By Liam Verster

Fraud Investigation

Grande Prairie man arrested following fraud investigation

Dec 22, 2020 | 5:05 PM

An investigation into a fraudulent online transaction in which an individual used another person’s credit cards and identification to purchase items online has led to the arrest of a Grande Prairie man.

The Grande Prairie RCMP opened their investigation on December 11. Just three days later, mounties, with the assistance of the Grande Prairie Crime Reduction Unit and Police Dog Services, executed a search warrant at a Grande Prairie residence.

During the search, officers discovered and seized:

• Identification, debit/credit cards and social insurance numbers belonging to other people
• Laptops, scanners, ID lamination sheets, a laminator and a printer with photo paper that is believed to be used for creating documents
• Break-in tools
• Forged cheques and identity documents
• Fraudulently purchased items, including those from the credit and status cards that sparked the investigation

Austin Haynes, a 23 year-old male from Grande Prairie was arrested at the scene. He has been charged with:

• Fraud less than $5,000
• Use/traffic of forged document
• Illegal possession/trafficking in government document
• Theft/forgery/misuse of credit card
• Make/sell/posses instruments for making forged documents
• Possession of break-in instruments
• Possession of property obtained by crime under $5,000
• Forgery
• Identity fraud
• Identity theft

Haynes is scheduled to appear in Grande Prairie Provincial Court on February 3, 2021.