West Grey Police Service partner with York Regional Police and successfully recover stolen property that had been purchased using fraudulent credit cards
On Thursday September 6th 2018, at approximately 1:43pm, West Grey Police attended the Welbeck Sawmill to investigate reports of fraudulent transactions which began on August 31st 2018.
On Friday August 31st, the Welbeck Sawmill had received a phone call from a male who wished to order $7910.00 worth of high-end woodworking products made by FESTOOL tools.
On Tuesday September 4th 2018, Welbeck Sawmill received another phone call from the same man who placed a second order for a total of $16,433. This order once again consisted mainly of FESTOOLS and was made using the same card for $7,433.79 of the purchase and using another fraudulent credit card number for the remaining $9000 of the order. The credit cards were both processed correctly and the order was prepared for pickup.
On September 6th 2018, the Wellbeck Sawmill was advised that the credit cards used were fraudulent and that the money expected to be paid through the transaction would be cancelled.
Police began investigating the incident and were able to confirm establish that the suspects had rented trailer to pick up the stolen items and had since returned the trailer at a York Region rental location.
West Grey Police discovered that the purchasers were possibly selling the stolen items online. Further investigation revealed that the phone number used on the online posting was the same number used to purchase the stolen items and the poster indicated that he was within York Region.
West Grey Police Service partnered with the York Regional Police and posed as a potential buyer of the stolen goods. Police arranged a meeting point where an undercover officer exchanged money for what was quickly confirmed to be the fraudulently purchased items.
Subsequent to Police investigation, a 27 year old male from Ajax, Ontario was arrested for one count of possession of stolen property over $5000 and one count of possession of stolen property under $5000. The accused is scheduled to appear in the Ontario Court of Justice in Newmarket on October 25th, 2018.
Other persons of interest are described as:
-White male in his 40’s, described to have a muscular build and tattoos, male did not appear to speak English and was believed to have been speaking in Russian
-Male in his 20’s, darker skin East Indian, black hair, slim build, 5’10”-6’0 approx. 170lbs to 190lbs driving a black Honda Civic 2010-2014
This investigation is on-going and Police are asking that anyone with information about the identities of the other person(s) involved or their whereabouts to contact the West Grey Police Service at 519-371-6911 or call Crime Stoppers at 1-800-222-8477 to remain anonymous.
Prepared by:
Cst. Cory Trainor
Phone: 519-369-3046
Media Relations Officer
West Grey Police Service
Badge #445