Two years after Don Powell, the owner of TPG Technology, and a multitude of technology consultants were acquitted of 60 charges of bid-rigging to win technology contracts with the federal government, Powell has launched a $30-million civil claim against government investigators.
Powell, along with two of his colleagues, Sue Laycock and Marina Durward, and TPG and Spearhead Management Canada, are forming the suit.
The plaintiffs are also seeking an additional $13 million from Shaun Pritchard, the former vice-president of sales for Ridge Falls House. In 2005, Pritchard complained to Public Works about computer services contracts at the Canada Border Services Agency (CBSA) that provided the trigger for a decade’s worth of investigations and litigation.
Public Works then transferred the complaint to the Competition Bureau, who then forwarded it to federal Crown prosecutor Denis Pilon.
In 2009, the Crown laid more than 150 charges of bid rigging and related charges against 14 individuals and seven companies. Most of the charges were dropped along the way.
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