Province wants $75K seized from women in scam probe

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This article was published 04/11/2022 (1087 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

The province is going to court to seize more than $75,000 in cash Winnipeg police confiscated in July when they arrested two Ontario women accused of defrauding seniors.

A recent Court of King’s Bench civil filing reveals new details of the so-called “grandparents scam,” which typically involves someone phoning an elderly person and pretending to be a grandchild, niece or nephew who is in serious legal trouble and needs money immediately in order to be released from jail.

In late July, Winnipeg Police Service spokesman Const. Jay Murray told reporters the department had received several reports about the frauds, then totalling approximately $100,000.

On July 29, financial crimes investigators arrested Vanessa Fatima Alves Dasilva, 18, of North York, Ont., and Gabriella Edith Marie Paradis, 25, of Walpole Island, Ont., at a rented Airbnb suite on Somerville Avenue near Pembina Highway.

Dasilva was charged with six counts of fraud over $5,000 and one count each of conspiracy to commit an indictable offence, possession of the proceeds of property obtained by crime over $5,000, forgery and use a forged document.

Paradis was charged with two counts of fraud over $5,000, and one count each of conspiracy to commit an indictable offence and possession of the proceeds of property obtained by crime over $5,000.

The province’s director of criminal property forfeiture filed the suit against the two accused women on Oct. 25, detailing the cash seized from the Somerville Avenue suite and the methods the women and other accomplices allegedly used to hoodwink victims. The director alleges the cash was collected through unlawful activity and the Manitoba government should be able to seize it under provincial legislation.

Neither have filed a statement of defence in the civil forfeiture case. The criminal charges against them have not been proven in court.

Investigators seized nine separate envelopes of cash totalling $75,200. One of the envelopes was marked “bond money for Kaiden,” according to the statement of claim.

Between July 19 and July 27, the claim alleges, the women and their yet-to-be-identified accomplices fleeced at least 16 victims of more than $150,000.

The filing alleges Dasilva came to Winnipeg and rented the Airbnb around July 18, and Paradis arrived in the city on July 24. She also rented a 2011 Ford Escape equipped with a GPS tracking device, using a fraudulent Ontario driver’s licence, according to the claim.

The next day, the scammers hooked their first victim, the filing alleges.

A man who hasn’t been identified called a target and claimed to be their grandson, saying he had been texting while driving and rear-ended a vehicle driven by a pregnant woman.

The scammer claimed he had been arrested and needed $11,000 for bail before another man got on the phone and claimed to be the fake grandson’s lawyer. The fraudulent lawyer claimed the $11,000 would help the grandson get an earlier bail hearing.

The victim went to the bank, withdrew the cash, put it in an envelope and waited for a “bondsperson” to come pick it up from their home. The filing claims Dasilva used the rented car to pick up the cash, which has not been recovered.

The statement of claim alleges the scammers used the same scenario, involving the story about rear-ending a pregnant driver, on four other victims. Another scam included a claim the victim’s grandson had been pulled over by police who found nine kilograms of cannabis in his vehicle. The claim alleges one or both of the defendants went to the victims’ homes to pick up the money they received in each case.

The GPS tracking device in the rented SUV, along with surveillance, led city police investigators to the Fort Garry Airbnb, where they watched Paradis leave and get into a cab before they arrested her. Dasilva was arrested after she opened the door of the rented suite, and investigators later searched the property with a warrant.

Most of the cash bundles were found wedged between a mattress and a bed frame, while $200 was on a bedside table. Dasilva’s fingerprints were on five of the envelopes.

erik.pindera@freepress.mb.ca

Twitter: @erik_pindera