Quebec man pleads responsible to defrauding seniors in Saskatoon ‘Grandparent Rip-off’

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One in all three Quebec males charged with defrauding seniors in Saskatoon of greater than $100,000 by what police name a “grandparent rip-off” will likely be sentenced in June after pleading responsible on Tuesday in Saskatoon provincial court docket.

Ahmad Ebad Ebadi, 26, appeared by cellphone as defence lawyer Logan Marchand entered responsible pleas to 2 counts of fraud and one rely every of conspiracy to commit an indictable offence and possessing property obtained by crime.

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Ebadi was dealing with 9 counts of fraud over $5,000. Crown prosecutor Carol Carlson mentioned the Crown is rolling all 9 counts right into a single cost of fraud over $5,000, to which Ebadi pleaded responsible, encompassing every offence dedicated between Dec. 30, 2022 and Jan. 10, 2023.

Ebadi additionally pleaded responsible to 1 rely of fraud beneath $5,000. Courtroom data exhibits he was charged with defrauding the Courtyard by Marriott Lodge in Saskatoon of an quantity beneath $500, and an extra cost associated to bank card fraud, between Dec. 29, 2022 and Jan. 9 2023.

He was arrested on Jan. 10, 2023 within the 400 block of Nelson Highway within the metropolis’s College Heights neighbourhood. The CBC reported that an aged couple known as police and lured Ebadi, who was posing as a bail bondsman, to their apartment after getting a suspicious name from somebody pretending to be their grandson and asking for bail cash. 

Two different males, Sofyane Elgamal, 26, and Cedric Boivin Oligny, 27, had been arrested throughout a visitors cease on twenty second Road the following day.

Ebadi and Elgamal had been launched on sureties and are required to dwell at authorised residences in a suburb of Montreal, in keeping with court docket paperwork.

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The lads are accused of convincing at the very least 10 victims of their early 70s to mid-90s at hand over quantities between $8,000 and $21,000 to a person who got here to their doorways claiming to be a courier or bail bondsmen.

Police mentioned the rip-off began with a cellphone name from somebody claiming to be a member of the family in an emergency, requiring cash for bail or hospital payments. The sufferer may be contacted by a second particular person claiming to be an authority like a police officer, lawyer or physician.

The callers had private particulars in regards to the victims’ household and buddies, and all the time requested for quantities within the $9,000 to $9,800 vary, police mentioned.

“We truly had a person that was displaying up on the doorsteps of our victims and benefiting from them. For that motive, we knew that we needed to react shortly,” Supt. Patrick Nogier, who’s answerable for the prison investigations division, mentioned throughout a information convention final yr.

The StarPhoenix spoke with an aged man who mentioned a caller claiming to be his grandson requested for $9,000 as a result of he was arrested for rear-ending a pregnant girl whereas distracted driving and wanted to be bailed out.

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The person mentioned he turned suspicious when the caller put his “lawyer” on the cellphone, and known as police. All of it occurred on Jan. 10, 2023 — the identical day Ebadi was arrested.

Suspected ties to organized crime 

Nogier mentioned police consider the three males had been working collectively, and that two had been concerned in a prison group.

Ebadi was charged with collaborating in a prison group and committing an indictable offence for the advantage of a prison group. Carlson mentioned the Crown will keep these expenses on the conclusion of sentencing, which has been scheduled for June 11.

Oligny is charged with fraud over $5,000 and two organized crime offences. Elgamal is charged with 13 counts of fraud over $5,000 and 4 organized crime offences, together with recruiting for a prison group.

Each males are additionally charged with possessing property obtained by crime and conspiracy to commit an indictable offence.

Police have realized — not essentially by sources related to this file — that there could also be a listing or database that exists of potential victims, which fraudsters name a “sucker record,” Nogier mentioned.

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“There’s a number of ways in which the prison aspect can go do their very own open-source knowledge mining, to realize the data that they should make themselves official once they make that voice or face-to-face method,” he mentioned, including it’s potential data can be gathered by social media, gaming websites and obituaries.

After the boys’s arrest, police mentioned they had been wanting into whether or not extra folks had been concerned, in addition to speaking with different jurisdictions to see if the Saskatoon frauds had been linked to different communities.

Elgamal and Oligny stay earlier than the court docket. Oligny’s subsequent look is ready for April 25, whereas Elgamal is scheduled for Could 14.

An Alberta girl can be earlier than the court docket, accused of defrauding Saskatoon victims of greater than $97,000 in a separate grandparent rip-off that started in 2023. Taline Trottier, 28, was arrested in Calgary on Feb. 13. She is charged with 10 counts of fraud over $5,000, impersonating a police officer and illegal use of a bank card. Her subsequent court docket look is Could 9.

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