Montreal police arrest 4, potentially solving hundreds of frauds
Four suspects allegedly linked to hundreds of frauds committed against seniors living in southwest Montreal were arrested Thursday by Montreal police (SPVM) officers out of the Economic Crimes Section.
In addition, investigators conducted a search in a condominium unit on René-Lévesque Blvd. West in downtown Montreal.
The SPVM reports that three of the apprehended suspects have already appeared at the Montreal courthouse to face various charges of fraud and failure to comply with the conditions of an undertaking.
They are twin brothers Carl-René and Carl-Henri Moody, aged 20, and Jonathan Gresseau, aged 30. All three individuals will remain in custody pending trial.
A fourth suspect, who is 21 years old, was released on a promise to appear.
Police say that these alleged criminals have been committing "false representation" frauds in the boroughs of LaSalle, Verdun and the Southwest. Other victims were found earlier this year in Anjou, Montreal North and Saint-Léonard and led to other arrests by the SPVM.
The alleged scheme is to pretend to be employees of financial institutions and call a vulnerable senior. They make them believe that there has been a fraudulent transaction on their bank card.
The phony representative emphatically tells the victim that there is an urgent need to take action to correct the situation and asks the victim to provide their personal identification number (PIN).
The fraudster then tells the victim to insert their bank card into an envelope and that a mail carrier will pick up the envelope and return it to the financial institution.
A uniformed accomplice then takes over and quickly arrives at the victim's residence to retrieve the envelope and flee in order to steal money.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published in French on Aug. 19, 2022.
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
'They needed people inside Air Canada:' Police announce arrests in Pearson gold heist
Police say one former and one current employee of Air Canada are among the nine suspects that are facing charges in connection with the gold heist at Pearson International Airport last year.
Why drivers in Eastern Canada could see big gas price spikes, and other Canadians won't
Drivers in Eastern Canada face a big increase in gas prices because of various factors, especially the higher cost of the summer blend, industry analysts say.
Customers disappointed after email listing $60K Tim Hortons prize sent in error
Several Tim Horton’s customers are feeling great disappointment after being told by the company that an email stating they won a boat worth nearly $60,000 was sent in error.
Toronto Raptors player Jontay Porter banned from NBA
Toronto Raptors player Jontay Porter has been handed a lifetime ban from The National Basketball Association (NBA) following an investigation which found he disclosed confidential information to sports bettors, the league says.
House admonishes ArriveCan contractor in rare parliamentary show of power
MPs enacted an extraordinary, rarely used parliamentary power on Wednesday, summonsing an ArriveCan contractor to appear before the House of Commons where he was admonished publicly and forced to provide answers to the questions MPs said he'd previously evaded.
Woman who pressured boyfriend to kill his ex in 2000s granted absences from prison
A woman who pressured her boyfriend into killing his teenage ex more than a decade ago will be allowed to leave prison for weeks at a time.
Attempt to have murder charge quashed against alleged serial killer dismissed by judge
A motion filed by the man accused of killing four Indigenous women in Winnipeg to have one of those murder charges quashed has been dismissed by the judge – weeks before the start of his trial.
Government proposes new policy for federally regulated employees to disconnect from work
In their 2024 budget, the federal government wants to amend the Canada Labour Code, so employers in federally regulated sectors will eliminate work-related communication with employees outside of scheduled hours. If implemented, this would affect roughly 500,000 employees across the country.
Earthquake jolts southern Japan
An earthquake with a preliminary magnitude of 6.4 hit southern Japan late on Wednesday, said the Japan Meteorological Agency, without issuing a tsunami warning.