Peguis files lawsuit alleging former chief Glenn Hudson engaged in litany of ‘corrupt practices’

Peguis First Nation is suing its former chief over claims of corruption, including allegations that he enriched himself and his family and supporters.

The First Nation filed its statement of claim in Court of King’s Bench last week.

The court papers allege former chief Glenn Hudson “engaged in corrupt practices” to the detriment of the community, including by making unauthorized transfers of money, treating the community’s assets as “if they were his own,” awarded contracts to companies he benefited from and made poor financing and real estate deals while he was chief and as shareholder and director of Peguis corporations.

“As a result of the defendant’s conduct, the nation suffered substantial financial losses, reputational harm and erosion of governance integrity,” claims the court filing.

“The corruption that the defendant engaged in… continues to have lasting negative impacts on the nation.”

Hudson, who was chief of the community of about 10,200 from 2007 to 2015, as well as from 2017 to 2023, lost to current Chief Stan Bird in a 2023 election.

Hudson is still contesting the 2023 election in the Federal Court of Appeal.

He has not yet responded to the statement of claim in court, but denied the allegations in a social media post.

“The frivolous claims brought against me and my family by Stan Bird will be vigorously defended for my years as chief,” he said in a Facebook post last Saturday.

The court filing seeks declarations that Hudson breached his duties and trust to the band and that he fraudulently misrepresented himself.

The lawsuit asks for a court order to trace any money, property or benefits Hudson received improperly.

It seeks compensation for any alleged improperly received benefits as well as damages, but does not include a dollar figure.

The lawsuit claims Hudson fostered an environment in which loyalty to him was rewarded, while typical procedures and oversight were discouraged or disregarded. The court papers claim people who raised concerns were fired, shuffled out or constructively dismissed.

It claims Hudson made cash gifts to certain members with his Peguis-issued credit card and personally, then sought reimbursement without the knowledge of council. Further, it alleges, he encouraged members to charge Peguis for gas bought from a station on the reserve.

It also claims Hudson invoiced Peguis for personal items and services — including furniture, vehicles, cellphones and legal fees — for himself, his family and associates, and used his band-issued credit card for personal expenses.

Hudson, the court papers claim, frequently received double-dipped honorariums from Peguis and from third-party organizations when appearing at third-party events, diverted a grant of $30,000 meant for a residential school survivor monument to himself and diverted $250,000 from the community’s hospital to cover Peguis government cash-flow shortages on several occasions.

It’s also alleged Hudson directed the band to approve spending $22 million in treaty land entitlement money in 2013 on property at Assiniboia Downs, without disclosing he was a director of a company paid just shy of $1 million for “purportedly” arranging financing for the deal.

Hudson is also accused of not acting in Peguis’s best interest when the First Nation’s real estate trust used $10 million in treaty land entitlement money in 2021 to buy a golf course in East St. Paul, then place adviser and developer Andrew Marquess in control of the development before selling much of the land to him in 2024.

The court papers claim Hudson didn’t act in Peguis’s interest when the trust bought land on Wellington Crescent for $350,000, then sold it to a third-party for profit.

He’s also accused of causing Peguis to award construction contracts to firms in which he had an interest, including $20 million in contracts to Ayshkum Engineering Inc., which he co-founded, during his tenure.

Hudson, the court papers say, also oversaw Peguis taking in $95 million in loans from a private lender in 2017, then directing $10 million to a cannabis venture he had an undisclosed interest in the next year.

The matter has not yet been heard in court.

erik.pindera@freepress.mb.ca