Ottawa employee caught selling city property on Facebook Marketplace

A tip to the City of Ottawa’s Fraud and Waste hotline has gotten some city employees in trouble.

A City of Ottawa employee was reportedly caught selling city property on Facebook Marketplace, and others were caught working for other employers during city work hours.

The Auditor General will present the reports to the Audit Committee on Feb, 10. This presentation will outline the tips submitted by the public and city staff for 2024. This past year, 328 tips were filed through the hotline, an increase from the 282 reports in 2023 and the 210 in 2022.

Auditor General Natalie Gougeon says there are 650 allegations in the 328 tips to the hotline.

Among the allegations a city employee was found selling City of Ottawa property on Facebook Marketplace, several city employees were found working for a different employer during city working hours, and an employee was found removing city property and supplies for personal use.

More were found violating standard work procedures and were at a “restaurant-like establishment” instead of designated work zones during work hours.

Another reportedly distributed the personal information of their colleagues to an internal email list, according to the auditor general.

Although the auditor general’s report doesn’t specifically outline the actions taken by the city following investigations, the report does state that two were terminated and one resigned.

This isn’t the first time a City of Ottawa Fraud and Waste hotline tip has been reported in the media. In December, an employee was fired following an audit that revealed a landlord kickback scheme in which six landlords received inflated rent prices and sent more than $22,000 in payments to the employee involved.

Source: CTV News