A longtime Winnipeg construction company has filed a lawsuit against National Bank of Canada after fraudsters claiming to be a subcontractor allegedly bilked the company of nearly $410,000.

The money was funneled through an account with the bank by scammers who remain unidentified, according to a statement of claim filed last week in Manitoba Court of Queen’s Bench by Maple Leaf Construction Ltd.

According to the statement of claim, Maple Leaf was the general contractor on a project installing concrete culverts underneath a highway when, in January 2021, it retained another company, Tri-Core Project Ltd., as a subcontractor for the project.

In an email to Maple Leaf three months later, fraudsters posing as representatives of Tri-Core claimed the company’s banking information had changed and asked when Maple Leaf intended to make its next bill payment so it could arrange for an electronic fund transfer, says the statement of claim.

Three days later, Maple Leaf received another email from the fraudsters including what was purported to be Tri-Core’s new direct deposit information. At Maple Leaf’s request, the fraudsters provided the company a void cheque which corresponded to the bank account.

On April 30, Maple Leaf authorized an electronic fund transfer through its bank. A week later the fraudsters sent an email to Maple Leaf claiming one of the invoices had been paid, but there had been “a problem with transmission to the account, and accordingly, new account information was provided,” says the statement of claim.

A day later, Maple Leaf’s bank advised the company that National Bank, the bank that had received the funds, was questioning the validity of the transfer, given that the recipient’s name did not match the name listed, says the statement of claim.

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