An alleged criminal tourism network linked to fake road accidents, vehicle scams, insurance fraud and theft has been exposed in Canada. Investigating agencies have taken action against 46 people, while the search for 164 suspects is on.
Chandigarh: A large organized network related to economic crimes has been exposed in Canada. Police investigation has revealed that losses worth crores of rupees were caused through activities like fake documents, vehicle financing scams, insurance fraud and theft. The case has been under investigation for several years and a large number of charges have been filed so far.
Big revelation under Project Jetsetter
An alleged criminal tourism network has been busted under ‘Project Jetsetter’ run by Canada’s Durham Regional Police Service (DRPS). According to the investigating agencies, this network was carrying out various economic crimes in a planned manner. Police have so far taken action against 46 people, while 164 suspects are said to be still absconding.
Authorities say this is not a case of ordinary fraud, but a widespread network of organized crime, which was active for many years. During the investigation, more than 200 incidents have been linked to this network.
Fraud through fake documents and insurance claims
Investigation has revealed that the accused used to commit financial fraud by using fake documents related to vehicle purchase and financing. Apart from this, conspiracies were also allegedly hatched to fake road accidents to obtain compensation from insurance companies.
According to the police, the gang was also involved in stealing expensive vehicles and transporting them to other places. Along with this, incidents of theft were also carried out by targeting jewelery stores and retail shops. Investigative agencies believe that the crimes were carried out in a very well-planned manner, which made accessing the network challenging.
Loss worth crores, thousands of charges filed
According to officials, these activities have caused economic losses of more than 2.61 million Canadian dollars in Durham Region of Ontario alone. More than 1,440 charges have been registered so far in the ongoing investigation since 2019.
Police said it took approximately 5,000 hours of investigation to get to the bottom of the case. The activities of the entire network were analyzed by connecting many different cases, after which this big disclosure became possible.
Two youths of Punjab origin arrested
During the investigation, two youths of Punjab origin have also been arrested. These include 23-year-old Arshjot Singh Dhillon and 23-year-old Armaan Sharma. According to police documents, both have been charged in cases related to organized economic crimes.
However, authorities have not yet made public detailed information regarding the individual role of each accused. He says that the investigation of the case is still going on and efforts are being made to identify other people associated with the network.
‘Criminal tourism’ is becoming a growing challenge
Canadian officials say ‘criminal tourism’ has emerged as a new and rapidly expanding form of organized crime. In this, criminals cross the borders and commit economic crimes and later try to hide their identity.
Investigative agencies believe that to deal with such networks, better coordination and information sharing arrangements are necessary between police and intelligence agencies of different countries. According to officials, more cases related to this network may be revealed in the coming time and the scope of investigation can be extended to many other suspects.
At present, the police is busy searching for the absconding accused and a thorough investigation of financial transactions, documents and other evidence related to the case is going on.
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