A 51-year-old man from Hay River is fraud and forgery charges after what Inuvik RCMP have called a “lengthy investigation.”
According to a release Friday afternoon, the charges come after a complaint was received about a large sum of money that had gone missing from the Inuvik Liquor Store. The complaint alleged that as much as $100,000 had disappeared between April and July of 2021.
Investigators looked at internal accounting documents and shift schedules to try to determine who would have been at fault. Applications for bank records were applied for through production orders and financial records were given a once-over. From that, police allege that the suspect, Brian Richards, who was the store manager, made several cash deposits over and above his annual salary, which was $76,000.
Investigators believe that the money was taken from the cash that was supposed to refill the ATM at the liquor store.
Richards was arrested as a result and has been released with his first court appearance scheduled for Dec. 5 in Inuvik.