Former Garden River housing manager pleads guilty to forging documents

A Garden River First Nation woman has pleaded guilty to forging the signatures of chief and council in order to secure a loan worth more than $300,000 while employed as the housing manager for the First Nation in 2021. 

Anne Headrick was initially charged by Ontario Provincial Police (OPP) in December 2022 for uttering a pair of forged documents after an investigation was launched by members of the OPP Anti-Rackets Branch earlier that year.

On Tuesday, the Ontario Court of Justice heard that Headrick uttered a letter of indemnity guaranteeing a loan — purportedly bearing the signature of Garden River’s chief — in addition to producing a band council resolution approving the loan, along with the forged signatures of nine band council members, in December 2021.  

A $330,000 loan was subsequently obtained by Headrick through an on-demand housing loan program where the First Nation backs mortgages for community members. 

The court heard the loan was then leveraged by the former housing manager in order to facilitate a $96,000 cash advance, which was used by Headrick to pay off a lawful 2017 mortgage and pay down a credit card before depositing the remaining funds into her personal bank account.     

In April 2022, OPP began investigating allegations of fraud involving funds acquired in 2019 and 2021 from a chartered bank through a Government of Canada mortgage program on behalf of the First Nation. 

As police launched its investigation into Headrick, leadership in Garden River First Nation announced on social media that it had hired an outside firm to investigate financial transactions in a number of departments amid allegations of employee misconduct brought on by a whistleblower who worked for the First Nation.  

"The investigation was started after a GRFN employee took the courageous and responsible step of reporting what they believed to be misconduct by other employees," said the statement from chief and council at the time.   

One of Headrick’s roles as housing manager was to help other band members obtain loans for housing, the court heard Tuesday. 

The court also heard that Headrick has made monthly payments totalling $310,000 when asked by Ontario Court Justice John Condon how much of the fraudulently obtained money has been recovered. 

Both a pre-sentence report and a Gladue report, which details the unique life circumstances of an Indigenous person charged with a criminal offence, have been requested by legal counsel for Headrick. 

Her sentencing hearing is scheduled for May 29.