A B.C. woman has been charged with collecting hundreds of thousands of dollars in government funding for a pair of Vancouver Island child care facilities – after they closed down.
Cumberland resident Victoria Ann Rutenberg, who owns three child care centres in the Comox Valley, is accused of defrauding more than $357,000 from the province's Child Care Operating Fund program between July 2009 and May 2011.
RCMP Const. Dean Biollo said Rutenberg failed to report when two of her facilities closed, and "grossly over-billed" the government for the third.
"Rutenberg allegedly provided fraudulent documentation on an annual and monthly basis to the Ministry of Children and Family Development," Biollo said in a release.
The 37-year-old ran the "After School Fun," "After School Fun Club," and "Fun Club After School Care" programs operating at various area elementary schools.
Comox Valley RCMP received a tip about Rutenberg earlier this year and began investigating with help from the Children's Ministry's fraud unit in June.
Mounties say the local school district and the elementary schools that rented space out for the child care facilities – Cumberland, Royson and Courtenay – had no other part in their operation.
Rutenberg is scheduled to appear in Courtenay provincial court on Dec. 15.
