N.S. mass shooter had a history of financial 'misdealing,' according to new documents

The financial history of the gunman who killed 22 people in Nova Scotia in 2020 is dotted with red flags, but few were passed on or picked up by authorities until after his rampage, according to new documents tabled as part of the inquiry looking into the tragedy.

The latest foundational document from the Mass Casualty Commission looks at Gabriel Wortman's suspicious banking activity, improper billing practices and an eventually aborted plan to defraud a federal immigration program.

"The evidence described below suggests the perpetrator amassed money and other assets through a number of illegitimate or suspicious means," notes the commission.

"While there are no definitive answers about the sources of all his income, there is a clear pattern of misdealing."

As part of its investigation into the shooting, the RCMP commissioned a report from federal financial investigators to review the gunman's finances and those of his common-law spouse Lisa Banfield.

The financial review report said that between 2012 and 2019 the gunman reported an average annual income of $39,916 from his business, the Atlantic Denture Clinic. The commission's report said that worked out to $29,036 in disposable income.

The review noted that in addition to his salary an additional $232,907 was deposited in his personal accounts and another $96,753 was dropped into the joint account he held with Banfield during that period.

Dwayne King, the commission's lead financial investigator, said the gunman's spending habits and lifestyle exceeded his reported income.

For example, from December 2017 to May 2020 the perpetrator spent nearly $20,000 on PayPal and just over $23,000 on the GCSurplus site. — about 87 per cent of his reported disposable income. 

King also noted a mismatch in the amount Banfield was spending compared with her declared annual average salary of $15,288.

In an interview with the commission, Banfield said the gunman "wasn't claiming what he actually made" from his denture clinic. She described how she would collect cash from patients and, at the end of the day, would take it to the residence the couple shared above the clinic. 

Banfield said she would also cash cheques patients made out to the gunman and give the money to him. She said the gunman told patients to make cheques out to him versus the clinic. 

According to the report the couple filed their taxes as "single," despite living together for 19 years.

Banfield told a commission lawyer she didn't know why that was the case. The tax returns were prepared by a bookkeeper and not an accountant. The former is not obliged to report to the Financial Transactions and Reports Analysis Centre of Canada (FINTRAC).