Sûreté du Québec conducts raids in Kanehsatà:ke in connection with COVID-19 aid
Quebec provincial police officers raided the offices of Kanehsatà:ke's band council Thursday, Radio-Canada reports, in the Kanien'kehá:ka (Mohawk) community, 50 kilometres west of Montreal.
The raids were related to a financial fraud investigation looking into alleged misappropriation of funds by the council during the COVID-19 pandemic.
According to Radio-Canada, the council's Emergency Response Unit received $3.89 million in COVID-19 aid from Ottawa since June 2020.
During a news conference on Thursday, Crown-Indigenous Relations Minister Marc Miller said those funds helped keep people in Kanehsatà:ke safe.
"So it would really frustrating obviously if you're a community member to see those funds were misappropriated," said Miller while stressing he did not have any information about the investigation.
Officers from Sûreté du Québec's (SQ) financial crimes unit executed the warrant issued by the Quebec Superior Court.
The Mohawk Council of Kanehsatà:ke requested that its staff leave their offices and that residents stay away from the buildings targeted by the raid, including the community's health centre.
