More charges laid against suspects in ‘grandparent scam’

Saskatoon police have laid more charges against three Quebec men charged in connection with a so-called “grandparent scam” in the city.

All three men — 25-year-old Ahmad Ebad Ebadi, 25-year-old Sofyane Elgamal and Cedric Boivin Oligny, 26 — are facing two more charges of fraud over $5,000.

As well, Ebadi and Elgamal were charged with committing an indictable offence for the benefit of a criminal organization. One of the men also was charged with recruiting for a criminal organization.

Supt. Patrick Nogier, who is in charge of the Saskatoon Police Service’s criminal investigations division, said the laying of criminal organization charges is important.

“These (scams) are not done in isolation. They’re co-ordinated, and they are co-ordinated with different jurisdictional boundaries,” Nogier said.

“Sharing that information and sending the message that people will be held accountable for participating with criminal organizations is part of the reasons why these are a paramount charge under these circumstances.”

Nogier said things are safest when the community is working with police like they did in this case. Two seniors participated with officers to bust the suspects.

Nogier called the case notable because instead of being solely online, the alleged scammers were actually going to people’s doors to collect the money they asked for.

The Saskatoon Police Service previously said the men had defrauded victims in Saskatoon of about $100,000.

Each call was worth between $8,000 and $20,000 to the alleged scammers, and greed is what Nogier believes the major motivator was for the scam. He called it “very profitable to take the risk.”

“When that information is released, and people are listening to it through various media streams, that gives us the ability to react and pivot very quickly,” Nogier said.

“Combining intelligence with community updates and reactive policing efforts, this is the key essence to having an organization that’s nimble on its feet.”

He said a key message for criminal organizations is that police are starting to work more with other organizations whether that be police or anti-fraud organizations.

Police are still working to observe and see if things similar to what happened in Saskatoon are happening elsewhere through those collaborations.

One thing Nogier said police are learning through sources and intelligence is about a possible list or database of potential victim information. This is being referred to as a “sucker list,” he said.

As police continue to try and figure out how people are being trained to execute these scams, Nogier said if substantiated, information like this could help police figure out what information is being gathered and how scammers are choosing their victims.

Anyone who receives a suspicious call and suspects fraud but isn’t victimized should contact the Canadian Anti-Fraud Centre. Anyone who was a victim of fraud should report it to the Saskatoon Police Service online or by calling 306-975-8300.