Caspian’s invoice requests raised police HQ subcontractor’s suspicions, inquiry told By: Joyanne Pursaga Posted: 5:26 PM CDT Tuesday, Apr. 14, 2026

A subcontractor on the Winnipeg Police Service headquarters project says he was suspicious about some invoices he was asked to submit but also couldn’t afford to lose the work.

Helder Cunha, a co-founder of Cunha Masonry, testified at a public inquiry into the headquarters project Tuesday. He said he received emails from main HQ contractor Caspian Projects asking for invoices that didn’t match his costs. The inquiry heard one 2012 email requested a “dummy” invoice for $82,000.

In 2013, he said Caspian asked him to submit three invoices with a total that appeared to exceed his company’s total price for the work, though the exact difference was not clear.

“That (adds up to) more than our contract. So, at this point, I was… thinking something was wrong.”

“I’m not sure what it was relevant to because that (adds up to) more than our contract. So, at this point, I was… thinking something was wrong. I’m not sure what,” said Cunha.

However, the business owner said he felt he had no proof of what was happening. He said he feared losing the project could put himself and his company at risk of bankruptcy, since he was also using some personal credit to cover his costs.

“At this point, I was… between a rock and a hard spot,” said Cunha.

He noted subcontractors often face many costs early into a project for wages and supplies, so it’s critical to ensure they receive prompt payments from contractors.

The inquiry heard one 2013 email sent to Cunha by a Caspian employee asked him to send an invoice dated Oct. 25 for $588,000, and noted “You can throw this away after. Keep continuing with your regular billing.”

The inquiry heard that invoice was billed to the city.

Cunha said his company did not receive any payment beyond the value of its work.

Serious concerns with the headquarters project at 245 Smith St. have plagued the City of Winnipeg for years. The building opened in June 2016 at a cost of $214 million, well above its original $135-million price tag. An external audit concluded it was severely mismanaged.

The provincial government called the public inquiry into the project, the stated goal of which is to ensure the same problems are not repeated.

Inquiry commissioner Garth Smorang noted several subcontractors have now testified they were concerned invoices were being altered.

“We’ve heard from a whole bunch of people who run a whole bunch of businesses who basically succumbed to what they described as… (being expected to) co-operate, or else,” said Smorang.

Caspian owner Armik Babakhanians previously testified at the inquiry that he and his company submitted hundreds of false invoices for the project. Babakhanians told the inquiry the invoices he submitted aimed to match its guaranteed maximum price and cover his expected profit of $17 million to $18 million.

Smorang asked if requiring subcontractors to send every invoice directly to both the contractor and a key official on the owner’s side of the project could add oversight to ensure all financial claims are accurate.

“I’ve been in this business for (about 50) years and I’ve had hard contractors to deal with but something like this doesn’t happen.”

Cunha said that change could help but, in his experience, the issue was unique to this project.

“I’ve been in this business for (about 50) years and I’ve had hard contractors to deal with but something like this doesn’t happen,” he said.

In March, the inquiry heard from a forensic accountant, who estimated $45 million to $50 million in excess claims were filed for the project. Babakhanians has strongly denied allegations that his company overcharged the city to receive that amount.

While the RCMP conducted a lengthy investigation into fraud and forgery allegations related to the project, no criminal charges were laid.

In 2023, city council voted to approve a settlement of fraud and construction deficiency lawsuits it raised over the headquarters. The settlement called for the city to receive about $23 million, if paid within three years. That deadline passed last month, so the city is now asking the Court of King’s Bench to order that it be paid $28 million.

The city received $500,000 of the settlement earlier this year.

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Meanwhile, public hearing dates for the inquiry are now slated to wrap up sooner than expected.

The inquiry was initially scheduled to sit 48 days between February and June. It is now expected to take place over 38 or fewer days. As part of the change, lawyers will file written submissions by June 18 instead of presenting them in person.

Smorang confirmed the hearing date reduction is aimed at ensuring the inquiry remains within its $2.3-million budget.

joyanne.pursaga@freepress.mb.ca

X: @joyanne_pursaga

Joyanne Pursaga
Reporter

Joyanne is city hall reporter for the Winnipeg Free Press. A reporter since 2004, she began covering politics exclusively in 2012, writing on city hall and the Manitoba Legislature for the Winnipeg Sun before joining the Free Press in early 2020. Read more about Joyanne.

Every piece of reporting Joyanne produces is reviewed by an editing team before it is posted online or published in print — part of the Free Press‘s tradition, since 1872, of producing reliable independent journalism. Read more about Free Press’s history and mandate, and learn how our newsroom operates.