Toronto police say they are investigating allegations made by the Daily Bread Food Bank that funds were misused by one of its member agencies, but the head of Feed Scarborough is denying the claims and expressing disappointment.
The Daily Bread Food Bank said it learned in late 2023 of allegations involving Feed Scarborough regarding “the misuse of funds and concerning governance practices” at the Scarborough organization.
“Upon learning of these concerns, Daily Bread Food Bank acted promptly and responsibly and ceased funding to the Feed Scarborough, while continuing to make sure food got to the people of south Scarborough,” CEO Neil Hetherington said in a statement.
Daily Bread said amid the investigation, it has established alternative food support locations near existing Feed Scarborough sites.
Hetherington added that the organization hired external legal counsel to conduct a “comprehensive financial investigation” and shared the findings with the authorities, including the Toronto police.
Daily Bread says Feed Scarborough will no longer be a member of its network as of Jan. 31.
The Toronto Police Service (TPS) has confirmed it received the report from Daily Bread. The TPS financial crimes unit is investigating.
In an interview, Feed Scarborough CEO Suman Roy told Global News that he denies the allegations, calling them “very unfortunate,” and said the agency’s board has taken the claims very seriously.
Roy, who founded Feed Scarborough in 2018, said his agency engaged a third-party investigator of its own to look into the allegations. He said a completed report is expected by the end of this month.
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“It is unfortunate that Daily Bread did not wait until the report and that would have probably given them a very clear understanding on what happened with the funds that they are talking about,” Roy said.
According to the police report, Daily Bread said it was informed by Feed Scarborough that it had engaged both a lawyer and an accountant to investigate the concerns. It said it had been contacted by the annual auditor, but not the lawyer or accountant.
Police report a ‘starting point’ for probe: Daily Bread
In the police report, reviewed by Global News, Daily Bread alleges receiving an invoice for $10,000 from Gourmet Alchemy, a vendor believed to be owned by Roy.
Daily Bread alleges Roy originally told the network he had no connection to the vendor that provided the invoice, saying he had “never heard of the name Gourmet Alchemy.”
In a statement Tuesday, Feed Scarborough denied Roy told the Daily Bread he had never heard of the company. Roy also told Global News on Monday that he owns the company.
“I’m the owner of the company, but however, that company did not sell any food nor receive any funding for food from Feed Scarborough at all,” Roy said.
Daily Bread also claimed that roughly $18,000 in invoices were filed by Feed Scarborough on behalf of a vendor. Daily Bread alleges the vendor has no record of the funds.
The determination came after the food bank network “uncovered a major discrepancy in financial reporting” when contacting one of Feed Scarborough’s vendors, the police report says.
When the Daily Bread’s chief financial officer spoke with the vendor’s co-owner, it could only provide an invoice of about $220, and said that it was the only invoice issued, according to the police report.
Roy, when asked by Global News about these claims, said they were waiting for the results of Feed Scarborough’s commissioned investigation. He added he was confident about how the money was spent.
“I can tell you ahead of the report that not even one penny has been misused or unaccounted for within our organization,” Roy said.
In its police report, the Daily Bread said Feed Scarborough had agreed to provide access to documentation regarding “the irregularities” but has since been denied access. Feed Scarborough said in an email Monday it was “committed” to providing documentation once the independent investigation is complete.
Food for Scarborough going forward
Feed Scarborough runs three in-person food banks and one online food bank. Following Daily Bread severing ties, Feed Scarborough will likely try to continue its online offering.
“We intend to keep at least one independently run food bank because at the end of the day, the key is the community,” Roy said.
Hetherington also said Daily Bread will provide funding to Soso World Ministries, which operates other food banks in the network and has the capacity to fill the void created by the dispute.
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