The Laval Police Dept. is seeking the public’s help to identify suspects alleged to be involved in a string of cases of “false representation” fraud which targeted senior citizens.
The fraud involved a male and a female suspect, each carrying out an aspect of the scam.
He would call victims on their home phones and pose as a bank employee, while claiming the victim had been targeted in a credit card fraud scheme which he was mandated to investigate.
After obtaining a victim’s personal identification number (PIN), the male suspect instructed the victim to put their bank transaction card in an envelope.
The victims were then told that the investigator in charge of their file was a man named Jean Melançon. Most of the victims live in seniors’ retirement homes.
For her part, the female suspect would go to victims’ homes to gather the envelopes, while posing as a police officer with a specific badge number.
LPD investigators say nearly 10 cases are believed to be connected to the suspects, beginning in June 2022.
Because the female suspect was photographed by security cameras in at least one instance when she turned up to pick up the envelopes, the LPD issued an image of her.
She is described as a French-speaking, white woman between 20 and 30 years old, around 5’5″ tall, with dark brown or black hair.
She allegedly posed as a police officer and is believed to have operated under several aliases, including Claudia Spinelli, Claudia Pinelli, Maria Moreli, Claudia Morelli, and Sabrina Spinelli.
Anyone who thinks they have useful information is asked to call 9-1-1, or contact the LPD directly at 450-662-4636. The file number is LVL-220626-043.
