovery centre project began in 2023, according to the nation’s statement of claim.
The Alberta government, which is paying for the construction of Tsuut’ina’s recovery centre through grant funding distributed by its Ministry of Mental Health and Addiction, began discussing the project with the nation in April, 2023, court records show. A few months later, in early July, the nation and the province had signed a memorandum of understanding for a recovery facility, according to documents obtained by The Globe through an access to information request.
Later that month, Mr. Braun directed that the nation’s correspondence be shared with Mr. Mraiche, according to the lawsuit, allegedly writing: “Please share this e-mail with Sam.”
Tsuut’ina entered into a memorandum of understanding with Melewka Homes in August, according to the court filing. That document came “approximately four months” before a formal grant agreement with the province, and “before any competitive procurement process,” the lawsuit alleges.
The agreement between Tsuut’ina and Melewka Homes noted that the contractor had paid the nation $40,000 to “support community initiatives,” according to the statement of claim – but these funds were instead allegedly paid in three installments totalling $49,000 by an entity connected to Mr. Mraiche.
According to the lawsuit, Mr. Braun was aware of a connection between Mr. Mraiche and Melewka Homes as early as September, 2023, when he allegedly wrote that “Mraiche Holdings” was a “holding company” for Melewka Homes. Corporate filings reviewed by The Globe do not indicate that Mr. Mraiche or any businesses connected to him have ever had an ownership stake in the contractor.
In February, 2024, Tsuut’ina awarded the $35-million construction contract to Melewka Homes. According to the nation’s lawsuit, the project was awarded “contrary to the Nation’s legislation and procurement policy.” After the contract was signed, Mr. Braun allegedly “failed to act on repeated red flags,” including duplicated invoices and an internal warning in December, 2024, that the contract was “not being followed correctly.”
By mid-2025, Mr. Braun had allegedly directed payments totalling $17-million – roughly half the total value of the project – to Melewka Homes when only 10 per cent of the work had been completed.
Tsuut’ina also alleges that Mr. Braun, while working at the behest of Mr. Whitney, the nation’s former chief, disregarded the council’s directive demanding invoices and the return of $3.75-million in project funds from Melewka Homes. A majority of Tsuut’ina’s council, including its chief, was replaced during the nation’s November, 2025, elections.
The nation’s lawsuit makes several further allegations about Mr. Whitney: that he had been personally involved in discussions with Melewka Homes prior to entering into an agreement with the company, and that “certain members” of his family allegedly stood to “directly benefit” from a contract with the builder.
Mr. Braun left his job as Tsuut’ina’s general counsel last year.
“It is with mixed emotions that I share that I am no longer serving as General Counsel for the Tsuut’ina Nation,” he wrote on LinkedIn in December. His post did not provide a reason for his departure.
The Globe reported in March that Melewka Homes and its principals, father and son Lewis and John Semashkewich, were suing Mr. Mraiche and several others. They alleged that Mr. Mraiche was the undisclosed “directing mind” of AEHE Holding Corp., a business development and consulting company that had worked with Melewka Homes on recovery centres in three Indigenous communities, including Tsuut’ina. According to the lawsuit, Mr. Mraiche worked with others to withhold project payments until Melewka Homes agreed to pay him.
Mr. Mraiche has denied any wrongdoing in his statement of defence and said his involvement in AEHE Holding was limited to providing “casual, unofficial and informal business advice.”
Melewka Homes is itself being sued by AEHE Holding and its owner, Mohamed Eldassouki. Mr. Eldassouki alleged in a statement of claim filed last summer that Lewis Semashkewich used a forged share sale agreement to unlawfully obtain control of Mr. Eldassouki’s business and bank accounts. Lawyers for Mr. Eldassouki did not respond to a request for comment.
Mr. Semashkewich and Melewka Homes have denied any wrongdoing in their statement of defence.
With a report from Alanna Smith