Posted On Wednesday July 10, 2019
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: Wednesday, July 10, 2019 3:35pm
(Ottawa) – The Ottawa Police Service Organized Fraud Unit investigated an identity fraud incident, which occurred between July 5-6th in the City of Ottawa, involving three victims that do not reside in the Ottawa area.
Investigators found that three individuals arrived from Montreal on July 5, 2019 to the Ottawa area, where they used forged government identification to start the process of opening bank accounts at various financial institutions.
On July 6, 2019, the same individuals attended a Toronto Dominion Bank in the West end of Ottawa. Employees at the bank were suspicious of an individual attempting to open an account and contacted the Ottawa Police.
Officers attended, investigated and the individual was arrested for Fraud; and they further identified a vehicle waiting a short distance away and arrested the occupants. False identification for two other victims was located on the accused persons.
That day, the three individuals were charged as follows:
Audrey NSILALA-MIAKA (m), 24 years old of Montreal:
- Conspiracy to commit Fraud
- Possess Identity documents
- Fraud under
- Personation
Tshimuena KALOMBA (f), 19 years old of Montreal:
- Conspiracy to commit Fraud
- Possess Identity documents x2
Meddy MOYENGE (m), 23 years old of Montreal:
- Conspiracy to commit Fraud
- Fraud under
They are scheduled to appear in court in August 2019 in Ottawa.
During this investigation, the Organized Fraud Unit learned that the victims were impacted by the recent Desjardins incident where ‘customer information was disclosed without authorization’. Two victims had been officially notified by Desjardins via letter that their personal confidential information had been compromised.
“While we cannot ascertain that the information used by the three charged persons from Montreal was actually obtained via the Desjardins information breach, the Ottawa Police encourages anyone affected by this breach to follow the instructions provided by Desjardins and register with credit monitoring services,” said Insp. Tim Hodgins, with the Criminal Investigations Directorate.
You can also read more tips to protect yourself with the Canadian Anti-Fraud Centre.
This is a reminder for everyone to be vigilant and attentive to any suspicious financial activity on your accounts or credit. If you have been victimized and are a resident of the City of Ottawa, please use the Ottawa Police online reporting tool at www.ottawapolice.ca or by calling 613-236-1222 ext. 7300.
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