Two companies involved in the construction of addiction recovery facilities in Alberta are mired in litigation – with accusations of forgery on one side and allegations on the other of threats and intimidation involving businessman Sam Mraiche, the man at the centre of the province’s health care procurement controversy.
The lawsuit raises more questions about the expenditure of public money on a signature health initiative of Premier Danielle Smith’s government.
The dispute involves contractor Melewka Homes Ltd., owned by Lewis Semashkewich and his son John Semashkewich, and the similarly named Melewka Construction Management Services Ltd., whose principal is Mohamed Eldassouki. The two companies were working together to build recovery centres in three Indigenous communities: one for the Enoch Cree Nation, another for the Métis Nation of Alberta and a third for the Tsuut’ina Nation. The projects are worth a combined $100-million, according to court filings, and are funded through Alberta government grants.
The court feud over recovery centres began last July when Mr. Eldassouki sued the Semashkewiches.
According to Mr. Eldassouki’s statement of claim, Melewka Homes president Lewis Semashkewich walked into a bank in early 2025 with an allegedly forged share sale agreement for Mr. Eldassouki’s company and “wrongfully-altered corporate records,” obtained control of its bank account and directed that its $8.4-million contents be transferred out.
That bank transfer has set off a flurry of civil claims and legal jousting that have come to encompass more than 20 individuals and companies.
Two months after being sued by Mr. Eldassouki, the Semashkewiches responded with a civil action of their own. In a counterclaim, they allege that the undisclosed, “directing mind” behind Mr. Eldassouki’s company was Mr. Mraiche, who is Mr. Eldassouki’s brother-in-law. The contractors also say they were the target of threats, intimidation and demands for “exorbitant” amounts of money from Mr. Mraiche to keep payments on projects flowing, and are seeking more than $25-million in restitution.
None of either parties’ allegations have been tested in court.
Mr. Mraiche denies the allegations in his court submissions and denies any wrongdoing. Scott Hutchison, a lawyer for Mr. Mraiche, told The Globe and Mail that the case “concerns a commercial dispute in which Mr. Mraiche has played no role and has no business or financial interest whatsoever.”
In court filings, the Semashkewiches deny that any records were forged and say that Mr. Eldassouki drafted and signed the document in which he allegedly sold his business. The Semashkewiches’ lawyer did not respond to The Globe’s requests for comment.
The business dealings of Mr. Mraiche and his medical-supply business, MHCare Medical Corp., are being examined by the RCMP and the province’s Auditor-General, although neither have said that recovery centres are part of their investigations. MHCare has been awarded more than $600-million in business by Alberta Health Services since 2020, including $70-million for a 2022 deal to import children’s medication from Turkey, roughly a third of which was delivered.
A Globe and Mail investigation published last year detailed Mr. Mraiche’s connections to senior officials in the Alberta government. Mr. Mraiche has previously told The Globe he acted appropriately and denies any wrongdoing.
Addiction recovery centres are at the heart of Alberta’s response to the opioid crisis. The province has earmarked up to $350-million to build 11 centres, including the three worked on by Melewka Homes. The government has previously said that once they are operational, the centres will be able to offer care to more than 2,000 people each year.
While addiction services were previously managed by Alberta Health Services, they now fall under Recovery Alberta, an agency created in 2024 under the Ministry of Mental Health and Addiction.
In an e-mailed statement, spokesperson Nathaniel Dueck said the ministry “has always followed rigorous and transparent funding processes to ensure public resources are used prudently,” and that the procurement and selection of vendors for Indigenous recovery centres was managed by Indigenous organizations.
Kenny Trenton, a spokesperson for the Métis Nation of Alberta, said the nation remains confident that its government and its officials “acted in good faith and with integrity,” and declined to comment further, citing the continuing litigation.
Xàkíjí-tii (Chief) Ellery Starlight of the Tsuut’ina Nation did not comment on the lawsuit, but said in a statement that the nation is reviewing its policies and procedures.
Spokespersons for the Enoch Cree Nation did not respond to requests for comment.
The Semashkewiches and Mr. Eldassouki began working together in 2022, according to court records, under an arrangement in which Mr. Eldassouki would help identify projects for the Semashkewiches’ business.
Not long after that, the Semashkewiches claim in the lawsuit they were introduced to a man named Fred, who told Lewis Semashkewich he would control Melewka Homes’ payments on projects identified by Mr. Eldassouki and could put an end to them at any time. In their court submissions, the Semashkewiches said it was “made apparent” to them that Fred had “considerable control” over the construction work and the government officials behind them.
