In January 2026, police began an investigation into allegations of fraud by a Chestermere man that occurred at cell phone retailers across Alberta and B.C. In the scam, the accused reportedly posed as the owner or an authorized representative of a small business and used forged business registration documents to open an account with Telus or Bell Canada. He then obtained new cell phones on credit and never paid the amount owed.
Investigators allege that in more than 97 separate incidents, the suspect fraudulently opened 70 small business accounts and obtained 143 brand new Apple cell phones worth approximately $255,469.
On March 30, 2026, Quoc-Tuan (aka Jimmy) Huynh, 37, was charged with two counts of fraud over $5000. He was also later charged with two counts of uttering a forged document.
Quoc-Tuan (aka Jimmy) Huynh, 37
“Due to the volume and value of phones that were fraudulently…
THE HASHFLARE “CLOUD MINING” PONZI SCHEME (GLOBAL/ESTONIA)
Date: February 13, 2025 (Guilty Pleas) Perpetrators: Sergei Potapenko and Ivan Turogin
Case Description: This $577 million cryptocurrency fraud remains one of the largest digital asset scams in history, with major legal developments concluding in 2025. Potapenko and Turogin operated “Hashflare,” which they marketed as a massive cryptocurrency mining operation. Hundreds of thousands of victims worldwide purchased “mining contracts,” believing they were renting hash power to mine Bitcoin. In reality, the duo was running a sophisticated Ponzi scheme.
They created fake customer dashboards that showed “real-time” mining profits, but the money being paid out was simply the capital of newer investors. They laundered the proceeds through shell companies to purchase luxury real estate and a fleet of high-end vehicles. After a massive international investigation involving the FBI and Estonian authorities, the pair agreed to forfeit over $400 million in assets. This case underscores the “Cyber-enabled Fraud” warning issued by the FATF in early 2026: as technology evolves, the scale of fraud moves from local millions to global billions in the blink of an eye.
Link to Original: ACFE – High Profile Fraud of 2025