Bottle depot under investigation

Andrea Roberts
Times Intern

 

Strathmore Bottle Depot Ltd. is one of three bottle depots under investigation after been served a Statement of Claim by the Alberta Beverage Container Recycling Corporation (ABCRC) on June 27.
The Statement of Claim cites approximately $16 million had been embezzled after several ABCRC employees had conspired with the three depots.
The ABCRC are the collection system agent for all Alberta beverage manufacturers who sell non-refillable containers; every manufacturer is required by law to work with the ABCRC.
The group collects the bottles from the depot and reimburses them for the refund the depot paid out to the consumer.
“Just to clarify when the consumer goes into the depot there is a transaction where the depot is buying the containers from the consumer that has nothing to do with this statement of claim,” said Guy West, CEO for the company. “We have no knowledge of any problem with that transaction. The $16 million relates to transactions between ABCRC and the bottle depot, where we are collecting the container from the depot.”
West explained they had noticed some questionable activity and had started a forensic review. The ABCRC has made some internal changes because of the investigation they reviewed processes and reinforced the controls that govern the procedures at its processing facilities.
However, as this is an ongoing investigation, West was unable to comment further on the actual Statement of Claim. According to a press release, the ABCRC terminated nine employees and disciplined another three.
“We haven’t done anything wrong,” said Joga Punian, the owner of Strathmore Bottle Depot. “People brought the bottles and they got paid, the government got their GST and their tax. They are ABCRC employees and they should know what they were doing and why they were doing it. I don’t have any control over it here.”
Punian was unable to give further information about the misappropriated funds.
Along with Strathmore Bottle Depot, the claim includes Cochrane Bottle Depot Ltd. and High River Bottle Depot Inc. along with the employees and agents of each depot and nine of their own (ABCRC) employees. The Calgary Police Service is investigating this claim from a criminal law point of view.
The ABCRC also filed a second Statement of Claim against Turner Valley Bottle Depot saying they made a loss of $41,859. They allege the depot purchased non-deposit containers which had never been filled and then had sold the containers to the ABCRC as deposit-bearing containers.
Once the inquiries are completed the cases will go to court.
“There is a process that we will all have to go through,” said West. “From our perspective, we want a decision as quickly as possible, but there has to be a due fair process allowing the depots to defend themselves.”
While the ABCRC was financially impacted by the activity of their dismissed employees and the depots, they believe the depot customers and Albertans will remain unaffected by the case.