Burnaby RCMP has dismantled a suspected “fraud farm” in Pitt Meadows and recovered $300,000 in stolen and fraudulently obtained items, including two excavators and two industrial printers.
The excavators and printers were fraudulently obtained from businesses in Burnaby in March, according to a Burnaby RCMP news release.
The printers, valued at $97,000, are capable of printing driver’s licences, bank drafts, credit cards and other identification documents, police said.
On April 26, Burnaby RCMP raided a property in the 17600 block of Kennedy Road in Pitt Meadows, according to the release.
Along with the excavators and printers, police located numerous other printers, hard drives, network storage, laser engravers, a VIN plate stamping machine and modifying tools, hundreds of fraudulent identification cards and blank identification cards, blank bank draft paper, a handgun and ammunition.
Investigators believe the items are tied to a “potential large-scale fraud operation,” according to the release.
Four men were arrested at the scene, and police are looking at charges of fraud, forgery, theft, possession of stolen property and identity fraud.
“Identity theft and fraud are serious criminal offences that can have a significant impact on the lives of victims and the viability of businesses,” Burnaby RCMP Insp. Matt Toews said in the release. “The discovery and seizure of this potential fraud factory will put a sizeable dent in the criminal activity of this group.”
The investigation is ongoing.
Follow Cornelia Naylor on Twitter @CorNaylor
Email cnaylor@burnabynow.com
