The Durham Regional Police Service Financial Crimes Unit arrested eight people on March 5, 2026, after a long investigation into a $3 million fraud scheme in Oshawa, Ontario. The arrests followed a detailed look into how an employee allegedly stole money from a local business over several years by using fake invoices and diverting payroll funds.
Police started the investigation, called Project Fletcher, in November 2021 after the company ServiceMaster discovered financial issues during an internal review. Investigators found that a 54-year-old woman working as an operations manager led a plan to move company money to other individuals, including her own family members.
The scheme involved sending wages to people who did not work there and submitting bills for work from subcontractors that was never actually completed. While police believe the fraud might have gone on for 15 years, the official investigation focused on the years between 2015 and 2021 because those were the years with available records.
To solve the case, officers used 27 different court orders to look through tens of thousands of financial documents and 22 separate bank accounts. The Durham Regional Police Service worked with federal financial experts and forensic accountants to track where the stolen $3 million went.
While eight people are now facing charges, police are still searching for five more suspects involved in the case. The investigation highlights how internal theft can impact local businesses over a long period of time when records are not closely watched.
