{"id":546298,"date":"2026-03-19T07:42:08","date_gmt":"2026-03-19T07:42:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/546298\/"},"modified":"2026-03-19T07:42:08","modified_gmt":"2026-03-19T07:42:08","slug":"police-search-offices-of-sam-mraiche-owned-firm-as-part-of-alberta-procurement-probe","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/546298\/","title":{"rendered":"Police search offices of Sam Mraiche-owned firm as part of Alberta procurement probe"},"content":{"rendered":"

Open this photo in gallery:<\/a><\/p>\n

RCMP officers at MHCare Medical Corp.\u2019s headquarters in Edmonton on Wednesday. MHCare is owned by Edmonton entrepreneur Sam Mraiche.JASON FRANSON\/The Globe and Mail<\/p>\n

The RCMP<\/a> have executed search warrants as part of their investigation into procurement irregularities at Alberta\u2019s health authority, a controversy that has dogged Premier Danielle Smith\u2019s<\/a> government for more than a year.<\/p>\n

The Mounties, in an e-mail to The Globe and Mail on Wednesday, said officers had \u201cexecuted multiple search warrants,\u201d but would not provide further information.<\/p>\n

At least a dozen RCMP officers were inside and outside MHCare Medical Corp.\u2019s headquarters in Edmonton on Wednesday. The medical equipment supplier is one of the companies under scrutiny for its ties to public servants at Alberta Health Services and provincial politicians. <\/p>\n

Officers at the scene on Wednesday declined to comment.<\/p>\n

The RCMP, a year ago, confirmed that they were investigating allegations of inappropriate procurement procedures in the province\u2019s health care system. <\/p>\n

Sam Mraiche<\/a>, an Edmonton entrepreneur, owns MHCare. A Globe and Mail investigation published last year detailed Mr. Mraiche\u2019s connections to senior officials in the Alberta government.<\/p>\n

Scott Hutchison, a lawyer for Mr. Mraiche, said in an e-mailed statement that Mr. Mraiche and MHCare \u201chave consistently maintained that they have not engaged in any improper conduct.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cThey remain confident that any fair and objective investigation will reach that conclusion,” he added.<\/p>\n

Alberta Health Services\u2019s former chief executive, Athana Mentzelopoulos, alleged in court documents that the government fired her for investigating possible conflicts of interest in some of the organization\u2019s procurement deals, including contracts tied to Mr. Mraiche. The government denies Ms. Mentzelopoulos\u2019s allegations, which have not been tested in court. <\/p>\n

Open this photo in gallery:<\/a><\/p>\n

At least a dozen RCMP officers were inside and outside MHCare Medical Corp.\u2019s headquarters in Edmonton on Wednesday.JASON FRANSON\/The Globe and Mail<\/p>\n

MHCare has been awarded more than $600-million in business by Alberta Health Services since 2020, including $70-million for a 2022 deal to import children\u2019s medication from Turkey, roughly a third of which was delivered.<\/p>\n

A marked RCMP SUV was parked outside MHCare\u2019s office Wednesday afternoon. Officers were also spotted getting into unmarked vehicles. <\/p>\n

A woman who answered the phone at a neighbouring business said RCMP were also at MHCare\u2019s headquarters on Tuesday.<\/p>\n

MHCare was closely tied to the government\u2019s plan to purchase children\u2019s acetaminophen and ibuprofen from a new supplier during the North American shortage of those medications in late 2022. Alberta Health Services signed the deal with MHCare to import five million bottles of the painkillers from a manufacturer in Turkey. Very little of the medicine was ever used and most of it was either donated to other countries or destroyed. <\/p>\n<\/p>\n

Alberta\u2019s Auditor-General, Doug Wylie, is also investigating allegations of improper procurement at Alberta\u2019s Health Ministry and Alberta Health Services.<\/p>\n

Cheryl Schneider, a spokesperson for the Auditor-General, on Wednesday said the process has taken \u201clonger than anticipated due to the ongoing receipt of relevant documentation and the availability of key interviewees.\u201d<\/p>\n

Mr. Wylie expects the \u201cdocument review and interviews will be complete, and findings determined\u201d by the time his term wraps up at the end of April, Ms. Schneider said.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhile the report will not be prepared before Auditor General Doug Wylie\u2019s term concludes on April 28, the office has a capable team in place to complete the work.\u201d<\/p>\n

Ms. Smith also appointed a retired judge from Manitoba to review whether the Health Ministry and agency had followed their own procurement policies. Raymond Wyant, in a report released in October<\/a>, determined that Alberta Health Services did not follow procedure when it signed the deal with MHCare to import children\u2019s painkillers from Turkey. <\/p>\n

He also concluded that both the Health Ministry and Alberta Health Services had failed to follow their own rules when signing off on a private surgical centre in Edmonton.<\/p>\n

Podcasters at centre of alleged Alberta health harassment campaign ask for case against them to be thrown out<\/a><\/p>\n

Matt Jones, one of Alberta\u2019s four ministers now overseeing health care in the province, on Wednesday said the government plans to tighten the rules around health care contracting, including by banning employees from using personal e-mail while conducting government business and expanding protections for whistleblowers, in response to the sprawling controversy. <\/p>\n

He said the government will adopt all 18 recommendations that Mr. Wyant submitted as part of his report. <\/p>\n

Mr. Jones highlighted a handful of incoming changes, largely focused on addressing conflicts of interest, when discussing his department\u2019s budget at the standing committee on families and communities. <\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019re ensuring all perceived or actual conflicts of interest are managed, disclosed and enforced, both internally and when dealing with suppliers and service providers,\u201d he said. <\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019re reviewing legal and contractual frameworks to ensure all applicants and contractors are held to the highest ethical standards, and we\u2019re strengthening procurement thresholds and signing authorities to prevent misconduct and restore public confidence.\u201d<\/p>\n

Sam Blackett, a spokesman for Ms. Smith, did not respond an e-mail seeking comment late Wednesday.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Open this photo in gallery: RCMP officers at MHCare Medical Corp.\u2019s headquarters in Edmonton on Wednesday. MHCare is…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":546299,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[901,888,902,879,877,903,48,876,895,896,891,878,875,46,549,295,894,887,914,880,881,893,43,889,890,884,904,885,909,910,44,912,907,911,905,908,882,898,899,714,897,906,865,61,41,39,42,40,900,892,886,883,913],"class_list":["post-546298","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-headlines","tag-alberta","tag-arts-news","tag-bc","tag-breaking-news","tag-breaking-news-video","tag-british-columbia","tag-canada","tag-canada-news","tag-canada-sports","tag-canada-sports-news","tag-canada-trafficcanada-weather","tag-canadian-breaking-news","tag-canadian-news","tag-economy","tag-education","tag-environment","tag-federal-government","tag-foreign-news","tag-globe-and-mail","tag-globe-and-mail-breaking-news","tag-globe-and-mail-canada-news","tag-government","tag-headlines","tag-life-news","tag-lifestyle","tag-local-news","tag-manitoba","tag-national-news","tag-new-brunswick","tag-newfoundland-and-labrador","tag-news","tag-northwest-territories","tag-nova-scotia","tag-nunavut","tag-ontario","tag-pei","tag-photos","tag-political-news","tag-political-opinion","tag-politics","tag-politics-news","tag-quebec","tag-sports-news","tag-technology","tag-top-news","tag-top-stories","tag-topnews","tag-topstories","tag-travel","tag-trudeau","tag-us-news","tag-world-news","tag-yukon"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/546298","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=546298"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/546298\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/546299"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=546298"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=546298"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=546298"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}