AJ Skognes

Why's of Mraiche: "The question of why Sam Mraiche and his companies, such as MHCare Medical Corp, have secured over $614 million in provincial contracts, and who permitted them, is the central focus of a massive healthcare procurement scandal, independent judicial reviews, and an active RCMP criminal investigation into potential fraud, money laundering, and breach of trust. The evidence compiled by investigative journalists, court filings from a high-profile wrongful dismissal lawsuit by former AHS CEO Athana Mentzelopoulos, and an independent review by retired judge Raymond Wyant detail exactly how these contracts were obtained and who greenlit them. PART 1: Why Is Mraiche Getting So Many Contracts? Mraiche’s firms secured dominance across pandemic PPE supply lines, the controversial $70-million Turkish children's Tylenol import deal, chartered surgical facility expansions, like ASG Heritage Valley, and even $100-million contracts for indigenous recovery centres through three main mechanisms: Inside Connections and "Interlocking" Directorates: Investigations revealed that senior procurement officials inside AHS had undisclosed, highly conflicted personal and business ties to Mraiche. Most notably, Jitendra Prasad, AHS Chief Procurement Officer, and Blayne Iskiw, senior AHS procurement official, were quietly listed as directors of a numbered private company alongside Mraiche’s close relatives while actively overseeing multi-million dollar provincial health supply contracts. Prasad even possessed an active corporate @mhcaremedical.com email address as early as 2022 while working as the head of public healthcare purchasing. Bypassing Competitive Bidding-- The "Emergency" Loophole: During the COVID-19 pandemic and the subsequent 2022 nationwide shortage of children's pain medication, the government bypassed traditional, transparent request-for-proposal processes. By invoking "Authorized Procurement Exceptions" and emergency MINISTERIAL directives, contracts were directly sole-sourced to Mraiche’s companies without open competition, fair-market price validation, or standard legal vetting by the commercial law team. Political Lobbying and Access: Mraiche cultivated deep ties with senior political figures. Investigative reports revealed that Mraiche and his business associates hosted Premier Danielle Smith, seven provincial cabinet ministers, and top political staffers in private luxury suites during the NHL playoffs, blurring the lines between government decision-makers and private corporate contractors. Part 2: Who Is Permitting These Contracts? The approval of these lucrative, non-competitive deals didn’t come from a single person, but rather a combination of compromised internal bureaucrats and direct political pressure from the highest levels of the UCP government. Premier & Cabinet Ministers (Political Pressure & Directives) ▼ Premier's Chief of Staff Marshall Smith (Enforced Approvals / Fired Dissidents) ▼ AHS Internal Procurement Prasad & Iskiw──► Sam Mraiche / MHCare / ASG Top Political Enforcers: The Premier’s Office Sworn court documents filed by the former CEO of AHS, Athana Mentzelopoulos, state that throughout 2024, she faced intense, direct pressure from provincial officials, most notably Marshall Smith, Premier Danielle Smith’s Chief of Staff, to force through and sign off on highly inflated private surgical facility contracts tied to Mraiche. When Mentzelopoulos resisted and expanded her internal investigation into Mraiche’s "sweetheart deals," the Smith government abruptly fired her and dissolved the entire AHS Board of Directors, replacing them with political appointees who immediately paused or buried the internal probes...1/