New Canadians allegedly targeted in Calgary fraud scheme

CALGARY — Two Calgarians are facing dozens of charges after approximately 40 new Canadians lost more than $188,000 in a “complex” cheque and credit card scheme.

Staff Sgt. Kristie Verheul with the Calgary police’s economic crimes unit said the victims were all newcomers to Canada of Middle Eastern descent who were befriended by or developed a professional relationship with two people in their community.

Most were from Ontario but were convinced by the accused — one of whom is originally from Ontario — to travel to Calgary to open bank accounts.

The victims were asked to provide their debit cards, which linked to a personal or business account, to the offenders.

The account holders were then advised to open credit accounts connected to a Visa card or a line of credit.

Meanwhile, a legitimate third- party cheque was transferred into the line of credit or onto the Visa.

“An Internet transfer takes place in the background, transferring those funds off of the credit account into the personal or business account, at which time money is withdrawn by the offender from the ATM,” Verheul said.

“Once the cheque is processed through the bank, they come back either NSF (non-sufficient funds), closed or frozen, and the account holder is then held liable for non-sufficient funds.”

Approximately 40 victims were identified, including business owners in the construction, janitorial services, automotive, imports and exports, and trucking and logistics industries. Verheul said the victims have been left to deal with the losses, adding many were forced to declare bankruptcy.

However, she added some were paid to participate in the scheme and “they could be facing prosecution as well.”

She said the economic crimes unit’s fraud team started investigating in December 2012 after a tip from an investigator from a financial institution about the alleged offences between January 2011 and October 2013.

She said the police don’t investigate “one-offs.”

“But when there’s a pattern that’s being seen by the banks on a repeated basis, and they’re pulling photographs and surveillance photos and video that see the same common people involved in these files, the broader picture of these all in one, the totality of them then make it criminal,” she said.

A 41- year- old Calgary man, was charged with five counts of fraud over $5,000, two counts of fraud under $5,000, eight charges of theft under $5,000, and 32 counts of false pretences.

Another man, 50, also of Calgary, was charged with one count of fraud over $5,000, three counts of fraud under $5,000, one count of theft over $5,000, 17 counts of theft under $5,000, and four counts of false pretences.

Both are expected to appear in court July 16.