Inside the alleged fraud and forgery at Quebec's Lester B. Pearson School Board

A few months after the Lester B. Pearson School Board fired the head of its international department in 2016, Quebec's anti-corruption unit was called in to investigate suspected wrongdoing.

Dubbed "Project Pandore," the investigation focused on allegations of fraud, forged documents and abuse of power at the department as it rapidly expanded.

Between 2011-12 and 2015-16, the department grew from seven students to 777, bringing in millions of dollars in tuition fees for the Montreal-area English-language school board.

Court documents obtained by CBC News shed light on the investigation that ultimately led to the arrest of Caroline Mastantuono, the former head of the department, her daughter Christina Mastantunono, who also worked in the department, and Naveen Kolan, a Toronto-based consultant with Edu Edge Inc. (EEI).

The school board and Edu Edge had an agreement in place at the time aimed at attracting adult foreign students for vocational school.

The three individuals were charged in November 2020, but details of the allegations against them — and their alleged impact on the English-language school board serving 20,000 students in the Montreal area — have been scarce until now. 

All three face charges involving fraud against the school board and the province's Immigration Ministry, as well as the fabrication and use of forged documents, for acts allegedly committed between 2014 and 2016.

The trial is set for January 2023.

The court documents contain what's known as a "trial brief," which outlines the prosecution's case. The list of potential witnesses includes a forensic accountant, a signature specialist, former and current school board staff and several dozen students. 

The allegations have not been proven in court, and all three accused have pleaded not guilty.

In a statement on behalf of his client Christina Mastantuono and the other two accused, lawyer Jonathan Gordon declined to comment on specifics, but he said the trial brief "contains unproven allegations to which our clients have not had the opportunity to respond in the course of the judicial proceedings." 

According to the trial brief, in the spring of 2014, Christina Mastantuono told her mother the province's Immigration Ministry wouldn't grant some international students the Quebec Acceptance Certificate (CAQ), a mandatory immigration document, because the students did not have the necessary funds to cover their tuition.

The prosecution explains how Caroline Mastantuono, along with Kolan, told staff at the school board they would create fake tuition receipts for Indian students to make it appear they had paid in full.

The forged documents, described as "false receipts," allegedly allowed the students to obtain their CAQs. They also enabled Kolan's firm, EEI, to bill the school board a recruitment commission.