Ethics Newsline®

Special to Newsline from Canadian correspondent Errol P. Mendes

OTTAWA
The Canadian government is demanding more than $120 million from Hewlett-Packard (HP) Canada for work that the government claims was never done by subcontractors involving information technology defense contracts.

Claiming that no work was actually done by the subcontractors even though the invoices for the work were paid, the Canadian government sent a letter to HP Canada demanding repayment of the monies by March 22.

The company refused to pay, denying any responsibility for the subcontractors or for what happened.

The government is currently contemplating legal action against HP and has hired a leading Canadian corporate lawyer to look into legal avenues to recoup the money claimed.

This latest controversy arose as a result of the findings of an internal Defence Ministry audit and subsequent police investigation into the billing by subcontractors for alleged work done on the defense contracts.