It seems that fraud can find its way to anyone?s heart. A lady whose job is to detect financial fraud has been found out to have committed fraud using bogus cheques, fake IDs, and phony credit cards together with her husband last month. The couple resides in Ajax.
Arrested At Last
Toronto police raided the couple?s home and found hundreds of forged documents along with phony cheques and credit cards. Items such as smartphones, vehicles, and laptops were also found and was thought to be bought via a complex type of money laundering scam mixed with identity theft.
12 other people who are allegedly involved in the fraud operation were arrested by the police. Investigators say that the scam ring is responsible for ripping off about $8 million from countless victims.
A Long Time Coming
Investigations for this case actually started in June of 2016 after authorities were alerted when the suspects tried to cash a bogus certified cheque at a business in Scarborough that deals with cheque-cashing.
The franchise business reported the incident to authorities and that report paved the way for an investigation according to Det.-Const. Micheal Lane. The repot shared that a female suspect allegedly deposited the fake cheque into the cheque-cashing business and afterward received money from that account. It was already too late when the business owner found out that the cheque was phony.
An Elaborate Setup
The scam artists also used fake government IDs to make various purchases and open business accounts. The names and identities used were stolen from unknowing victims.
Deeper fraud investigation uncovered that various corporations, retailers, banks, and car dealerships were also hit by the suspects and their accomplices.
Police say that the scam involves buying items through fake identities and with fraudulent payment methods and then re-selling the items to unsuspecting people.
Financial Fraud Detector Turned Fraudster?
30 years old Sukanya Panchalingam worked as a fraud detection agent at a financial institution, according to the police. She was arrested following an investigation and her husband Balasubramaniam Shanjeefkaran was arrested next.
As of now, the police are not yet sure if her job and skills made it easier for her to be allegedly involved in the scam.
Both Shanjeefkaran and Panchalingam are facing multiple fraud charges including money laundering, fraud over $5,000, and being in the possession of crime proceeds over $5,000.
This just shows that we need to be more careful when dealing with finances, especially transactions that involve credit cards and cheques these days. Although the alleged scammers took quite a while to be discovered and arrested, we can now at least breathe a sigh of relief that they won?t be victimizing anybody soon.
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