Sask. community radio manager stole over $200K to pay for crack cocaine habit

(Source: Facebook / CIBN Radio Buffalo Narrows Broadcasting Corporation)

A northern Saskatchewan man was sentenced to house arrest last month and ordered to repay over $200,000 he stole from a community radio station to pay for his crack cocaine habit.

Michael Bouvier was the manager of the Buffalo Narrows Broadcasting Corporation (CIBN) from 2012 until 2018, when he was terminated by the station’s board after his fraud was uncovered.

In a sentencing decision last month, Judge Michael Segu says Bouvier misappropriated the funds throughout 2017, while misleading the non-profit station’s board about the quickly-deteriorating state of the organization’s finances.

• Get the latest news from Saskatoon, sent directly to you: Download the CTV News App

“Nearer to the end of 2017, CIBN were made aware that there had been some issues with employee’s pay cheques bouncing, and it was alleged that there were some cash sales being completed by Mr. Bouvier that were untracked,” Segu writes.

Even before the paychecks started bouncing, there were signs that something was amiss. Segu says the station’s board members noted he was only attending work one or two days a week, despite being hired to work full-time.

“Additionally, during this time community members from Île-à-la-Crosse raised concerns with employees of CIBN about the amount of time and money Mr. Bouvier was spending at the Île-à-la-Crosse bar.”

As station manager, Bouvier was responsible for day-to-day operations and expenses.

The board had issued Bouvier a credit card for business expenses, and he had access to the organization’s bank accounts. Any unusual or large expenses were supposed to be approved by the board in advance, and Bouvier was never authorized to send e-transfers from the business accounts.

But when they started investigating, board members discovered he had made nearly 600 e-transfers over the course of a year into his personal bank accounts, totalling over $199,000.

In that same time period, he transferred over $22,000 from his business credit card to his personal one.

According to Segu, Bouvier had also changed the passwords on the business accounts, preventing CIBN board members from gaining access.

“Mr. Bouvier admits that during 2017 he was addicted to crack cocaine and used the funds he obtained to pay for drugs, alcohol, and for personal debts,” Segu writes.

After several years of delays, Bouvier was granted a sentencing circle in Buffalo Narrows on June 17, 2025.

“The anger felt by the Board members was clearly palpable at the sentencing circle, even eight years removed from the offence,” Segu writes.

“The impact of Mr. Bouvier’s actions on the radio station, and by extension, the community, cannot be overstated. It is by sheer force of will of the board members that the radio station even exists today.”

Bouvier’s fraud left the station hanging on by a thread financially, and board members were forced to contribute hundreds of unpaid hours working to keep things afloat, Segu says.

“Despite their herculean effort, their public reputations have been substantially tarnished, as they are all painted with the same brush as Mr. Bouvier by members of the community.”

The judge writes that Bouvier has managed to turn his life around since 2019, and has committed to paying restitution.

In his written decision, Segu writes that given Bouvier’s lack of prior criminal history, and the “very significant and genuine efforts Mr. Bouvier has made since 2019,” a penitentiary sentence would be counter productive.

Bouvier was handed a conditional sentence order of two years, less a day, followed by three years of probation.

For the first year, he’s ordered to remain in his home 24-hours a day, unless explicitly approved by his correctional worker to leave for work or another authorized purpose.

He’s ordered to pay over $221,000 in restitution, starting at $400 per month during his sentence, and increasing to $500 per month during probation.

At that rate, it will take Bouvier over 36 years to settle the debt.

You can read the full court decision here.