A former City of Winnipeg bureaucrat turned bank robber is back in federal prison.
Klaus Burlakow, 54, who has legally changed his name to Timothy Collins, was convicted in 2003 of several robberies in Winnipeg and Vancouver.
His parole was revoked by Corrections Canada this month and he was sent to Stony Mountain Institution. The National Parole Board refused to say why his parole was revoked.
Burlakow had been an events planner with the City of Winnipeg and helped organize the 1999 Pan-American Games. He had already left his job with the city when the bank robberies occurred.
Burlakow was arrested in February 2003, after a high-speed police chase that began when a River Heights bank was robbed at gunpoint.
He was sentenced to eight years in prison in February 2004 after pleading guilty to robbing seven banks. Six of the crimes took place in Winnipeg, the other in Vancouver.
He stole about $33,000 using BB guns and air pistols to threaten tellers.
Led a double life in Seattle
Burlakow also led a double life in Seattle, posing as an Irish millionaire. He spent half of 2002 in the U.S. city, staying in the best hotels and renting luxury cars and a houseboat on Lake Union. His expensive dual life is likely what prompted the crime spree, police said.
Burlakow was granted full parole after serving four years of his sentence and was hired a few months later as a fundraising manager and consultant for the Mennonite Central Committee (MCC), an organization based in Winnipeg that focuses on relief, development and peace.
In 2008, he began working at Sam's Place, a used bookstore and cafГ©, that raises money for the committee.
"He'd done an awful lot of hard work getting Sam's Place open," said Peter Rempel, co-chair of the MCC.
"He was … bringing us invoices and delivering cheques. We had trusted that was working out well."
Three civil cases against Burlakow
But the cheques in Burlakow's personal life weren't working out. He was the defendant in three civil cases earlier this year in connection to nearly $10,000 in debts. He failed to show up for his court dates and was found in default of the payments owed, according to court documents.
His wages were ordered to be garnished while he was at MCC, but Burlakow was terminated from that position early last month.
Rempel said it was unfortunate that Burlakow forfeited his second chance but that he was not let go for that reason. He would not elaborate on why the job was terminated.
