Owner of Manitou Springs Hotel and Mineral Spa charged with extortion, fraud

On Wednesday the owner and CEO of Manitou Springs Hotel and Mineral Spa found himself in hot water.

He was arrested by Watrous RCMP.

Dwight Hayter faces several extortion and fraud-related charges.

The RCMP said it received information from the Ministry of Labour Relations in September of last year involving allegations of mistreatment of three employees at the business, located in the village of Manitou Beach, Sask.

RCMP said investigators found that the employees were threatened with having their employment terminated or removal from Canada in exchange for money, and in some instances both.

Neither the RCMP nor the Ministry of Labour Relations would confirm to CBC whether or not the alleged victims were hired as part of the Temporary Foreign Worker Program.

RCMP did confirm that all three of the employees were legally working in Saskatchewan at the time of the alleged offences.
Hayter will make his first court appearance in Watrous provincial court on May 21.

Manitou Springs had recently won the Business of the Year Award at the Saskatchewan Tourism Awards of Excellence.