First Nation files lawsuit over alleged misappropriation of more than $500,000

The Taku River Tlingit First Nation claims that Peter Kirby's conduct was "deceitful and amounts to fraud" when he moved the money.

A small First Nation in northern B.C. is suing one of its former executives for allegedly misappropriating more than $500,000 from its accounts.

The Taku River Tlingit First Nation claims that Peter Kirby’s conduct was “deceitful and amounts to fraud” when he moved the money from the accounts of entities linked to the band to his personal accounts.

“Mr. Kirby did not disclose to the board or the Nation his payments of the misappropriated funds to himself, and those payments were not approved by the board or the Nation,” says the notice of civil claim filed in B.C. Supreme Court.

The lawsuit says that at the time the money was transferred in August of last year, Kirby exercised executive control over the entities and was a director, president and chief executive officer, and had signing authority over the financial accounts of the entities.

It says that on Aug. 22 last year, Kirby secretly transferred $500,000 out of Xeitl LP’s bank account into the bank account of Atlin LP.

“The Aug. 22, 2022 transfer was outside the ordinary course of business, and there was no legitimate reason for it. Rather, it was made for the improper purpose of facilitating Mr. Kirby’s misappropriation of funds from the plaintiffs.”

Four days later, Kirby allegedly signed a cheque to himself from the bank account of Atlin LP in the amount of $514,419, and several days after that, is alleged to have deposited the cheque for that amount into his personal account.

The suit says that prior to the misappropriation of funds, the Nation made several requests to Kirby for the production of corporate and financial records related to the entities and their operations but that the defendant refused to comply.

Kirby, who is a citizen of the Nation and a resident of Atlin, also allegedly ignored a directive by the Nation to produce the records.

After transferring the money to himself, Kirby purportedly resigned from his position as chief executive officer of the entities and the next day purportedly resigned as director and president of the entities, the suit claims.

“Mr. Kirby provided no notice of his resignations. Mr. Kirby’s abandonment of his positions as director, president, and chief executive officer constituted a breach of his duty of care of the plaintiffs.”

The total amount alleged to have been misappropriated is $540,249, the amount that the plaintiffs are seeking to have returned to them by the court.

The defendant has not yet filed a response to the lawsuit, which contains allegations that have not been tested in court. Kirby could not be reached for comment.

The First Nation, which has traditional territories in northern B.C., the Yukon and Alaska and is headquartered in Atlin, did not respond to a request for comment.

kfraser@postmedia.com