Former Quebec municipal official fined nearly $50,000 for tax fraud

For human resources leaders, a recent case out of Quebec highlights the importance of ethics, controls and due diligence when recruiting and overseeing officials with access to public funds.

Revenu Québec said that a former senior municipal official has been fined nearly $50,000 for tax fraud after admitting she misappropriated close to $295,000 from a small Quebec municipality and failed to declare the funds as income.

In a statement released Tuesday, the Quebec government agency announced that Fanny Beaulieu St‑Laurent was sentenced on April 16, 2026 at the Rivière‑du‑Loup courthouse “after pleading guilty to charges related to the Tax Administration Act.”

Revenu Québec said “the court imposed fines totaling $49,238.18” following the joint sentencing recommendation that was presented to the court.

Misappropriation of municipal funds and tax offences

At the time of the offences, Beaulieu St‑Laurent lived in Cacouna and held the positions of Director General and Clerk‑Treasurer of the Municipality of Saint‑Simon‑de‑Rimouski. She now resides in Vallée‑Jonction, according to the provincial tax authority.

Revenu Québec said that between Aug. 12, 2021 and April 30, 2022, while occupying those roles, Beaulieu St‑Laurent “misappropriated funds belonging to the Municipality of Saint‑Simon‑de‑Rimouski, notably by using the municipality's credit card for personal purposes and by making bank transfers to her personal accounts.”

Following an investigation, the agency concluded that she “thus appropriated a total amount of $294,610.62, which she did not declare in her personal income tax returns for the 2021 and 2022 tax years, thereby committing the offences with which she is charged.”

Quebec government anti‑corruption effort

Two charges were laid under the Tax Administration Act, and Beaulieu St‑Laurent pleaded guilty to both after the joint sentencing recommendation. 

Revenu Québec said the investigation was carried out in collaboration with the province’s Permanent Anti‑Corruption Unit (UPAC), as part of the Aisance project. The Quebec government says the case forms part of wider efforts to crack down on economic crime involving public entities.

“Revenu Québec plays a key role in the fight against economic crime and tax fraud. That's why it makes significant efforts to combat them,” the agency said, adding that ensuring the province “fully recovers the tax revenues owed to it is a priority… a matter of fairness to the vast majority of the population, as well as to businesses that pay their fair share of taxes.”

Earlier this year, a former Millbrook First Nation employee was sentenced to 4½ years in prison for defrauding the community of more than $4 million over a four‑year period.

How can employers address employee fraud?

Here’s how employers can address the issue of employee fraud, according to Ruairi O'Donnellan, a content marketer for Intuition Publishing:

1. Make fraud awareness training part of your core HR program - Build regular, organisation‑wide training into your learning calendar so employees clearly understand what internal fraud looks like in day‑to‑day work, not just in theory. Use realistic scenarios to show how “small” policy breaches or rationalisations can snowball into serious misconduct, and spell out both the organisational impact (financial loss, reputational damage, morale, job security) and personal consequences (discipline, termination, possible imprisonment).

2. Be explicit about expectations and consequences - Use your policies, contracts and training materials to define fraud in plain language and set a clear zero‑tolerance stance. Make it unambiguous that all suspected cases will be investigated and may be reported to external authorities, removing any perception that misconduct is low‑risk or quietly overlooked.

3. Promote a genuine speak‑up culture - Position HR as a trusted channel for concerns and back this with confidential or anonymous reporting options. Reinforce in all communications that raising red flags early is a professional responsibility, and protect employees from reprisals when they report in good faith so they are less likely to ignore warning signs or “leave it to someone else.”

4. Support proactive monitoring and surprise checks - Partner with finance, risk and IT to implement continuous monitoring tools that can flag unusual patterns or behaviours in real time. Encourage a mix of regular and unannounced audits so staff understand controls are active and meaningful, which helps deter fraud and surfaces issues before they escalate.

5. Help build and maintain a fraud risk management framework - Work with risk and compliance to map where fraud risks are most likely to arise (e.g., roles handling payments, procurement, data access) and document how those risks are identified, assessed and mitigated. Use the framework’s reporting to brief leadership and to inform HR decisions on hiring, role design, succession and performance management in high‑risk areas.

“With the right culture, oversight, and controls in place, organizations can significantly reduce the likelihood and impact of internal fraud,” says Ruairi.

A civil lawsuit filed in the Supreme Court of British Columbia earlier this year alleges three workers at a Denny’s restaurant in Kamloops misappropriated more than $500,000 in electronic tips over a two‑year period.