Toronto police say they have charged a Montreal woman who allegedly tried to make fraudulent Canada Emergency Response Benefit (CERB) claims by attempting to open up multiple bank accounts.
Police said the woman travelled to Toronto from Montreal “for the sole purpose of fraudulently making CERB applications by opening up various bank accounts.”
Officers allege that the woman attended multiple banks across Toronto with multiple identities to set up bank accounts.
Investigators said officers seized counterfeit identification from the woman.
Police arrested 40-year-old Karina Riel from Montreal on Thursday.
She is charged with fraud under $5,000, uttering a forged document, possession of an identity document allegedly used to open accounts at various banks and impersonation.
Riel is scheduled to appear at a Toronto courthouse on Friday.
“The Toronto Police Service are reminding the public and financial institutions to be vigilant at all times and to report all suspected fraudulent account openings to police,” police said in a news release.
Anyone with further information is asked to call police at 416-808-5200 or Crime Stoppers anonymously at 416-222-8477.