Gananoque Police Service have charged a 22-year-old Toronto male in connection with a fraudulent transaction, commonly referred to as the “Grandparent Scam”. On March 16th, a local senior resident received a phone call from a male claiming to be a police officer, advising that their grandson was in custody and facing serious criminal charges. The victim then spoke with a male claiming to be their grandson who was pleading for financial help. Over the course of the next several hours, the victim was given specific instructions on how to withdraw and package a large sum of money, to ensure their grandson’s safe release.

On March 17th, Belleville Police Service released a bulletin advising they had arrested two males for the same type of scam. One of the males matched the description provided by the Gananoque victim and as such, was charged for Personating a Police Officer, Fraud Over $5000, and Breach of Probation. The male was held in custody for a bail hearing.

April 4th, 2023

Gananoque Police Service were contacted by a local business advising they were watching three active shoplifters inside the store. While police were on route, the suspects had realized they were being watched, abandoned the products and quickly exited the store. An officer was able to locate the suspects in their vehicle attempting to flee and subsequently placed them under arrest. While dealing with the suspects at the vehicle, a large amount of merchandise was noticed strewn throughout the interior. Upon further investigation, police learned that two of the suspects had recently been charged for shoplifting from the same business chain in numerous other municipalities throughout Ontario and Quebec. Earlier on this date, the same three suspects had been observed shoplifting in a Trenton store, but fled prior to police arrival. All merchandise was seized from the vehicle as stolen property.

The three suspects (a 21-year-old male, 25-year-old female, 29-year-old female, all from Scarborough) were charged with Shoplifting, and two of them were also charged with breaching their Release Order. They will be required to attend court at a later date and were released on several conditions.