The chair of Toronto's audit committee is raising more questions about the case of nine employees fired this week for allegedly filing fraudulent claims under the city's employee benefits plan.

The workers were dismissed on Monday after being on paid leave since Feb. 20.

The allegations surfaced when Manulife Financial, which administers the city's benefits program, alerted city officials following its audit of the employees' claims. City officials have not yet disclosed how many claims were filed, how much money was involved, or whether the workers will receive severance pay.

The Toronto police fraud squad is now investigating, but no charges have been laid.

Coun. Doug Holyday, who heads the audit committee, told CBC News he hopes the investigation will be done quickly to give taxpayers answers. But he wants to be sure the problem doesn't run deeper among the city's ranks.

"Is there more, and how deep does this extend?" he said. "Taxpayers have to be somewhat confident that someone's not down there robbing the till blind and it's certainly our job to make sure that doesn't happen."

Mayor David Miller expressed disappointment at the alleged frauds, but said city officials acted promptly when the allegations of wrongdoing surfaced.

"If you're in a position of public trust, you have to uphold that trust," Miller said.