A married couple, one of whom had worked as a fraud detection agent at a financial institution, are facing charges in connection with a multi-million-dollar fraud investigation.
Police say they began an investigation into an alleged fraud on June 28 after a woman attempted to cash a certified cheque at a money-service business that was later determined to be fraudulent.
According to Det. Const. Micheal Lane, investigators subsequently determined that the same suspects had cashed “hundreds” of fraudulent checks at financial institutions around the city using assumed identities.
Sukanya Panchalingam and Balasubramaniam Shanjeefkaran are facing charges in connection with a multi-million dollar fraud investigation. (Toronto Police Service)
Lane said that further investigation also revealed that the suspects used assumed identities and fake businesses to apply for credit cards, take out loans and purchase automobiles and heavy equipment, which were then shipped to Quebec for resale.
In some cases, he said the suspects also used fake pay stubs from the fake businesses as proof of income for the purpose of acquiring credit and vehicle loans.
The detective said that the scheme was “very sophisticated.”
He said that the suspects often registered their businesses with the Ministry of Government and Consumer Services and built websites to ensure that they would appear to be legitimate if looked up by a loan officer. He said that the suspects also had specific phones associated with each business.
“It was a very sophisticated operation,” he said. “To be this detailed, keeping records of the names and phones associated to each person and business, it was a very elaborate scheme…”
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