Two people have been charged and more than $100,000 in stolen property has been seized after the fraud ring was uncovered.

A man and a woman were charged last week after a sophisticated fraud ring was uncovered in several provinces to buy and sell snowmobiles.

On Wednesday, January 10, 2024, a snowmobile dealer contacted police regarding a suspicious transaction. Our stolen property team worked with district investigators to identify the rightful owners of the stolen property and instead uncovered a complex ring of fraudulent identities used by various people in Ontario, Alberta, Saskatchewan and British Columbia.

The suspects used the fraudulent documents to buy, deliver and sell snowmobiles and snowmobile trailers. The suspects are believed to have stolen multiple victims' identities, created fraudulent identifications from the stolen information, and obtained credit cards in the victims' names to purchase snowmobiles to sell online to unsuspecting buyers.

On Thursday, February 1, 2024, a warrant was executed at a rural property in the 3500 block of 84th Street SE, where investigators located additional stolen vehicles, including a Mercedes Benz Sports Coup, a Honda Odyssey minivan and a brand-new utility trailer. The items recovered totaled more than $100,000 in stolen property.

Devin Douglas BRUCE, 35, of Calgary, was charged with:

· Two counts of keeping false documents

· Two counts of possession of stolen credit cards

· One count of possession of stolen identification

· One count of possession of personally identifiable information

He will next appear in court on Friday, March 15, 2024.

Isabella Morgan SCHENK, 27, of Calgary, was charged with:

· Two counts of possession of a controlled substance

· One count of possession of stolen identification

He will appear in court next on Friday, March 15, 2024.

Calgary Police Service Inspector Keith Hurley said, “Investigators did an excellent job working with not only units within the Service, but other police agencies in multiple provinces to uncover this complex, multi-jurisdictional fraud ring.” “Their efforts to identify and apprehend those responsible have, in our view, stopped many victims identity proof theft”.

Anyone with information about this incident is asked to call police at 403-266-1234. Tips can be submitted anonymously to Crime Stoppers using any of the following methods:

CALL: 1-800-222-8477

TYPE: www.calgarycrimestoppers.org

APPLICATION: P3 tips

Case No. CA24037044/5570