Alberta woman fined $10,000 for falsifying emissions reviews
An Alberta woman is facing a hefty fine after pleading guilty to a charge related to her falsifying of emissions review documents by using the digital signature and email address of a former co-worker.
Amberg Corporation and employee Olga Kiiker were charged with 25 offences in May — two under the Emissions Management and Climate Resilience Act (EMCRA) and 23 under the Technology Innovation and Emissions Reduction Regulation. Amberg is an environmental and regulatory consultancy firm that performed third-party reviews to ensure companies were compliant with emissions laws.
Kiiker pleaded guilty to one of the EMCRA charges, dated April 1, 2021, that alleged she “knowingly provide(d) false or misleading information” related to a review conducted by the company.
In a Nov. 21 sentencing, the Alberta Court of Justice handed her a $10,000 fine and a three-year prohibition from working in similar roles. The other charges against Kiiker have been withdrawn.
According to an agreed statement of facts, Kiiker had worked at the company for about 11 years in a co-ordinator role, obtaining and facilitating contracts for Amberg to do its review work. Only one employee at the small company was certified to complete and sign off those reviews, Ashley Mathew.
After Mathew left the company in December 2020, Kiiker used the former employee's digital signature to sign off on 10 projects by June 2021.
“In order to continue to provide services and complete the contracts, Ms. Kiiker completed documents as though Ms. Mathew had done the peer reviews and used Ms. Mathew's digital signature on the peer review documents. Ms. Mathew did not complete the peer reviews, nor did she sign the required documentation,” reads the agreed statement of facts.
Kiiker also sent an email to Alberta Environment and Parks from Mathew's company email address to falsely verify that Mathew had completed a required training session.
KIIKER EXPRESSES REGRET
As part of her sentence, Kiiker was ordered to write an article for the Environmental Services Association of Alberta's weekly news publication.
In the piece, attached to the sentencing order, Kiiker said the company had trouble finding a certified replacement for Mathews and that the company was struggling with staffing shortages and the impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic.
“We were under a lot of pressure to get work and keep work. It didn't seem possible to turn down contracts for third-party reviews and I thought I could convince the former employee to help with the verification on the side just to get us through this busy time but this, but that didn't happen,” she wrote.
Kiiker said she was under a “tremendous amount of stress” and recovering from a major ongoing medical event at the time.
“(I) was afraid I could lose my job if we did not complete the work. I just wasn't thinking clearly,” she wrote.
Kiiker said she regrets her “terrible decisions,” and they continue to impact her life. She's now unemployed and is unable to find suitable employment due to her serious medical issues and her age.
“This has been a terrible time in my life,” she wrote.
“I hope that anyone else who is thinking that a signature is just a signature, remembers my story and takes time to think about the potential consequences.”
Charges against Amberg Corp. are still winding through the courts, with the next appearance slated for Jan. 11, 2024.
The company appears to no longer be operating; its website is down, and no contact information is readily available online.