Alberta RCMP charge three in international vehicle-export fraud
EDMONTON Three people have been charged after an RCMP investigation into a multimillion dollar international luxury-vehicle export fraud scheme.
The investigation by Alberta RCMP’S federal serious and organized crime (FSOC) section found a 38-year-old man used multiple straw buyers and associates to purchase 43 luxury vehicles and export them to Vietnam for resale between March 2018 and February 2019.
The funds were filtered back to the man and not the straw buyers. Const. Phil Pinon of the Alberta RCMP’S FSOC section said the financing for the vehicles defaulted, resulting in the loss of over $2.6 million to various financial institutions, and ruined the credit of the straw buyers for defaulting on their loans.
The estimated value of the vehicles shipped to Vietnam is about $10 million.
“These offences occurred in B.C., Alberta and Saskatchewan. Seven victims from within the Vietnamese community are included in these offences,” Pinon said, adding police believe the same fraud scheme was used in other jurisdictions across Canada.
Pinon said the public should be wary of offers that sound too good to be true.
“If anybody approaches you, whether you know them or not and they say, ‘I’ll give you money to use your name to go finance a vehicle for me and I’ll pay you back the money for that vehicle,’ it sounds a little to good to be true,” Pinon said.
“Don’t put your name forward for somebody else. If you’re putting your name forward, you risk having to be responsible for that debt with a financial institution that you sign up with.”
On Tuesday, Duy Hung Nguyen, 38, was arrested in Burnaby, B.C., and charged with fraud over $5,000, making forged documents, uttering forged documents, causing forged documents to be used, money laundering, trafficking in the proceeds of crime and uttering threats to cause death or bodily harm.
Quyen Hong Tran, 61, was also arrested on Tuesday in Edmonton and charged with fraud over
Don’t put your name forward for somebody else. If you’re putting your name forward, you risk having to be responsible for that debt.
$5,000, money laundering and trafficking in the proceeds of crime.
On Thursday, Thi Kim Hoang Quan, 29, was arrested in Leduc County and charged with fraud over $5,000, making forged documents, uttering forged documents, money laundering, and trafficking in the proceeds of crime.
Police are asking anyone who believes they’re a victim of this fraud scheme to call the RCMP at 780-412-5530.