Newly unsealed RCMP documents suggest the owner of Caspian Construction wrote cheques to former Winnipeg mayor Sam Katz.
The information is contained in search warrant papers filed days before police raided the construction firm in December of 2014.
RCMP alleges Caspian forged, inflated, and manipulated invoices for work on the Winnipeg police headquarters -- a project that's more than $75 million over budget.
According to court documents, a former accounting department employee from Caspian told investigators that Sam Katz received two personal cheques from the company's owner worth as much as $6,000 each.
The accountant did not know why Katz received the money and noted it wasn't related to any specific job.
However, other employees with the firm told police money paid out to the former mayor was for Winnipeg Jets and concert tickets at the MTS Centre.
CTV contacted Katz who says the cheques were for tickets and had absolutely nothing to do with the police headquarters project.
"Absolutely not, OK. Absolutely not. Anything that was in there was specifically repaid for tickets to events and I'm sure there's a record that shows that," said Katz.
The former employee also told RCMP that Caspian billed the city for personal family items and invoiced it to the cost of the police building.
A $25,000 swimming pool, house renovations, and a septic tank cleaning were included. The documents also allege the construction firm billed cost overruns from the Winnipeg Transit garage project and invoiced that to the police station in order to guarantee profits on the bus building.
The RCMP began its investigation after audits at city hall found red flags with the police headquarters construction.
RCMP asked a judge to make copies of Caspian's computer files.
CTV contacted the owner of Caspian Construction for comment. Armik Babakhanians tells CTV he strongly disputes all allegations.
None of the allegations in the documents have been proven in court.
