Queen’s granddaughter Princess Beatrice expecting a baby

An Edmonton man accused of defrauding several Winnipeg seniors in so-called grandparent scams has also been charged for allegedly sexually assaulting a teenage girl in the city.

Winnipeg Police Service financial crime investigators were alerted after three city residents, all in their 80s, were defrauded of more than $37,000 in August after receiving calls from someone posing as a grandchild who claimed to need cash to pay for bail, police said Tuesday.

The first victim received several phone calls between Aug. 17 and 22 from a caller who claimed the victim’s grandson had been arrested and needed cash bail. The victim agreed to pay and handed over cash and gold and silver coins to a man who showed up at their door four separate times.

On Aug. 18, another adult received a call from someone claiming to be their grandson who needed cash for bail and the victim obliged, paying a man who went to their home to pick up money.

DEAR MISS LONELYHEARTS: I re-rented my favourite summer cabin this fall because I’m trying to finish my thesis. My husband of just over a year was very annoyed with me for going on my own, but didn’t say much about it because I paid.

I thought we were both OK with this arrangement, until I got the flu up at the lake very badly and couldn’t keep anything down. I felt faint. I phoned him and he said he was at a party with the guys. I could hear music and girls laughing.

He wouldn’t come for me, so at 4 a.m. when I was getting even more sick and scared, I drove back to the city unannounced.

I went straight to my parents’ house and pretty much fell through the door. Mom said to me when she grabbed me: “This is not right. You could have died in the ditch. Where is your husband?”