Two Calgarians are accused of being involved in a cheque and credit card fraud operation that allegedly bilked almost $200,000 from Canadian financial institutions.
The Economics Crimes Unit was contacted in December 2012 by an investigator from a financial institution who gave them information on two people who were connected to files that resulted in a loss of about $188,000.
The pair are alleged to have targeted multiple financial institutions to recruit account holders who own companies in the construction, janitorial services, automotive, import/exports, and trucking and logistics industries.
Police say the account holders were mostly of Middle Eastern descent and that existing personal and credit accounts were used to deposit legitimate cheques by ATM and over-the-counter to create a credit balance on a credit account.
They say that the credit balance is then transferred to a personal or business account and the funds are withdrawn by the accused or the account holder.
In all cases the accounts become significantly overdrawn and police say the financial institutions are then left on the hook for the overdrawn funds and have little chance of recovery.
Many of the bank accounts are from Ontario but the account holders are travelling to Calgary to open additional accounts to an existing address.
Police say the fraud is committed quickly and that the account holders then return to Ontario and leave the financial institutions with significant losses.
Najah Jundi, 41, of Calgary is charged with:
- Five counts of fraud over $5,000
- Two counts of fraud under $5,000
- Eight charges theft under $5,000
- 32 counts of false pretences
Kamal Ghandour, 50, of Calgary, is 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
- Four counts of false pretences
Jundi and Ghandour are both scheduled to appear in court on July 16, 2014.
