One of six people facing fraud charges connected to an investigation by a trio of law enforcement agencies is in custody.
According to officials the RCMP Southern Alberta District Crime Reduction Unit, in partnership with Raymond RCMP and the Western Canada Lottery Corporation was investigating several incidents of what they call “Manual Entry Transaction Fraud” between December 31st, 2023 and February 26th, 2024.
According to a statement from the RCMP, the suspects are alleged to have manually entered a memorized Mastercard credit card number to make significant purchases at small businesses in Alberta.
The statment goes on to say “The transaction will go through as approved, but since the actual credit card is not present at the time of purchase in the machine itself, the bank will (upon notification of the cardholder dispute) reverse the charges and charge back the retailer.”
According to the RCMP on March 19th, officers are reported to have executed a search warrant at a south West Calgary home, that led to charges being laid for incidents that happened at businesses in Raymond, Lethbridge, Vegreville, Two Hills, and Sundre.
Forty-six-year-old Forty-Jay Obrador and 44-year-old Maynard Go Recibio both are facing charges including fraud over $5,000 and laundering proceeds of crime.
Thirty-nine-year-old Melody Velasquez, 35-year-old Jessica Nyome Vinje, 29-year-old Angelo Ross Diaz and 33-year-old Rommel Manansala Togado are facing charges for fraud over $5,000 and possing or trafficking in credit card data.
Obrador will appear in Lethbridge court at the end of April, while the five other warrants are out for the five others.