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Photo by www.crupi.biz

The allegations centre around a Thunder Bay, Ont. company called the Crupi Consulting Group. Franco Crupi is still the company’s president, while Joe Crupi was the treasurer until about 2014. The suit names both brothers plus four companies they’re alleged to have been directing.

In an interview, Franco Crupi — who has not been criminally charged — told the National Post he will be fully defending himself.

“It’s gone to my lawyers and they’ll be dealing with it,” he said. The fraud allegations concern his brother, Crupi said, with whom he is not on speaking terms.

“I had nothing to do with that file. I am the president of the company, but I had nothing to do with the file. What can I say right now? It’s going to be looked into, because many of those expenditures had been authorized by Health Canada.” (The National Post was unable to reach Joe Crupi for comment.)

Kashechewan, located on James Bay in Ontario’s far north, is one of Canada’s most isolated and troubled reserves, dealing with annual flooding, a chronic suicide crisis and other severe health and infrastructure issues.

“I don’t think anybody in Canada could believe the level of poverty and deprivation that exists in Kashechewan,” said NDP MP Charlie Angus, whose Timmins-James Bay riding includes the reserve. “This is an incredibly impoverished community that did not have the resources to protect their own interests. They had to trust the government, and they had to trust the people that the government said would look after their finances for them.”