Arviat (Feb 20/06) - Charges are expected to be laid soon into the theft of $25,000 from Arviat's Kiluk Ltd. (sewing centre) during the past 12 months.

The centre falls under the umbrella of the Nunavut Development Corp. (NDC).

NDC financial controller Darrin Nichol said the money was discovered to be missing during routine audit of Kiluk's books this past October.

Nichol said the money was not stolen in one lump sum, but in a series of smaller thefts.

"The matter has been turned over to the Arviat RCMP."

Nichol said although internal fraud is a national issue and not unique to Nunavut, it can tend to be problematic in the North.

"We're very small and, generally, have a limited number of people within the organization."

"Hence, we're often unable to implement the necessary segregation of duties to ensure proper checks and balances are in place throughout the administrative system to prevent such an incident from occurring.

"We are working with the RCMP to determine options available to us in recouping the stolen money."

The $25,000 represents about one-eighth of the centre's annual revenues.

Nichol said the theft sent a shock wave throughout the company.

"The matter was a wake-up call for us and we've learned from it.

"We've taken steps within the NDC to implement policies which, hopefully, will prevent this from happening in the future."

Arviat RCMP Cpl. Greg Sutherland said the detachment has been given the official report from the NDC and is continuing its investigation into the matter. Police have a suspect in the case.

"No official charges have been laid as yet," said Sutherland.

"However, the charges are pending and, most likely, will be laid in the near future.

"We're holding off for the moment because we're discussing with the Crown whether to bring forward theft or fraud charges.

"While the charges are similar, there are certain implications attached to each one and we want to ensure we proceed in the right direction."