According to the Semashkewiches’ court filings, they later learned that Fred was, in fact, Sam Mraiche. In addition to being Mr. Mraiche’s brother-in-law, Mr. Eldassouki has served as a senior executive at two of Mr. Mraiche’s companies, including MHCare.
In a statement of defence, Mr. Mraiche said his involvement in Mr. Eldassouki’s enterprise was limited to providing “casual, unofficial, and informal business advice.”
The Semashkewiches identified engineering consultant Khaled Faour as the person who introduced them to Mr. Mraiche – or “Fred” – and have named him as a defendant in their counterclaim. But in his statement of defence, Mr. Faour denies making that introduction and says he had no knowledge or control regarding which construction projects were provided to Melewka Homes. His lawyers declined to comment on the allegations.
The Semashkewiches’ deal with Mr. Eldassouki soon led to new business, the counterclaim shows. After being selected to build two apartment complexes for the Métis Nation of Alberta in 2023, in early 2024 the contractor was tapped to build recovery centres in the three Indigenous communities.
But the arrangement between the two companies would ultimately become strained as the contractor allegedly faced demands for money from Mr. Mraiche and Mr. Eldassouki on its construction projects, according to the Semashkewiches’ claim.
During one phone call between Lewis Semashkewich and Mr. Mraiche, the latter told Mr. Semashkewich he had the government connections necessary to “pull” Melewka Homes’ projects and indicated he had ties to a senior executive at the Métis Nation, a man named Aaron Barner, the Semashkewiches’ claim alleges. “I own Barner and he will do what I say,” Mr. Mraiche is alleged to have said.
After that conversation, Mr. Barner allegedly told Mr. Semashkewich that meetings between the Métis Nation and Melewka Homes were cancelled until further notice, effectively pausing the project. According to the Semashkewiches’ submission, work only resumed after Mr. Semashkewich authorized the release of funds to Mr. Eldassouki. In his court submissions, Mr. Eldassouki denies exerting pressure on the Semashkewiches or making improper requests for payment.
Mr. Barner, for his part, says in a statement of defence that he asked that the Semashkewiches cease contact in response to “repeated and improper communications” between Melewka Homes and Métis Nation personnel. Mr. Barner also denies he is a business associate of Mr. Mraiche and Mr. Eldassouki, and says he did not act on anyone’s instruction. A lawyer for Mr. Barner did not comment.
During another meeting, this time at MHCare’s offices, Mr. Mraiche allegedly demanded an “exorbitant amount of money” and threatened to use his connections to cancel Melewka Homes’ projects, the Semashkewiches claim in their lawsuit. To demonstrate his influence, Mr. Mraiche allegedly called “his friend J.P.,” an Alberta government insider, and put him on speakerphone. According to the Semashkewiches’ submission, Lewis Semashkewich understands this man to be Jitendra Prasad, who was then a senior procurement official for the Alberta government. Last year, The Globe documented Mr. Prasad’s involvement in the Alberta Health Services procurement controversy and his ties to Mr. Mraiche. A lawyer for Mr. Prasad did not respond to The Globe’s requests for comment.
The Semashkewiches also say in their court submission that the lawyer they hired to handle payments on two of the three recovery centres – and who allegedly came at the recommendation of Mr. Eldassouki – improperly sent nearly $7-million to Mr. Eldassouki’s company. Public records show that the lawyer, a man named Bryan Ward, has acted for Mr. Mraiche on several occasions, including in a civil lawsuit, in real estate transactions and in a dispute with Elections Alberta. Mr. Ward denies having acted improperly in his statement of defence, and his lawyer did not comment.
In early 2025, Mr. Semashkewich and Mr. Eldassouki struck a new agreement, according to the Semashkewiches’ court filing: Mr. Eldassouki would transfer ownership of Melewka Construction for $1-million, plus an annual salary. In exchange, Mr. Eldassouki would sign over Melewka Construction’s shares for the nominal value of $1. A few weeks after Mr. Eldassouki allegedly signed the share transfer agreement, Mr. Semashkewich attended a bank to empty out Melewka Construction’s $8.4-million account – the event that triggered Mr. Eldassouki’s lawsuit.
Mr. Eldassouki says in his court filings that no such sale agreement took place, and that the documentation used to execute the bank transfer was forged. Lawyers for Mr. Eldassouki did not comment on the court case.
While the dispute between the Semashkewiches and Mr. Eldassouki continues in Alberta, it also now extends internationally. In December, Mr. Eldassouki obtained a court order in the Bahamas temporarily freezing several of Mr. Semashkewich’s assets in the country.
As of publication time, The Globe had not been able to obtain the full court file from the Bahamas.