July 16, 2024
Peguis First Nation and a real estate business it created paid a company controlled by a Winnipeg developer at least $4.4 million over two years for consulting services, CBC News has learned.
The leaders of the cash-strapped Cree and Ojibway nation, which struggles with perennial flooding and the financial aftermath of high-interest loans, are now questioning the payments, which were approved under a previous chief and council.
Between April 5, 2021, and March 10, 2023, Peguis First Nation paid $3.8 million to a numbered company controlled by developer Andrew Marquess, according to a list of payments provided to CBC News by the band’s chief and council.
Between Aug. 17, 2021 and March 29, 2022, the Peguis First Nation Real Estate Trust, a limited partnership with the stated goal of creating housing and engaging in off-reserve development, recorded at least $600,000 worth of payments to the same Marquess-controlled company, according to financial records obtained by CBC News.