An employee on leave from the Bank of Canada who was also a former World Bank employee has been arrested by the FBI for allegedly distributing child pornography.
Matthew Norman Ballek, originally from Outlook, Sask., was arrested on Feb. 7 in Northwest, District of Columbia by U.S. Federal Bureau of Investigation agents and Washington Metropolitan police.
In an e-mail statement, the Bank of Canada said Mr. Ballek has been on leave since June, 2021.
The statement also said that employees are required to obtain security clearance before they are hired and maintain this security clearance as a condition of their employment.
The Bank added: “Any Bank of Canada employee who is charged with an indictable offence would have their security clearance revoked, so they could no longer be employed by the Bank.”
When asked by The Globe and Mail if the charge against Mr. Ballek would impact his security clearance and employment, the Bank of Canada did not provide further comment.
Since going on leave from the Bank of Canada, he had been an employee at the World Bank in Washington, D.C., but no longer works there as of February, the World Bank told The Globe.
According to a LinkedIn profile, Mr. Ballek began working at the Bank of Canada in February, 2017 as a financial-sector specialist and moved to a senior position in January, 2020. Mr. Ballek worked as a financial risk specialist with the World Bank starting in June, 2021.
The U.S. indictment alleges that Mr. Ballek distributed three sexually explicit videos to an undercover agent on messaging platform Telegram. The document states that the videos depict “adult males engaging in sexually explicit conduct with minors.”
In a press release published on Feb. 7, the FBI said a member of the joint Metropolitan Police Department and FBI Child Exploitation Task Force was monitoring the platform “in an undercover capacity” after law enforcement learned that the platform was being used by individuals “who have a sexual interest in children.”
It also said that Mr. Ballek sent a message to the undercover agent under the assumption he was communicating with a pedophile. The FBI alleges that later in their communication, Mr. Ballek sent the three video files to the undercover agent depicting adult males sexually abusing minors.
U.S. court documents say Mr. Ballek will remain in custody until a trial date is set. These court documents say a status conference to set a trial date was moved from Feb. 21, 2024, to April 5, 2024.
Mr. Ballek is currently charged with one count of distribution of child pornography, according to the FBI’s press release. Attempts to reach Mr. Ballek’s legal team for comment were unsuccessful.
In the U.S., if convicted, the distribution of child pornography carries a mandatory minimum sentence of five years with a maximum of 20 years in prison.
Editor’s note: This article has been updated to clarify that any Bank of Canada employee who is charged with an indictable offence would have their security clearance revoked, and would no longer be employable by the Bank.