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Amgad Hassan, a security guard who used to work for Neptune Security Services at Dawson College in Montreal, said neither he nor any of his 15 colleagues have received a final paycheque from Neptune or their accumulated vacation pay.
Neptune lost its contract at the college, as well as other provincial and federal public contracts, after a Radio-Canada investigation revealed questionable business practices — including the fact that Neptune’s CEO had a double identity.
Hassan and his co-workers have been allowed to keep their jobs at Dawson under a new company, but he said most of them are owed about $4,000 by Neptune and their former employer isn’t telling them anything.
“Many of us have many responsibilities. We have families. We have responsibilities. So it’s really affecting us in a very difficult way,” he said.
The union representing the guards told CBC News that there are dozens more people in Hassan’s position across Quebec.
According to the union, people at the company’s main office in Laval, Que., spent Monday clearing out the premises.
When CBC asked about its situation, Neptune replied with an emailed statement, saying: “The company intends to respond before the appropriate judicial bodies regarding these matters.”
Neptune to make its case next month
Neptune’s downfall started soon after Radio-Canada’s Enquête program revealed in March, among other things, that CEO Robert Butler has also been using the name Badreddine Ahmadoun.
For months before the Enquête program aired, the company had been under investigation by Quebec’s Autorité des marchés publics (AMP), the agency that oversees public contracts in the province.
Within a week of Radio-Canada’s revelation, Neptune was banned for five years from accepting public contracts in the province, after AMP added the firm to the province’s registry of inadmissible companies.
On April 6, the Quebec Superior Court issued a temporary suspension of the AMP decision until May 18, 2023, when arguments will be heard about Neptune’s eligibility. Until that time, the company continues to be legally allowed to be awarded public contracts or subcontracts.
However, on April 12, the federal government suspended Neptune’s contracts until further notice.
Neptune’s long list of clients over the past decade includes the Royal Canadian Mounted Police and the Sûreté du Québec, the provincial police force.
It has also provided security to several courthouses in Quebec, to construction projects on military bases and to roadwork projects with Ontario’s Transport Ministry.
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