Blayne Iskiw and Jitendra Prasad – Corrupt Care

Jitendra Prasad and Blayne Iskiw are key criminals in the Corrupt Care fraud of Sam Mraiche. They are directly responsible for its execution. Without their participation the fraud would not have occured. Jitendra Prasad and Blayne Iskiw went back and forth between AHS, the Department of Health, ASG, and MHCare. They blurred the lines of who they were really working for. Prasad even created a fabrication that MHCare had a Drug Establishment License for the $70m Atabay steal when it didn’t. Prasad was negotiating contracts on behalf of AHS while in a business relationship with MHCare Medical, the company awarded the $70m contract. Almost $50m in product wasn’t delivered.

biskiw@mhcaremedical.com blayneiskiw@gmail.com Blayne Iskiw bills himself as ‘Strategic Business Consultant at MHCare Medical, 2022 to present’

Jitendra Prasad (JP) worked in procurement for AHS and had an email account with MHCare Medical, including when he was behind the Turkish steal. jprasad@mhcaremedical.com

Prasad led the procurement office until his retirement in April, 2022, but stayed on as a paid consultant. He was succeeded by Iskiw, whose own retirement was announced in September, 2022. Iskiw left the health agency on Oct. 28, and was replaced by his former boss, Prasad, who had returned to his prior role at Alberta Health Services on an interim basis on Oct. 26. In April the government said Jitendra Prasad was not employed or in any way affiliated with the province.

In October, 2022, Jitendra Prasad and Blayne Iskiw, both of whom then worked as senior procurement officials at Alberta Health Services, were directors of a numbered company with a person named Khalil Mraiche. 2464052 Alberta’s incorporation documents list an e-mail address for Sam Mraiche, and MHCare’s office in Edmonton was the registered address.


Timeline of Jitendra Prasad’s and Blayne Iskiw’s involvement in 2464052 Alberta

April 14, 2022
Jitendra Prasad retires as chief program officer for Alberta Health Services’s procurement division. Blayne Iskiw, who reported to Mr. Prasad, becomes the new leader of the purchasing office. Mr. Prasad soon enters into a consulting agreement with AHS.

Sept. 20
Alberta Health Services announces Blayne Iskiw’s retirement in an internal e-mail.

Oct. 7
The numbered company 2464052 Alberta Ltd. is incorporated. Its founding directors are Jitendra Prasad, Blayne Iskiw and Khalil Mraiche.

Oct. 12
Blayne Iskiw “appears to have shared his plans to join MHCare with a colleague” as early as this date, according to a report prepared by law firm Borden Ladner Gervais LLP.

Oct. 19
Jitendra Prasad and Alberta Health Services mutually agree to terminate their consulting agreement.

Oct. 26
Jitendra Prasad returns to Alberta Health Services as interim chief program officer for procurement.

Oct. 28
Blayne Iskiw leaves the health agency and joins MHCare Medical Corp. as a consultant days later.

Nov. 2
Jitendra Prasad ceases to be a director of 2464052 Alberta Ltd.

Days after leaving AHS in November 2022, Blayne Iskiw accepted a job with Sam Mraiche’s MHCare.

He was later hired by Alberta Surgical Group. (ASG -ahsinfo@ahs.ca) ASG is physician-owned, with key figures Dr. D’Arcy Durand, Dr. Leslie Scheelar, Dr. Kenneth Hawkins as directors, with Sam Mraiche. AGS provides publicly funded surgeries and has faced scrutiny over Government contracts and its ties to Prairie Surgical Centre and Clearpoint Health Network. Overpriced medical contracts bill more than twice as much per procedure than it would cost in a public hospital. A hip replacement costs $4,000 in a hospital while ASG charges $8,500.

Acute Care Alberta extended its contract with Alberta Surgical Group (ASG) in December, awarding a new $34m, one-year contract from Nov. 1, 2025 until Oct. 31, 2026, to provide 4,000 orthopedic surgeries.

Judge Wyant interviewed 26 people for his investigation, including Jitendra Prasad and Blayne Iskiw. Wyant said some refused interviews and others, including Prasad and Iskiw, avoided answering some questions.

Notable exclusions from the list are three board members of Alberta Health Services (AHS) (Edmonstone, Haggis and Oberg), the lobbyist for ASG – Doug Horner, the premier, her health minister, Rob Anderson of the premier’s office, the chief of staff to the Minister of Health, Evan Romanow, deputy minister of Mental Health and Addiction, as well as Ray Gilmour the former deputy minister of Executive Council. Marshall Smith who is at the centre of the political meddling allegations was interviewed.

“The situations … where both Mr. Prasad and Mr. Iskiw were in real or perceived conflicts of interest, were widely known by many people at AHS, and yet no steps were taken by senior officials to deal with the situation with either person,” Wyant writes. Premier Danielle Smith, her former chief of staff Marshall Smith, and Health Minister Adriana LaGrange all deny allegations of wrongdoing. Neither Smith, nor her current chief of staff, nor any of her ministers or her former health minister were interviewed.

Dani Panama Smith, in a statement, said the report “clearly indicated” elected officials, senior staff and members of the public service acted appropriately. She is scheduled to return from her fourth Panama vacation this year next week.

In December 2019, Shoppers Drug Mart registered to lobby the provincial government, including AHS, Alberta Health, and the Premier, through Wellington Advocacy.

That firm was founded the same year by Nick Koolsbergen, then-premier Jason Kenney’s former campaign director.

Shoppers Drug Mart scored a $2.5m contract with AHS to provide mandatory COVID-19 tests for international travellers. They charged $45. Doctors billed AHS $25 for the same test. One of the AHS officials who signed off on that agreement was Blayne Iskiw. Iskiw isn’t talking about the Shoppers contract.