Every year the Canadian Banks' Law Enforcement Award recognizes outstanding police performance in fighting crime against Canadian banks. Recipients of this prestigious award have gone above and beyond the call of duty while preventing and investigating crimes against Canada's financial institutions.

Since 1972, the Canadian Bankers Association has awarded 295 awards to Canadian police officers. The Award is presented annually at a formal ceremony at the annual conference of the Canadian Association of Chiefs of Police.

Protecting the security and safety of its employees and customers is a priority for the Canadian banking industry. Crimes affecting our banks range from robbery to high tech and highly organized fraud operations. Together our financial institutions and law enforcement agencies continue to partner in combating crime every day.

For more information on how you can help protect yourself from financial crime, click here.

Eligibility

The awards are presented to all active sworn members of law enforcement (active duty at the time of the incident), including Special Constables and sworn auxiliary Peace Officers.

The CBLEA is the highest award presented by the CBA to a sworn member of law enforcement (includes Special Constables and sworn auxiliary Peace Officers) for exceptional, achievement in an investigation involving the banking industry.¹ This would include acts of bravery, courage and demonstrated resourcefulness in order to overcome investigative obstacles and extenuating circumstances to bring an investigation to a successful conclusion.

This award can be presented to an Individual or Group (Team). The criteria for nominations are as follows:

Individual: This award is presented to a member of law enforcement for a unique investigation (not just high profile) involving the banking industry. The officer has displayed exceptional diligence in order to overcome obstacles and extenuating circumstances. This award may also be presented in cases where the officer knowingly placed themselves at great risk (threat of serious bodily harm or death, imminent danger etc.) during the protection of life involving a bank employee, customer or bank property.

Group (Team): This award is presented to sworn members of Law Enforcement (includes sworn auxiliary Peace Officers) working in a group/taskforce/team investigation involving the banking industry. The results of the investigation (Project) demonstrate exemplary performance in overcoming extraordinary circumstances resulting in a successful conclusion to the investigation. Examples could include investigations for Robbery against a Bank (Branch) where employees and customers may be at risk, or fraudulent acts against a Bank or Banks, by an organized criminal group.

For more information about the criteria for the CBLEA and the nomination form, please click here.

2022 Honourees

Sergeant Benjamin Robinson, Combined Forces Special Enforcement Unit – British Columbia, Royal Canadian Mounted Police (Individual Award)

In 2018, Sgt. Robinson of the Royal Canadian Mounted Police initiated an investigation into money laundering in Canadian casinos. He proposed a novel public-private partnership model to facilitate information sharing among involved parties, leading to the launch of Project ATHENA. The project aimed to identify and combat money laundering schemes through increased security measures, legislative changes, and heightened enforcement.

Sgt. Robinson's initiative resulted in Canada's first PPP model in the fight against money laundering, and eventually gave rise to the permanent Counter Illicit Finance Alliance of BC (CIFA-BC) in 2020. Thanks to his efforts, collaboration among Crown Corporations, government, regulators, banks and law enforcement has improved significantly.

Ontario Serious Fraud Office, Ontario Provincial Police and Royal Canadian Mounted Police (Group Award)

Detective Inspector Jennifer Spurrell

Detective Staff Sergeant Kyle Kanstein

Acting Detective Sergeant Jordan Wittig

Acting Detective Sergeant Daniel Hyde

Sergeant Nicole Hanks

Sergeant Melissa Purenne

Sergeant Juan Rivera

Constable Ian Wright

Victim Liaison Jenna Coates

Victim Liaison Stephanie Miller

Crime Analyst Ainsley Stinson

Data Entry Analyst Bailey Walters

Deputy Director of Litigation Thaddeus Ofiara

Crown Counsel Patrick Travers

Between 2012 and 2017, an international Ponzi scheme operating from Barrie, Ontario, involving the sale of counterfeit debit terminals that led to losses of approximately $48 million. When the individual behind the operation fled to the Dominican Republic, it prompted the Ontario SFO to undertake its first international investigation in 2018.

The SFO navigated through significant hurdles, including the logistical complexity of cross-border investigation, political unrest in the Dominican Republic and the constraints of the COVID-19 pandemic. Nevertheless, the team remained undeterred, employing innovative strategies to conduct witness interviews across borders amid lockdown conditions during the pandemic. They also forged a strong alliance with the RCMP, Interpol and the Dominican Republic National Police, which proved instrumental in the investigation. Their coordinated efforts led to the identification and apprehension of the accused in a remote area of the Dominican Republic in 2020. The successful conclusion of the investigation saw the individual convicted of fraud and money laundering in 2022, sentenced to seven years in prison, and ordered to repay nearly $27 million. The investigation further facilitated the seizure of about $6.2 million in assets.

¹ The banking industry includes domestic banks, foreign bank subsidiaries, full-service foreign bank branches and foreign bank lending branches operating in Canada. For a listing of CBA members: www.cba.ca/memberbanks