A man has been charged in connection with a nationwide fraud scheme in which payment was accepted for vehicle repairs or the purchase of auto parts, but the services or items were never delivered and the money never returned.
Calgary police said they first received a complaint in November from a man in Newfoundland who claimed he had sent money for a vehicle part advertised on a buy-and-sell site, but never received the part. In addition, he was unable to reach the seller to get his money back.
Following a lengthy investigation, police learned more than 50 people across Canada had been victimized in the same type of scam.
In most cases, the victims placed online ads looking for specific auto parts and were contacted by a man who purportedly had the items they were looking for. The man would request payment upfront or a deposit to cover the cost of shipping.
After receiving the payment by e-transfer or wire transfer, the man didn’t send the parts or return the money, police said.
In other reports, the man would allegedly offer to conduct mechanical work on a vehicle — demanding payment upfront — and take the vehicle home. Then he would either not complete the work or claim the vehicles had been stolen.
Last week, thanks to assistance from the RCMP, the Saskatoon Police Service, the Hamilton Police Service, the Ontario Provincial Police and the Royal Newfoundland Constabulary, city police made an arrest in Calgary’s southeast.
Jeffrey John Keizer, 26, of Calgary, has been charged with one count of theft of a motor vehicle and 10 counts of fraud under $5,000.
Keizer — who also goes by the names Jack Van Der Van, Kyle Brown and Kenny MacDonald — is expected in court on Friday.
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