Ex-CAO accused of stealing $532K from Manitoba municipality has arrest warrant issued, paused

A former municipal official — who was charged with theft and fraud by Manitoba RCMP earlier this year — was subject to an arrest warrant that was issued and put on hold twice after she missed two court dates within the last week.

Amber Fisher, 40, is accused of faking a cyberattack during her time as the CAO of the Municipality of Gilbert Plains, about 350 kilometres northwest of Winnipeg, in an attempt to cover more than $500,000 she allegedly stole from the community in 2020 and 2021.

Last January, RCMP arrested Fisher and charged her with fraud over $5,000, theft over $5,000, and knowingly using proceeds of crime. She was released from custody with conditions.

But Manitoba provincial court Judge Geoffrey Bayly issued a warrant for Fisher's arrest on March 18, after she failed to appear at a hearing in Dauphin, Man., according to court recordings reviewed by CBC News.

Bayly had the warrant held until this Monday, the day Fisher was once again expected to appear in the Dauphin court, but she didn't show up to that hearing, either.

Her release conditions included one that required her to be present for court dates until a lawyer agreed to represent her in court, Bayly said.

"Ms. Fisher knew to be here. She knew to be in court on the 18th. She's not here," he said Monday.

"The endorsed warrant that I had issued previously, but held to today's date, will be released [in order] to be executed by the RCMP."

Brett Gladstone, the lawyer representing Fisher, told CBC News that Bayly put the arrest warrant for Fisher on hold again "as a result of the information I shared with him" around 5 p.m. Monday.

Fisher is expected back in court on March 31, he said.

A student of Gladstone's had spoken to Bayly during the two hearings that Fisher missed, saying the lawyer had been partially retained by the former CAO but was not ready to agree to represent her in court.

'Disappointing': Reeve

Fisher began to work for Gilbert Plains in 2018 and was promoted to chief administrative officer in April 2020.

She was fired in November 2022, after a forensic accounting and financial investigation report by MNP found she had transferred about $532,000 of the municipality's money to her bank account while she was CAO.

The municipality sued her in 2023, and a default judgment ruled in the municipality's favour after Fisher did not submit a statement of defence. The default judgment ordered Fisher to pay $525,000, with an annual interest rate of five per cent.

A Manitoba court ordered the seizure of her wages last October.

Gilbert Plains Reeve Jim Manchur said Fisher was expected to enter a plea on the charges in her recent court dates, and that sparked intrigue.

The judge also wondered why so many people were in the courtroom last week.

"There's a number of people in the body of the court," Bayly said in the March 18 hearing, after the warrant for Fisher's arrest was initially issued and held. "I'm just wondering, is anyone here expecting their name to be on the docket?"

"They're here for the Fisher matter," a man is heard replying.

Fisher's absence from court over the last week is part of a pattern for the former CAO, who showed a lack of co-operation during the forensic audit and subsequent RCMP investigation, Manchur said.

"It's kind of disappointing to see."

The municipality is considering whether it should introduce a special levy to cover a financial deficit at Gilbert Plains, he said. That deficit includes accounting and legal fees associated with Fisher's alleged theft and fraud.

Those details are expected to be finalized before a public presentation of the municipality's upcoming budget on April 10, he said.

CBC News has reached out to Fisher for comment several times, but she has not responded.