Bystander thwarts bank fraudsters

A Good Samaritan helped station 12 police bag four alleged fraudsters, recover almost $10,000 stolen cash and 16 cloned debit cards on March 29.

The ill-fated caper began at 8:45 a.m. on an otherwise quiet Sunday, when four suspects in a beige vehicle stopped at the corner of Victoria Avenue and Sherbrooke Street, disembarked, and entered the CIBC bank, on the southwest corner. After a few minutes, one of the suspects left the bank, only to cross the street towards the Royal Bank on the northeast corner of the block. At the same time, a second suspect walked towards the Laurentian Bank on the southeast corner.

About five minutes later, a third man left the CIBC, joined one colleague at the Lauretian Bank before hopping once again to the CIBC. Finally, the last suspect left the Royal Bank and walked to the Bank of Montreal on the corner of Grosvenor Avenue, then made two more pit stops at the Laurentian and CIBC banks.

Finally, two suspects left the CIBC branch, got back in their car and left the scene, driving south on Victoria. Two other men were left at the CIBC branch.

A woman entering the bank to make a cash withdrawal noticed one of the suspects using the automatic teller while another one looked on. She noticed them tossing a stack of blank white cards into a nearby garbage can before leaving the scene on foot.

Little did the suspects know, but a local Good Samaritan had noticed the game of bank musical chairs the four suspects seemed to be playing. Suspicions raised, he called police while all four suspects were still on the scene.

Police showed up just as two of the suspects were driving away. They identified and intercepted the vehicle.

As their two colleagues left the CIBC Bank on foot and tried to hail a cab, a second squad car arrived. The witness pointed out the two men to police and they were also stopped. "Thanks to his vigilance, we were able to snag a network of fraudsters, seize almost $10,000 in cash and 16 cloned debit cards," said Station 12 Constable Alain Diallo. "The four suspects were arrested and charged with a number of crimes, notably fraud."