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Suspected ‘fraud factory’ bust results in seizure of $300K in goods: Burnaby RCMP

Click to play video: 'Lower Mainland RCMP shutdown large scale ‘fraud factory’'
Lower Mainland RCMP shutdown large scale ‘fraud factory’
WATCH: Mounties raided a property in Pitt Meadows, locating two excavators and two industrial printers capable of printing driver's licenses, bank drafts and credit cards – May 12, 2023

Burnaby RCMP say they arrested four men and seized $300,000 worth of equipment and materials related to a suspected “fraud factory.”

In a Thursday media release, Mounties said the seized items were linked to two alleged fraudulent purchases in Burnaby.

The first involved the purchase of a pair of industrial printers capable of producing drivers’ licences, bank drafts, credit cards and other identification documents with a total value of about $97,000.

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Money Matters: Debunking financial myths from social media

About two weeks later, a pair of excavators and a generator valued at more than $215,000 were purchased using a forged bank draft, police said.

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The Burnaby RCMP Prolific Offender Suppression Team raided a property near the Katzie Slough in Pitt Meadows, where they located the equipment in what Mounties said appeared to be an “organized fraud factory.”

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Investigators also seized hundreds of other items, including printers, hard drives, laser engravers, a VIN plate stamping machine and modifying tools, hundreds of phony ID and blank ID cards, blank bank draft paper and a hand gun and ammunition.

The four suspects have yet to be charged, and have since been released.

Police said they’re being investigated on potential charges of fraud over $5,000, theft over $5,000, possession of stolen property over $5,000, uttering forged documents and identification fraud.

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