CBC News Posted: Oct 17, 2011 4:28 PM MT Last Updated: Oct 17, 2011 3:37 PM MT
http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/edmonton/story/2011/10/17/edmonton-mail-fraud-charges.html
An 39-year-old Edmonton man is facing fraud and money laundering charges in a $7-million mail fraud scam.
The investigation ran from August to December 2010.
RCMP worked with Canadian Postal Inspectors and the US Postal Inspection Service to discover the identity of the accused, locate victims and to remove more than 2,200 mail items from both the US and Canadian mail systems.
The alleged scam involved mail which originated in Edmonton and targeted residents in the US, said police.
Each of the envelopes contained: a letter telling the victim that they had won a substantial amount of money in a consumer lottery, and; a cheque which was to be deposited and used to cover cross border fees related to redeeming their prize.
Once the cheque was deposited in the victim’s account, they were to send a portion to a payment processor in the United Kingdom.
It turns out the cheques were counterfeit and the victims were out, on average, $3,600.
The total value of the scheme was more than $7 million US.
The man will appear in Edmonton Provincial Court Oct. 18th.