Two employees of Atlas Copco are currently on trial in Canada over alleged fraud against their employer.
Paul Caron and Dirk Plate are charged with carrying out $18.51m fraud against the construction equipment giant.
The case revolves around Atlas Copco’s employee benefits programme, which between 2001 and 2007 was billed $24.7m by Paul Caron, a middle man working for the company, on behalf of its insurance broker.
The case alleges the bill should have been closer to $5.4m, and that Paul Caron stole the money with the help of Atlas Copco employees, including Dirk Plate, who is also on trial for the fraud.
Another Atlas Copco employee, Leo Caron, was charged in 2012, and pleaded guilty to fraud the following year. He was sentenced to five years in prison.
Plate originally worked for Atlas Copco in his native Netherlands, before being transferred to the company’s Canadian operation in 1993, becoming general manager at the Sudbury office in 2002.
It is alleged that Plate, unhappy with his company pension package, chose to defraud Atlas Copco, along with Paul Caron and Atlas Copco’s then finance manager, David Hillier.
Hillier will not stand trial, however, as he agreed to testify against the two charged men in exchange for immunity from prosecution. He has also repaid the $309,000 he admits to having taken.
Both Paul Caron and Dirk Plate have pleaded not guilty to the charges. The trial continues.