Calgary pair charged in connection with fraudulent purchases, sales of snowmobiles

A photo of handuffs. (X/@ALERT_AB)

With the recovery of more than six figures in stolen goods, Calgary police have laid charges in connection with "a complex fraud ring."

A pair of city residents were arrested Feb. 1 during a raid on a rural property in the 3500 block of 84th Street S.E. in which police say they recovered more than $100,000 in stolen goods.

The raid and arrests stem from investigation into fraudulent purchases and sales of snowmobiles across multiple provinces.

The fraud ring came to light in January, police said, after a dealership reported a suspicious transaction.

"Our stolen property team, along with district investigators, worked to determine the rightful owners of the stolen property and instead uncovered a complex ring of fraudulent identification being used by different people across Ontario, Alberta, Saskatchewan and British Columbia," police said in a release issued on Thursday.

"The suspects used the fraudulent identification to purchase, deliver and sell snowmobiles and snowmobile trailers.

"It is believed that the suspects stole multiple victims' identification information, created fraudulent identification from the stolen information and went on to obtain credit cards in the victims' names in order to purchase the snowmobiles to resell online to unsuspecting buyers."

Charged are 35-year-old Devin Douglas Bruce and 27-year-old Isabella Morgan Schenck.

Bruce is charged with two counts of possession of forged documents; two counts of possession of stolen credit cards; possession of stolen identification; and possession of identity information.

Schenck is charged with two counts of possession of a controlled substance; and possession of stolen identification.

Both are scheduled to appear in court in Calgary on March 15.

Investigators from multiple units in multiple agencies across multiple jurisdictions worked together to move the investigation forward, Insp. Keith Hurley said in Thursday's release.

Hurley added the efforts of investigators "stopped what we believe would have been multiple people being victimized by identity theft."

Investigation into this fraud ring continues.

Anyone with information is asked to contact police at 403-266-1234.

Those wishing to remain anonymous can do so by contacting Crime Stoppers at 1-900-222-TIPS, calgarycrimestoppers.org or through the P3 Tips app.