Two Albertans have been charged with fraud and money laundering after a senior was bilked out of hundreds of thousands of dollars.
The arrests come as police say one was trying to flee the country.
A joint investigation between the federal RCMP’s integrated money laundering investigative team and High River RCMP followed a report of a senior being defrauded of more than $200,000 in a lottery scheme.
RCMP say two people were identified and a Canada-wide arrest was issued in June.
On June 21, RCMP say a 21-year-old suspect was arrested at Toronto’s Pearson International Airport after attempting to fly from Edmonton to Jamaica. Days later, a 23-year-old man turned himself in to Grande Prairie RCMP.
Dwayne-Ann Aaliyah Johnson, 21, of Edmonton, was arrested and charged with fraud, possession of property over $5,000 obtained by crime, laundering proceeds of crime, and use, trafficking or possession of a forged document.
Romeo Junior Spence, 23, was arrested and charged with fraud, possession of property over $5,000 obtained by crime and laundering proceeds of crime.
Spence is due to appear in Okotoks provincial court on Friday and Johnson is due to appear in court on July 28.
“This investigation is a reminder to all that scammers will go to any length to defraud Canadians and they often involve organized crime groups operating outside our borders,” Insp. Stephen Reid of the RCMP’s federal serious and organized crime financial integrity unit said in a statement.
Police remind citizens that if they believe they’ve been a victim of fraud, report it to local law enforcement and the Canadian Anti-Fraud Centre online or by calling 1-888-495-8501.