No charges yet in Market’s missing million

[projekktor id=’12207′]

Stallholders at the Hamilton Farmers’ Market are still waiting for answers after it was announced last June that more than $1 million of city money went missing over a span of nine years.

At the time, the city of Hamilton had announced a single employee — an accounts receivable coordinator named Mike Hawrylyshyn — had been fired and police had launched an investigation. The city has never confirmed if it was in connection with the missing million, but some stallholders at the market say Hawrylyshyn would often come by to personally collect cash for electricity or rent.

At the same time, vendors received notice that police may contact them about the missing money to assist in their investigation. Today CHCH News spoke with about a dozen vendors, and all say they have not heard anything from police or the city since they received that letter in June.

After he was fired, CUPE Local 5167 filed a grievance with the city on Hawrylyshyn’s behalf. Today the local president confirmed to us that the grievance was resolved in a settlement sometime last year. The city says they have “reached a resolution to this matter” regarding the grievance but did not clarify if it was in connection to the fraud investigation. Neither party would comment on the specific terms of the resolution.

Today police told CHCH News the investigation is still open. They say they’re working with city staff and are awaiting documentation. But they did not say if charges had been laid.