Ex-bureaucrat has millions of dollars in India, court filing says

IT specialist fired after alleged theft of COVID funds has $12M in banks, according to affidavit

The Ontario government computer specialist fired after the alleged theft of millions of dollars in COVID-19 relief funds has about $12.4 million in cash in Indian banks, the Star has learned.

While Sanjay Madan helped the province recoup $11.6 million in COVID-19 aid allegedly funnelled to hundreds of Canadian bank accounts, he testified in a sworn affidavit he has money in five accounts in India.

Combined with his real estate holdings, the ex-bureaucrat, terminated in November from his $176,608-a-year Ministry of Education job has assets worth about $28 million.

In documents filed with the Ontario Superior Court, the government alleges last spring “some or all of” Madan, his spouse, Shalini, their adult sons, Chinmaya and Ujjawal, and associate Vidhan Singh perpetrated “a massive fraud” to siphon $11.6 million in Support for Families payments to numerous TD and Bank of Montreal accounts.

As the Star revealed last Friday, those funds have since been returned to the provincial treasury and Madan “co-operated in that process,” according to his lawyer, Christopher Du Vernet.

Shalini was dismissed from her $132,513-a-year position as a Ministry of Government and Consumer Services computer manager last fall while Chinmaya and Ujjawal resigned from lower level IT positions at Queen’s Park the previous summer.

They have said they knew nothing about the accusations against their husband and father. Madan was the information technology lead on the $378-million Support for Families program, which gave Ontario parents $200 per child under 12 and $250 per special needs child and youth under 21 to offset online educational expenses early in the pandemic.

In sworn affidavits Monday, Shalini, Chinmaya, and Ujjawal said they felt “shocked” and “betrayed” to learn hundreds of bank accounts had been allegedly opened in their names without their knowledge.

“Sanjay has always been very controlling and secretive about money, but to the best of my knowledge until that time, never dishonest,” Shalini testified.

“I am at a complete loss to understand why Sanjay would risk everything in the manner he did. We needed nothing,” she said.

Du Vernet said Madan, who is being treated for unspecified mental-health issues, does not dispute the testimony of his family.

The government’s allegations have not been proven in court and no criminal charges have been laid. The Ontario Provincial Police is investigating.

In an affidavit filed on Dec. 18, Madan said he currently has $6,898,746.50 in the State Bank of India and $1,352.81 in ICICI Bank.

The former bureaucrat said he also has 290,248,645 rupees ($5,054,252) in the Indusind Bank India, 23,462,076 rupees ($408,464) in YES Bank, and 166,844.46 rupees ($2,904) in ICICI Bank.

That adds up to $12,365,719. The funds in India were frozen after the Ontario government filed a court injunction that also affects a 30-unit Waterloo student housing complex recently listed for sale for $8 million, a seven-bedroom house in North York valued at $2.57 million, six Toronto condominiums worth about $3 million, and more than $1 million in proceeds from the sale of a four-bedroom house.

As well, Madan has an American account with TD worth $289,099.23 (U.S.).

He also owns two villas purchased in 2013 that are still under construction in Hyderabad, India.

In total, that suggests he has real estate holdings and cash worth about $28 million.

That amount does not include the $11.6 million he assisted the government in recovering.

Madan, who currently cannot access any of the money, will be in a Toronto court Friday as he fights to have the injunction relaxed so he can pay his mounting legal bills.

He holds Canadian and Indian passports. As well, he has permanent residency status in Panama, a tax haven that has no extradition treaty with Canada.

The Star has previously reported that investigators are looking into contractors and subcontractors linked to Madan and his associate Singh.

A sweeping internal audit is examining a slew of past data projects at Queen’s Park.

In its civil action, the government alleges Madan “used his in-depth knowledge” as the IT leader on the online COVID-19 relief application “to direct an unauthorized rule change to allow for fraudulent … payments.”