Caspian pays $28 million settlement for Winnipeg police headquarters lawsuit

Caspian Construction has now paid a $28M settlement to the City of Winnipeg related to the controversial WPS headquarters project.

Caspian Construction paid a $28 million settlement to the City of Winnipeg on Friday.

The amount was part of a 2023 legal settlement from a lawsuit about fraud and deficiencies over the Winnipeg Police Service headquarters project.

The payment was made to the city’s external legal counsel in trust, meaning the funds need to meet the trust’s conditions to be released to the city.

Should the conditions be met in the next few days, it will be the last of several payments to the city over the last few years – amounting to approximately $29.67 million, the city said in a media release.

Mayor Scott Gillingham described it as “a major win for our city.

“This outcome shows that pursuing this matter was the right call,” he said in the release.

Friday was the last day of a public inquiry into the project.

On March 23, the company’s owner, Armik Babakhanians, said he was finalizing a deal with a financial institution to secure the necessary funds.

• READ MORE: Caspian owner admits he made up invoices, but says city was never over-charged for police HQ project

Babakhanians stated the decision was for commercial and family considerations. He previously admitted falsifying invoices – which he said was wrong – but said he did not receive additional money in the end.

With files from CTV News’ Daniel Halmarson and Jeff Keele