A 37-year-old Calgary man faces 20 charges in connection with a scheme where almost 100 sea cans were stolen from rental companies and sold to unwitting victims.
Calgary police say they launched an investigation after a victim came forward in June to say they had paid for a sea can they believed was being sold by a legitimate company, but the individual they had contact with refused to deliver it to them.
"When the citizen contacted the sea can storage company to report the delivery issues, both the storage company and the citizen then reported the matter to police," police said in a release.
Over several months, police determined the suspect who sold the container to the first victim was obtaining them by renting them from several businesses using fake company names.
After a while, he would stop paying rent on the containers and when the rental companies contacted him, he had already sold the containers.
It's estimated the suspect defrauded four companies and 16 individuals out of approximately 94 sea cans, worth approximately $640,000.
Rajneel Deo Prasad, 37, was arrested on Aug. 30 and police have continued the investigation in the meantime.
The most recent charges were laid against Prasad last week, police say.
He is charged with:
Five counts of fraud over $5,000;
Five counts of trafficking stolen property;
Possession of ID documents;
Possession of a forged document;
Possession of forgery instruments;
Two counts of breach of probation order;
Four counts of using a forged document; and
Possession of proceeds of crime.
Out of the sea cans that were fraudulently sold, police have recovered 40.
Anyone with information about these incidents is asked to contact police by calling 403-266-1234. Tips can also be submitted anonymously to Crime Stoppers through any of the following methods:
TALK: 1-800-222-8477
TYPE: www.calgarycrimestoppers.org
APP: P3 Tips
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