Former B.C. social worker Robert Riley Saunders arrested, charged

CBC ^ | 12/04/2020 | Rhianna Schmunk

[simpson96]

A former social worker accused of siphoning money from dozens of B.C.'s most vulnerable children for more than a decade has been arrested and now faces 13 criminal charges, the RCMP said Friday.

Robert Riley Saunders, who eluded civil officials for months after the allegations first surfaced, was recently arrested in Alberta, the Mounties said.

He was charged Wednesday with 10 counts of fraud over $5,000, one count of theft over $5,000, one count of breach of trust and one count of uttering a forged document. He remains in custody.

Former foster children, the majority of whom are Indigenous, have accused Saunders of steering them away from stable, loving homes onto the street or more independent living situations when they were children. They said he then used joint bank accounts to take government aid for himself, when it was meant to fund their care.

(snip)

Saunders was first hired by the ministry in 1996. He used a fake bachelor of social work degree made out to be from the University of Manitoba, as part of his original employment applications, according to court filings.

[simpson96]

Looks like he was enjoying Hawaii with some of that money.

[Amberdawn]

Small potato’s compared to the “Tribal Elders” who swindle 100’s of thousands from their own people.