Long-lost leech hits Winnipeg

Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 10/06/2010 (5812 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Police are looking for a smooth-talking scammer who they say bilks elderly victims out of cash by pretending he’s a long-lost relative.

Det. Sgt. Sandra Martin of the Winnipeg Police Service’s Commercial Crime unit said city officers aren’t the only one looking for the 54-year-old career fraud artist. Richard Rupert also hit up victims in Toronto.

He’s wanted on a Canada-wide warrant for fraud.

Last Friday, Martin said, police received an alert from an astute employee who believed he recognized a man from a wanted poster located in a bank on the 300 block of St. Mary Avenue.

The employee said a man fitting Rupert’s description came in with a man in his late seventies, and waited with him while the man took out money from an ATM. Officers arrived too late to capture the suspect.

The police believe that man is Rupert, and want to track him down.

"He just tries a whole bunch of really slick lines," said Martin.

"If no one bites, then he leaves and he moves on, but he tries it often enough, he comes across people who are willing to feel sorry for him."

Rupert uses apartment directories at places like seniors homes to track down names of potential victims to earn their trust. Martin said Rupert’s known for befriending elderly people and telling them he’s a nephew or distant relative whose car broke down and needs cash.

She described the targeting of elderly victims as "pretty despicable."

"Right now, that generation of seniors are sitting on a lot of wealth, and there’s money to be had," she said.

She said elderly people might be prey because they are more likely to be polite to strangers or less adept at technology like ATMs.

Last summer, another elderly person in Winnipeg gave money to a man fitting the same description in a similar use.

Martin said victims may be too embarrassed to come forward after they’ve been bilked.

She said Rupert is distinctive due to his receding hairline. He’s a clean-shaven, Caucasian man with chiselled cheek bones and hazel eyes.

He weighs about 140 to 160 pounds and is about 5-foot-5 or 5-foot-6. His hair is dirty blonde or light grey.

"He’s very personable, which is pretty typical of a lot of con men," said Martin.

Anyone with information can call police at 986-6222 or Crime Stoppers at 786-8477.

gabrielle.giroday@freepress.mb.ca