Cancer Clinic Cuts Staff

Montreal’s largest private breast cancer treatment clinic has cut one quarter of its staff. Ville Marie Medical and Women's Health Centre says the decision was necessary because it was unable to recover nearly $1.5 million it lost in fraud.

Ben Driss, the clinics former Chief Financial Officer is accused of siphoning the money since he was hired in 2005.

The centre’s managing director has said service to patients will not be affected by the cuts. Most of the cuts were to support staff, not doctors.

In December a criminal complaint was filed against Driss. Only this month was an arrest warrant issued by Quebec, raising questions as to why it took so long. A police officer involved in the case explained the difficulties unique to financial fraud investigations.  He said that while police may act quickly, they often have to wait for authorization to view bank files.

Driss is still at large to police. His house and cottage, which have both been seized by the clinic, were heavily mortgaged and are not expected to make up for a significant amount of the money lost.