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Following an 18-month investigation, four men have been charged with fraud.
Photo by Hannah Scott
Charges approved against alleged fraud ring in Richmond
Published 4:52 PDT, Wed April 6, 2022
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Four men have been charged following the investigation of an alleged fraud ring in Richmond.
Richmond RCMP economic crime unit began its investigation in October 2020. Over several months, investigators collected evidence of alleged frauds being committed by the four men in multiple jurisdictions including Richmond, Vancouver, Surrey, Langley, Cranbrook, Kamloops, Kelowna, and Regina.
The investigation resulted in multiple search warrants being executed at locations allegedly connected to the fraud ring in Richmond and Vancouver.
“I am extremely proud of the hard work and dedication the investigators from our economic crime unit have demonstrated throughout the course of this investigation. I also want to thank all of the units from within Richmond detachment as well as the Lower Mainland emergency response team who assisted our economic crime unit at various times throughout the investigation,” says Insp. Michael Cohee, officer in charge of Richmond RCMP operations support. “The identification and subsequent charges against this group has resulted in a significant disruption of a prolific fraud, identity theft, and property crime network operating in BC.”
The economic crime unit is part of the larger Richmond RCMP organized crime unit, which also includes drugs, organized crime project team, and criminal intelligence.
The BC Prosecution Service has approved a total of 24 charges including fraud, forgery, possession of property obtained by crime, and unauthorized possession of a firearm against one of the accused. Charged are Richard Yeltatzie of Richmond, Ayron Borovic of Vancouver, Christopher Birkbeck of Surrey, and Michael Ridley of Ontario.
Yeltatzie has also been charged with eight criminal code charges, including fraud, related to another file. In February 2020 the Richmond economic crime unit conducted an investigation where a residence was allegedly sold by fraudulent means unbeknownst to the homeowner. In this case, the BC Prosecution Service has approved eight charges against Richard Yeltatzie and three against Kieran Yeltatzie.
If you have information about a potential crime, you are encouraged to call your police of jurisdiction. Should you wish to remain anonymous, contact Crimestoppers by phone at 1-800-222-TIPS (8477) or visit them online at www.solvecrime.ca.
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