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A former City of Surrey finance clerk and part-time pastry chef accused of diverting taxpayer funds to her boutique cake-baking business has been charged with cooking the books at city hall.
Six months after CBC News revealed the existence of an investigation into allegations of wrongdoing in Surrey’s finance department, Sunny Catlin has been charged with breach of trust, fraud, theft and forgery in relation to nearly $2.5 million worth of missing money.
The Surrey Police Service issued a news release Wednesday about the charges, which come more than a year after an investigation that began in January 2024 after Catlin allegedly quit her job when she was questioned about what appeared to be a forged signature on some paperwork.
According to a search warrant obtained by CBC News, that irregularity allegedly led to the discovery of 183 fraudulent cheques written out to Catlin’s former legal name, her mother and her side business — drawing on funds kept in accounts that had been dormant for years.
‘Committing fraud since 2017’
Catlin is slated to make her first appearance on the charges next Tuesday.
According to court documents, the RCMP’s investigation began after the city’s chief financial officer called “to report that his staff within the finance department had uncovered a fraud.”
A warrant issued in March to search Catlin’s work computer claims Surrey city CFO Kam Grewal told police she “had been committing fraud since 2017, by exploiting her position and had defrauded the city of more than $2 million.”
The court documents give an overview of the civic deposit process Catlin is accused of manipulating to reward herself.
“The City collects deposits from developers, construction companies and individuals. The deposits are then returned to them once they complete their projects and/or meet certain conditions set by the City,” the search warrant says.
“The City collects thousands of deposits every year and some deposits have been with the city for over 20 to 40 years, as projects can be delayed, abandoned or the company has some other issues.”
Grewal allegedly told police Catlin “had access to the City databases that had allowed her to see the details about deposits and allowed her to change the names of the payee for the cheques to be issued.”
‘Cheques that she was not expecting’
According to the search warrant, Catlin was initially suspended without pay after being confronted about the forgery.
The following day, a replacement sent to pick up cheques normally handled by Catlin was allegedly “given 2 extra cheques that she was not expecting” — one made out to Catlin’s mother and the other to her business.
“It was common knowledge in the office that Catlin also had a cake baking business on the side,” the search warrant says.
“It was also well known that she was an avid gambler. Catlin would often talk about the experiences she had.”
According to the search warrant, Catlin’s supervisors ultimately discovered a total of 183 cheques for a total of $2,537,599.67 written out to the three associated accounts between 2017 and 2024.
They tracked her user ID through the payment system to see where Catlin allegedly made changes to addresses and payees linked to deposit account holders in order to issue cheques to herself.
Lawsuit filed to reclaim funds
In the wake of the CBC’s reporting on the alleged fraud, the City of Surrey insisted that the irregularities were discovered in response to the mayor’s “mandate to ensure fiscally responsible government and to safeguarding every taxpayer dollar.”
The city also sued the woman and her mother in B.C. Supreme Court in February 2024, but the details of the lawsuit didn’t make it into the public domain because the notice of civil claim was sealed.
Catlin’s response to the lawsuit, however, is publicly available.
“[She] expressly denies the allegations of fraud, conversion, conspiracy and breach of fiduciary duty as alleged,” the court document reads.
Catlin’s mother also filed a response denying wrongdoing and claiming she “handed over her bank cards” to her daughter three weeks after opening the CIBC bank account where the funds were allegedly transferred.
She claimed she was not aware that her daughter had not closed her bank accounts.
“At all times, [the mother] was not aware that [the daughter] had transferred some of the misappropriated funds into the CIBC accounts,” the mother claimed.
None of the allegations against Catlin have been proven in court.